The Christmas Bargain (39 page)

“That is vague,” Nate said after reading the ad twice. “Based on the qualifications, you shouldn’t have any problem. You’ve been a certified mechanic for what, eight years?”

“Nine. I got my certification the day I turned twenty. It was quite a celebration,” Ty said with a cocky grin.

“I remember that,” Beth said, smacking Ty on the arm. “If Mom had known about your little after-party antics, she would have boxed your ears.”

“Yeah, she would have, but you were always good at keeping me out of too much trouble,” Ty said, waiting for Beth to sit down before he took his seat at the small table. Scrunched into the corner by the kitchen, the table was laughably small when he and Nate, both over six-feet tall, sat around it. They’d gotten into the habit of extending their legs in opposite directions to keep from bumping knees under the table.

Ty studied his sister and felt love and tenderness tug at his heart. Two years his senior, Beth always mothered and protected him. Their mother, Toni, was wonderful and loving, but she worked multiple jobs to keep a roof over their head and food on their table.

From information he and Beth pieced together over the years, their mom fell in love with a no-good loser. He was a good-looking bad-boy type, oozing charm and telling her whatever she wanted to hear. Toni married him, thinking he would settle down and change his ways as they started a family. He played at being a husband, but preferred drinking, gambling and carousing to acting like a grown up. He tried to be a father after Beth was born but when Toni announced she was pregnant with Ty, the jerk disappeared. They never heard from him again.

Ty thought that might have been part of why Beth waited so long to start her own family. She wanted to make sure Nate was going to stick around, but he was one of the good guys. Ty knew despite their current financial situation, Nate would take good care of Beth and their baby.

“This job description says you must like animals. Have you ever been around animals?” Nate asked as they enjoyed the delicious chicken soup Beth served for dinner.

“One of my friends had a dog and Mom let us keep a stray cat for a few weeks once. I liked them both just fine,” Ty said, buttering another warm roll. He’d have to find a way to buy more groceries to pay back for what he was eating tonight, but the food tasted so good.

Nate nodded his head. They went on to discuss some places they applied for jobs that day. Ty just finished his second bowl of soup when his phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, he was surprised to see a text message in response to his inquiry about the job.

Looking up, he smiled.

“What’s that about?” Beth asked, curious.

“It’s about that job. They want my full resume and references by tomorrow morning,” Ty said, trying not to get excited. Turning to Nate he grinned. “Can I use your laptop for a few minutes?”

“Sure, man. Let’s help Beth with the dishes and then you can prepare to dazzle these people with your extensive experience and credentials.”

Ty laughed and helped himself to another roll.

After the dishes were done, Beth sat on the couch working on a baby blanket she was trying to crochet, while Nate and Ty sat at the table with the laptop computer. Having gone through the routine multiple times before, Nate created a folder on the computer for Ty so he could easily attach his resume and references to emails. Ty could have done it all from his cell phone, but it was a lot easier to sit at a computer and type out a cover letter.

When he finished, he asked Beth to read the letter. She suggested a few changes which he made before sending off the information to Lex Ryan of Riley, Oregon.

“Maybe this will be the one,” Beth said, placing a warm hand on Ty’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“I hope so. Although I’m not so sure I want to move too far away from you, especially with the baby coming soon,” Ty said, honestly. He had no idea how far this job would be from Portland, so the three of them pulled up a state map and found Harney County. By zooming in on the map, they finally located the tiny dot that marked Riley. It was really out in the middle of no-where.

“Good grief, Ty. That looks like a lot of open country. What if you get eaten by a bear?” Beth asked dramatically.

Ty and Nate both laughed.

“I don’t think I need to worry about wildlife or bear encounters. I’m not going to the wilds of some third-world country. Besides, let’s see if I even get an interview before we get all hysterical.”

“Good point,” Nate said, hugging Beth to him. “How about a game of Clue?”

As Ty sat playing the board game, he realized being destitute really changed your attitude about a lot of things. At 29, he never pictured himself sitting crammed into a corner playing a silly board game with his very pregnant sister and her husband and actually enjoying it.

One good thing he could say about being broke and without resources was that it made you appreciate the people who loved you.

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Beth talked Ty into spend the night on their couch. It was too short for him to be able to completely stretch out, but better than trying to sleep in his pickup. It was also a lot warmer. Peeking out of the miniscule balcony window the next morning, Ty was shocked to see a frosting of snow covering everything.  He smiled to himself, thinking Beth was right once again.

Taking note that Nate and Beth were still asleep, Ty quietly took his things to the bathroom, enjoyed a hot shower and dressed before bundling into his coat and heading outside. He walked down the street to a bakery and bought them all muffins and hot coffee, returning to the apartment just as Beth came out of the bathroom, dressed for work.

