She was sure she had said that once, but she hadn’t been serious. Especially now…well, she was just shocked he’d asked her.
“Yeah. Like five years ago you mentioned it.”
He remembered that?
“Well, you always make it seem really interesting.”
“It is. I have four jobs scheduled for the next four months. Three major restorations, and I have to drive the cars to their respective buyers when all is said and done. It was all easy to do it myself when I was in my twenties. The last few times, Chloe helped. But now she’s in Santa Clara, and she has a job so she isn’t coming back for the summer. If you want to travel, you can travel with me. Not only will it pay your way, I’ll pay you.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. The first car is a 1957 Chevy Bel Air. I’m taking it out on Route 66 next week, and heading to Chicago. The trip will probably take two weeks. I get paid a lot to drive them over, and I don’t bother to rush through it. It’s one of the perks of the job. I get to enjoy the car, and I get to enjoy being on the road.”
Will told her that Logan made a ton of money on these kinds of cars. Rare vehicles that could sell for millions at auction. A restored car would never be worth what a mint car would be, but it made those sorts of cars more accessible to collectors.
People that certainly had more disposable income than Will and Sam did, but less than, say, Bruce Wayne.
She had a feeling that those were the kinds of circles that were actually quite small, so if you didn’t have a pristine reputation, you wouldn’t be getting business.
It didn’t surprise her to hear that Logan took that seriously.
“How much time between jobs?”
“A couple of weeks at most. It’s going to be a really intense schedule. Delivery, come back, finishing touches on the next car, and then out again.”
She could imagine this. Riding in classic cars with the top down. Seeing new places.
She could ignore that it was going to be with Logan. That she had no idea what they would say to each other. That she had no idea…
Well, she would just make that future Sam’s problem. Because present Sam had enough problems.
She’d been having such a hard time looking ahead past the next week. She hadn’t managed to make any plans or herself.
Logan was offering her a lifeline. The chance to do something she’d been wanting to do anyway. “You’re an extremely unlikely ally,” she said.
“Am I?”
“Well. Yes. It’s not like we’re historically… I didn’t expect you to take my side.”
“Sam, you were there for me and for Chloe when we needed you most. If I can help you out now… I… Fuck him.”
For the first time, life past the next week seemed possible.
For the first time, the summer felt like it could be bearable. The chance to stay moving, stay busy and not think about Will?
Yes.
She was going to take it.
“Yes. Thank you, I… Yes, let’s do it.”
He almost smiled, and she felt her heart get tight. “It’ll be like all those family vacations we took back in the day.”
Oh, all those vacations. Some of which she chose never to think about now.
But life was different.
This summer, she was… Sam. Not Samantha and Will. Just Sam.
