She made her way into the house and turned on the garage lights.
“Thank you,” she heard him call from outside.
She gave a private smile. He remembered his manners a lot better now. She lined up all of the cupcake ingredients on the countertop, but this strange sensation was growing inside of her chest. She couldn’t stop thinking about Tawk, just outside of her house. Only one tiny wall separated them.
She narrowed her eyes at the front door. She really needed to get these cupcakes in the oven.
Her instincts won though, and she gave into her you-only-live-once mentality and opened the garage door so she could sit near him while he worked.
There was an old rocking chair that had come with the house she was renting from Sasha of the Cold Foot Crew. She pulled it up to about ten feet from where Tawk was still messing around under her hood and relaxed into it.
“You don’t have a jacket,” he said without turning around.
“You, and jackets, and bossing me around. I’ll survive.” She wouldn’t admit it, but she was a little chilly though.
“Stubborn woman,” he gritted out, and walked past her into the garage to a table full of old tools that had also come with the house. There was a tool chest with drawers, and he pulled those open next, taking inventory. He straightened his spine suddenly and huffed an irritated sigh. “Please put on a jacket.”
She frowned at him. “Why do you think I’m so fragile?” she asked.
He inhaled deeply, and looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t. Instead, he returned to pulling tools from the drawers, studying them, and replacing them until he found the one he seemed to want. “Forget it,” he muttered as he passed her by.
“I’m honestly asking,” she said, sitting on the edge of the rocking chair. “I’m not weak, you know. I’m not a dragon, sure, but I know things.”
“Like what kind of things?”
“Self-defense. I’ve taken classes most of my life. Plus, I have my CHL.”
“You carry a handgun?” he asked, and now his glowing gold eyes held interest.
“When I feel the need. I go to the range, and practice, and I don’t need anyone to show me what to do.”
He nodded. “What else do you know?”
“Basic stuff on fixing my truck. Tomorrow I’ll replace the battery all by myself and get it running again. I can even change the oil, and fix flat tires.”
“Who taught you?”
“My dad. He was really present when I was younger. He didn’t want me to be his little princess though. He wanted me to be a little badass that could take care of myself, so he taught me things. While my friends were at the mall hanging out, I was in the garage with my dad learning about oil filters,” she said with a laugh at the memory. “I used to get so angry with him and thought he was the worst when he would say no to me hanging with my friends and being normal. He would take me into the woods and camp and show me survival stuff, and he had a punching bag in the garage for me, and he was training me on the weekends to never take shit from a man.”
“I think I would like your dad.”
“Yeah, well he’s different now. I miss the way he was. My mom traveled for work, and so he was the main one raising me, but when my mom retired, they decided to go travel the world. I know they earned it, but I miss the relationship with my dad, you know? Everything changes when you get older.”
“Mmm. Your terminal connectors are bad too.”
“Huh?”
Tawk pointed under the hood of her truck. “Terminal connectors. You need new ones. A few other things too that’ll cause you pretty immediate problems. I can make you a list.”
“Oh. Thank you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Here she’d been pouring her heart out to someone who was clearly uninterested. She felt silly. “I don’t know why I told you about my dad.”
“Because I asked where you learned all your tough-girl stuff. When do you go to the range?”
“Why? Do you shoot?”
“I can. When?”
“Whenever I have free time. I haven’t been since I moved here. School was…well it was draining at the end. Most of my classes were online, but some I had to travel to Missoula for. Plus work, plus studying for finals, and the move was a lot…”
