The Driving Force to Love (MXM) ✔

Chapter 12

Dean Axle Lance

The days were getting warmer. The sky was a rich blue with little clouds. It made for the perfect temperature in my shop. I stood by the open overhead door. All the bikes were finished. Someone from Antonio's store was coming to pick them up. I had rearranged the bikes so it would be easier to load them onto the truck. I opened my phone while I waited and scrolled through the texts with Vincent. I smiled at the exchanges. They were brief. I wasn't a man of too many words, but they meant a lot to me all the same and I got the feeling they meant a lot to him too. I still couldn't believe Greg and Jennifer kicked him out. After all the years of keeping him away from me as if he was something precious that I would dirty and then they just toss him aside.

I heard the truck before it turned onto my street. I recognized it and the driver. They had been by a few times now. I guided him as he backed up to the open overhead door.

"Nice weather today," Tom said as he got out of the truck.

"Yeah," I said, not really interested in having a conversation about the weather.

"Hopefully we don't get anymore snow," he said.

"Hopefully," I said but I didn't really mind the snow. "They're all ready to go." I indicated the bikes.

"Jeff says your mechanical expertise is excellent," Tom said as we worked together to load the bikes.

"That's great," I said. I really didn't care what Jeff had to say. I didn't know him or his skill and qualifications. I didn't need someone else to validate my work. This job was now finished and I had no intention on taking another job like it.

Tom made small talk while we worked and I agreed with whatever he said to speed the process along without contributing much to the conversation. We were loading the last bike when a familiar car pulled up. When Antonio stepped out my stomach folded over but I wasn't sure if that was because I was excited to see him or dreaded to see him. If our conversation had remained like they had been in the beginning, I would have been excited, but that wasn't the case. I had come to dislike our recent conversations.

"How's it coming along?" Antonio asked as he peeked inside the truck.

"We're just finishing up," Tom said.

"Good," Antonio said, "It looks like everything is in order. Why don't you head on back? I'll finalize things here with Dean."

"Okay," Tom said. "See you back at the store. Come by sometime, Dean. It'll be good to see you from time to time."

I nodded, but didn't see the point in going to a different motorcycle shop in a different city.

Antonio and I stood outside the shop as we watched Tom drive away. No words were exchanged between us. When the truck turned the corner and was out of sight, I went through the overhead door. I went around the garage making sure all the tools were in their proper place and nothing was out of order. I heard Antonio's footsteps as he followed me, but he didn't say anything for several minutes.

Finally he cleared his throat and said, "The last payment should now be in your bank account. You can double check to make sure it's the correct amount."

"I trust you," I said without turning to look at him. I did trust him when it came to business. He wasn't going to short me of the payment we had agreed upon.

"Good. Good," but the second good faded away. I turned to face him. He was acting strange. He wasn't his normal confident self. His eyes met mine and then quickly darted away. His chest lifted as he took in a deep breath. His eyes landed on mine again. "Look," he said. "I know I haven't really been acting myself around you lately and I'm sorry for that. My employees thought I was favoring you and they were right I was. So in an effort not to favor you, I went a little overboard. I'm sorry."