Bull wouldn’t allow anything to hit the town, nor would he allow Maddie to know just the kind of person who hired her.
Chapter Three
It didn’t take Maddie long to figure out jeans and an old shirt were the best kinds of clothes to wear to work. Two days, exactly. The two white blouses she had worn were not fixable. They were covered in stains, and she had tried detergent, even soaking them, but nothing was going to help clean them.
Instead of tossing them out, she had torn them up into rags, so she would save money that way.
The job at the mechanic shop was fun, for the most part. She was always there at seven. Most of the time, Bull had opened up the shop and was waiting for her. He had to get up super early to be there. She had started going to Carl’s to pick up their breakfast. If Bull was getting up early, he deserved the best coffee and breakfast muffins Carnage had to offer.
He rarely said much first thing in the morning. He took the coffee and muffins and stayed in the main shop while she went to the reception desk and checked through the day’s bookings. Not only did Bull have regular work from distributors for their cars and trucks, but he also dealt with people turning up or booking ahead of time to have their car checked over.
She was surprised to see what a tight ship he ran. There was no area left for mistakes. He simply didn’t accept them. She didn’t understand some of the terminology he used when he looked over a car and she had to contact the customer to give them the bad news, but she did so with ease.
He was good at what he did. More than good.
By the end of the week, she had gotten into the flow of the job. She liked Pat, one of the guys who worked with Bull. For the most part, he was quiet, but he didn’t make her feel uncomfortable.
A couple of the guys from the Chaos and Carnage MC also worked at the shop. They tended to get to work, ignoring her, and she was more than fine with it. Bull was the person she dealt with most, and he was a good guy. She liked him.
He was fair.
She had seen him help a family out who had been struggling. Two days ago, the dad had come in asking if there was some kind of payment plan. Right in front of her eyes, Bull had changed the invoice details, removing one of the zeros, and told him that the problems weren’t as severe as he first thought.
Bull had paid the difference.
“Well, well, well, I had no idea Chunk was working here.”
Maddie looked up, and sure enough, Grant, the one guy she didn’t want to see, was standing in the main reception.
A couple of people chuckled at his comment. He often called her Chunk or a fat cow growing up.
She hadn’t heard it for a long time. After being stood up the other day, Glenn had called, telling her that he just couldn’t bring himself to go on a date with her. She wasn’t who he had imagined, and he couldn’t get past her weight.
Maddie tensed up. Sickness swirled in her gut as he looked at Grant. She tucked some hair behind her ear.
“I figured you would’ve gotten a job at a diner, or a bakery, or somewhere there was lots of food.”
Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. She had learned long ago that Grant only got worse when he knew he was getting to someone. She wasn’t going to show him any kind of weakness.
“Mr. Reynolds is in the back,” she said.
Grant laughed. “Mr. Reynolds. I bet my brother loves that. So, tell me, Chunk, what have you been up to? I mean, clearly, losing weight wasn’t high on your agenda.”
If the ground could open her up again and swallow her whole, she would like that.
“Grant, a word. Now,” Bull said, suddenly appearing behind her. There was a door to the back of the reception that connected to the main shop. She had uncovered a window, which allowed her to see into the main shop as she worked.
She turned away from the customers who were waiting as she held a file in her hands. Closing her eyes, she counted to ten. Her hands shook, but she didn’t want to cry.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
You’re not a kid in high school anymore.
Grant’s an asshole.
Ignore him.
He was always cruel, manipulative, and evil.
“How long is this going to take?”
She took a deep breath and turned to one of the customers. She didn’t recognize him from town, so he had to have been passing through. “I will go and check.”
Maddie used the door at the back and stepped through to go find Pat. She was careful to not get in anyone’s way.
“Hey, Pat, the out-of-towner is getting a little impatient. Do you have an update?” she asked.
Pat sighed, moving out from under the hood of the car. “It’s fine. He ran out of fucking gas. I put in enough gas to get him to the gas station.”
“Oh.” Maddie frowned.
“You want to know why I waited?” Pat asked.
“He seems pretty mad,” Maddie said.
Pat shrugged. “Let me deal with him.”
“I can handle it.”
“Maddie, guys are assholes. You don’t have to deal with them, and besides, I like irritating pricks.” He winked at her and walked past her, heading back into the shop.
She followed after him but paused when she caught sight of Grant storming past her. He didn’t stop, nor did he push or shove her, but she saw the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, which she knew hadn’t been there before.
Maddie didn’t stay long as she heard the shouting already happening.
“What an unprofessional, backward, fucking town,” the out-of-towner said, his voice raised.
She stepped in to find Pat with his arms folded, and she already knew that wasn’t a good position for him. It meant that even though he looked calm, he was close to losing it. Bull was usually the one to hold Pat back.
Stepping to Pat’s side, she kept a smile on her face. “Sir, with all due respect, you came in here on fumes. He has saved you a whole heap of work and trouble.”
“Work and trouble. I’ve been waiting for two hours.”
“It would have been a lot longer if you’d kept pushing that car.”
“I … this is unacceptable,” the out-of-towner said. “I want to talk to the manager of this place.”
“That manager is here,” Bull said.
Maddie glanced back to see him wearing his leather cut. She had never seen him in that at the shop, and seeing it now was a bit of a shock.
“Good. Then you can tell me what the meaning is behind taking your time getting my car ready.”
“Pat?”
“He ran out of gas.”
Bull tutted. “Let me guess, this is one of the scams you usually do?”
She was confused. How could running out of gas be a scam?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course, you don’t. To understand it would mean you have to admit to it. Now, I’m all for causing trouble. If you want to start something, then let’s start it,” Bull said.
The out-of-towner clocked the leather cut, and she watched him swallow. The jacket had impact. Even she was nervous seeing Bull in it. She had been working for him for a week now and she had almost forgotten he was the president of the local MC.
Nerves gripped her.
“Then take your piece-of-shit car and get the fuck out of here.”