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Fixing Love, a book by Jene Beal

Sam is a lonely mechanic who is forced to find a new job far from anything and everyone he has ever known. On his way to the small town where he hopes to work, he meets and begins to fall for Kay, a woman who is in love with his new boss=s brother. His new boss is a tough military veteran who envisions a bold new future for himself and his employees. Not wanting to threaten his situation, Sam tries not to think of Kay. The more Sam tries to ignore Kay, the more she occupies his mind.

Fixing Love, Light Romance / Action Adventure

(Part of the First Chapter)

1 Going Fishing

The sound of multiple air-wrenches echoed around him. Sam could smell the familiar smell of oil, gear lube, gasoline and tire rubber. Sam’s hand slid across the greasy spindle. He pushed with his might on the axle one more time and lifted the hub as hard as he could.

“Come on Sam, we’ve got to get this done right now,” Hal muttered angrily.

Sam looked up from the axle he was working on. He was almost finished. The new bearing was on already. All he had to do was to insert the axle through the hub, then put the nut and wheel back on. He shook his head. He glanced at the clock.

His friends would be leaving in 30 minutes. He had been looking forward to the camp. He had also looked forward to catching as many fish as he could eat. He needed time away from the job, but mostly he needed time away from Hal. He knew what Hal was up to.

Sam felt a flash of anger and pushed harder on the axle while lifting with his might on the hub. The axle cleared the space. He let the hub down and let go of the axle. It was in. He pushed the hub on as tight as he could get it with his hand.

Sam knew that Hal was not concerned about the time or the task that Sam was doing. Sam was the highest paid employee Hal had. With the down turn of the economy, Sam knew that Hal sought for any reason he could find to replace Sam. Sam had seen him do the same thing to others. Hal would find an excuse to let the more experienced mechanic go, so he could hire someone much less expensive to his business. It was all about money for Hal.

Of course such a strategy had consequences. The kids that Hal hoped to employ were less experienced. In Sam’s case, the kid Hal wanted to hire to replace him with had personally visited the shop to inquire about the job three times already. The kid only had a couple of years of experience in a shop. Sam had more than ten years. Of course, during those ten years, Sam had received five years of very specialized training. Sam had more than just on the job experience. Sam had been trained in formal training facilities. Whereas, Hal’s favorite kid owed all of his training to on the job. Sam had a lot of training that Hal had never even used him for.

Also, Sam needed the job. He knew that he would have a hard time finding anything that would pay him anywhere close to the same as Hal had been paying him. Of course, that was if he could find a job at all upon leaving. There were just too many people looking for work. Sam knew that employers were more apt to hire someone with whom they could make due, than someone with Sam’s credentials.

“Move it,” Hal blustered, as Sam rushed to finish.

Hal left, but in a few moments, someone else was standing over Sam’s shoulder.

“They said it was finished,” a man said from right behind Sam.

Sam turned and didn’t recognize the man. He turned back to the car and finished putting the wheel on. He used the torque wrench to make certain that the nuts were tightened to the right amount. He lowered the car and moved to the driver’s seat.

“I’ll take it from here. I’ve been waiting for it long enough,” the man said, moving to keep Sam from closing the door.

“I’m sorry, Sir, but company policy requires me to move the car from inside the building. You shouldn’t even be in here,” Sam muttered, and closed the door anyway. He started the car.

“Give me my car, or you’ll regret it,” the man said.

“If I don’t drive it out, I’ll lose my job, and I’m not willing to let that happen,” Sam said. “I’ll meet you out front in the parking lot. Customers aren’t allowed back here for safety reasons.”

Sam put it into gear and started to back it slowly away from the hoist.

“Get out of my car!” The man yelled, and he reached in and hit Sam across the face. The man grabbed the steering wheel, jerking it hard.

Suddenly the car rose and fell, the man also cried out and fell to the floor. Sam quickly stopped the car and got out. He could see the tire prints on the top of the man’s shoe. He knew right away what had happened. He also knew that Hal finally had a reason to let him go.

Sam bent in and grabbed the key from the steering column. “Great, well mister, I hope you’re satisfied. You ran yourself over and got me fired all in one stupid maneuver. You are in a place where you are not allowed to be, doing something you are not allowed to do. I suppose you will expect everyone else to pay for your stupidity too.”

