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"Bull. I told Peng, and Sam sent a formal letter." She frowned at the door.
"Yeah, I know." He smirked. "I tell you, this guy had 'slimy lawyer' written all over him. Expensive suit, slicked back hair, gold jewelry everywhere, the stench of cigars—he screamed, 'I'm a sleaze—a rich sleaze.'"
"I left a message with Sam's office, so at least she'll have a heads-up. Sounds like a real piece of work."
"Yeah." Ryan grimaced, then straightened out of his slouch. "Wiz sent a diagram and a parts list for your surveillance system. Do you want to hire someone to do it, or do you want my help?"
"Guess I'll have to take a look first."
"Sure. I've already forwarded the email to you. She said to buy three kits and a computer at Costco, and I've looked up places to buy the other stuff based on her recommendations. We could go to Missoula one of these afternoons and get all the stuff, then install it this weekend. Then she'll do the computer work remotely." Ryan seemed excited about the idea.
"Geez, got my life all organized, do you?"
Ryan took a step back and his face went blank. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was overstepping."
Erin reached out and put a hand on his arm. "You didn't. I was kidding. Mostly." She shrugged once. "I'm not used to someone else caring enough to go the extra mile."
Ryan huffed a laugh. "Get used to it, 'cause I'm not gonna stop."
Erin smiled gratefully. "Thanks."
He turned away. "I'd better get back to the shop. Let me know when you want to go."
She blinked, his caring warming her heart. He should know how much his support meant. "Sure. Ryan?"
He turned back to her. "Yeah?"
"Thanks. Really." She couldn’t say more without her emotions overwhelming her.
He nodded and returned to the coffee shop. Rats. Ryan was so sweet it was hard to keep the whole employee-employer relationship in her head. Not that it mattered; Erin was sure he'd want someone younger. Ryan was being protective. Like he'd guard his mom. She was simply another old lady to him. She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. She felt ancient today. Old and tired.
Erin finished the car, checked all the fluids one more time. She buttoned it up, drove it outside, and dropped the keys and bill with the owner, who was in a deep discussion with her friends about knitting. At least she thought it was knitting. If the talk about gauges and softness ratings was something else, she really didn't want to know.
She returned to the garage, but she had finished all the outside work for the day, so she did a good cleanup. Then she messed around with a few other things until she couldn't deny she was trying to avoid Ryan. Come on, Erin, grow up.
With new determination, Erin opened the coffee shop door. Ryan was getting an order from one of the knitting ladies. She was trying to chat with him; he was polite but kept his answers short. He white-knuckled one of Izzy's filter handles, knocking the old coffee out with more force than necessary.
"You know they're trying to be friendly, right?" She leaned against the doorframe.
He scrunched his face at her. "You're kidding me, right?"
"No. Why?"
"Those women are worse than construction workers on the streets of NYC. They talk about me like I'm a stripper or something," he muttered, his face fire engine red.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want me to tell them to stop?" Erin was trying not to laugh, but from Ryan's glare, she didn't think she was being very successful.
"I don't think that will help. It will probably make it worse."
Erin couldn't hold it in anymore and she burst out laughing. Ryan glared. "I'm sorry. It's so funny for the shoe to be on the other foot. I've dealt with that kind of thing for years. But they shouldn’t be doing it, and I shouldn’t laugh about it. Two wrongs don’t make a right." Her cell phone rang. "Hi, Sam. You got my message?"
"Yes, and I got a visit too. Lucky me." Erin could almost hear Sam's eyeroll. "What a jerk. He evidently thought I'm an incompetent idiot. Tried to hit on me too. Yuck."
"Ew. Sorry."
"Not your fault Chaz's lawyer is as nasty as he is." Sam snorted.
"True. What did he do?"