“I’m going to sue you,” the man barely got out.

“It’s a good thing I have insurance for such a thing, and it’s good that Hal has insurance for it too. However, I’m thinking that I should sue you for the emotional stress you’ve just caused me. Do you have insurance to deal with that?” Sam growled. “Why couldn’t you follow the rules? All those rules are there for my safety and yours, or did you and Hal conspire to get me fired? You jerked on the wheel causing this little fiasco. You also hit me. I could file charges against you. It’s a good thing Hal has cameras all over the place. It’s going to be hard for you to refute my defense or my accusations against you.”

“It’s my word against yours. You know which person the jury is going to believe. It won’t be you,” the man groaned.

“They won’t have to believe what I say. Do you see that camera over there?” Sam pointed it out. “How about that one over there, and did you see the one over there, and that one just above us? Everything was recorded. I’m afraid any jury will agree that I was being attacked. They will also be able to see that you clearly jerked the wheel, steering the car over your own foot,” Sam said hoping that it really had been recorded.

The man glanced at the cameras and then clamped his eyes closed.

“I’m serious about filing charges against you for assault,” Sam said angrily.

Sam left the man and went to see Hal. Hal reacted exactly the way he had expected.

“You’re finished, get your things and get out,” Hal said looking pleased instead of angry, though he did seem fearful of a possible lawsuit. When they went back out to the garage to talk to the customer, both the customer and the car were gone.

Hal then interrogated Sam for more than an hour over the incident. Sam’s chance to go with his friends was soon past. He knew that they had probably gone without him. He also knew that he would have to stay home and scramble to find another job. He couldn’t afford to do anything that would require money until he found one.

Sam drove to the storage locker and collected his empty covered utility trailer. He got an angry look, when Hal saw him pulling into the garage with it. Sam tried to get as close to his tool boxes as he could.

Hal was there as soon as he stepped out of the pickup.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Hal demanded.

“You said to clear out my things, so I’m clearing out my things,” Sam muttered.

“Just what do you think you’re going to take?” Hal demanded with even more force.

“My tools,” Sam growled back.

“Tools? These are shop tools,” Hal said.

“Oh, no you don’t. You know as well as I do, I paid for these tools out of my own pocket. I brought them here. They didn’t automatically become yours simply because I brought them here. You’ve never purchased any of the tools or testers that I’ve used,” Sam said. “I’m not donating them to you either. If you want them, you can buy them from me. I’ll take $100,000 cash for the lot, as is, right now.”

Hal stared back at him.

“I didn’t think so. I’ve got more than that in them and I won’t take any less,” Sam growled.

“What are we supposed to do with this station if you take all those tools?” Hal sputtered.

“Whatever you feel like. Do what you did with it before I came to work for you, but you won’t do it with my tools,” Sam said pointedly.

Hal moved to let him pass. Sam quickly pulled out the ramps. He fought to roll the boxes inside the trailer. He gathered everything, picking the bay clean. He loaded the floor jacks and the testing equipment and gauges. He took everything that he had purchased.

Sam shook his head at the thought that Hal might have even thought that he would leave his things behind. Hal had required him to purchase his own hand tools, just as his other employers had. Hal probably felt he could save money, if the mechanic bought his own tools. Unfortunately, not everyone had purchased their own. This was another reason that Sam had insisted upon purchasing the tools he used. If the tools weren’t locked up, he could never count on a tool being available to him when he needed it. Hal would never let him lock up tools that belonged to the shop. Also, another good reason to buy his own was because; the shop’s tools were not as good as he felt the job needed. It had been expensive for Sam, but the customer never suffered. Sam made certain, that he had the right tool to accomplish the job correctly.

Hal had given him nothing but grief for some time. He would not leave a single tool behind just on that principle alone. When he had his tools loaded, all four of the trailer’s tires were riding low under the weight.

Hal stood fuming in the doorway as Sam pulled slowly away. Sam smiled as he left the parking lot. He could see Hal standing near the end of the building watching him leave. However, what little satisfaction Sam felt while pulling away, was soon lost with the thought of having to find a new job.