“Told you it would snow,” Beth said triumphantly as Ty set the muffins and coffee on the table. Taking off his coat, he offered her a grin and helped her get plates and napkins. By then, Nate was up and the three of them ate breakfast before Beth left for work.

“What are your plans today?” Nate asked as he sat sipping his coffee and eating another muffin.

“I thought I’d try going to some of the bigger car dealerships again to see if any positions have opened up since the last time I checked,” Ty said, slowly drinking his coffee. It was too early to start going door-to-door and too cold to sit out in his truck for any length of time. “How about you?”

“I heard a rumor that a new facility was opening in Woodburn. Thought I’d drive down and check it out. If I can get a contact name, maybe I can get my foot in the door before they fill all the positions,” Nate said, finishing his coffee and getting up from the table. He and Ty did the few dishes from breakfast and left them in the drainer to dry.

Shrugging into his coat, Ty gave Nate a slap on the shoulder as they stood at the door.

“Thanks for letting me crash here last night. I might have frozen outside,” Ty said, opening the door.

“Thanks for coming in. You know Beth worries about you. You’re always welcome, bro,” Nate said as Ty waved and walked down the hall.

Before he had a chance to make the dealership rounds, a friend called and asked Ty if he could come over right away to do some work on a car.

Ty arrived at Jeff’s house to find his wife’s car dead in the garage. It didn’t take long to determine the problem. Calling Jeff, he offered an estimate on the cost of parts. Jeff gave him the go-ahead so Ty purchased the parts with his credit card and had the car back together and running smoothly by the time Jeff arrived home for lunch. Taking the car for a quick test drive, Jeff stopped by the bank and made a withdrawal, paying Ty for the parts and throwing in a nice chunk of change for his labor.

Inviting him in for lunch, Ty accepted and they visited for a few minutes before Jeff headed back to work.

Ty deposited the cash needed to cover the credit card expenses into his bank account then pocketed the rest, planning to buy some groceries for Beth and Nate later that afternoon. He was waiting in line to leave the bank parking lot when his cell phone buzzed with a text message.

Pulling back into a parking space he read the text from Lex Ryan about the job in Riley. According to the message, Lex was impressed with his experience and references and wanted to conduct an interview.  Ty needed to call someone named Swede at four o’clock if he was interested. He would also be receiving a list of questions Lex wanted completed and e-mailed back before four if that was possible.

Ty quickly changed his plans and drove to the library. Going inside, he sat down at an empty computer station, opened his email account and completed the questionnaire from Lex.

At first the questions didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, but toward the end of the two-page document, a few of them caught him off guard.

He answered them as best he could, confused and somewhat unsettled by the questions:

Are you afraid of dogs?

     No

Do wide open spaces bother you?

     No

Can you live without access to modern conveniences?

    Yes

Ty didn’t know how he could have access to any fewer conveniences than he did living in his pickup, but decided it was best not to offer that opinion.

Are you willing to relocate to a rural atmosphere?

     Yes

How bad could it be living in the country? He’d gone for many drives outside of Portland and enjoyed the gentle rolling hills of farmland. It seemed peaceful and nice. He could adjust to that, no problem.

The final question Ty classified as downright bizarre:

Will it bother you to live in a house with the rest of the hands without access to a nightlife or eligible young females?

     No

A guy living in his truck doesn’t have a night life or dating scene and there are no eligible females who want to hang out with a man who is homeless, so it didn’t bother Ty in the least to answer that question honestly.

The reason behind the question did, however, give him a moment of pause before he hit send.

He needed this job, though, and if Mr. Ryan had a few quirks, so be it.

Staying at the library until time for his phone call, Ty found a quiet corner and pulled a small notebook out of his coat pocket. He used it to keep track of all sorts of information and wanted to have it handy in case he needed to take any notes from the call today.

At two minutes before four, he punched in the number and the phone was answered on the first ring.

“Rockin’ R Ranch,” said a voice that sounded like it chewed gravel for breakfast.

“Hi, this is Tyler Lewis. I was asked to call this number at four today and speak with Mr. Swede,” Ty said, trying to use his best professional phone manners.

“I’m Swede and yer right on time. And it’s jes Swede, no mister needed,” Swede said. “The boss asked me to interview ya since I’m the one ya’ll mostly be workin’ with, so let’s git ‘er done.”

Swede asked Ty a number of questions about his skills, experience and training. Ty got a little worried when Swede asked if he’d ever worked on farm equipment. Ty honestly answered he had not, but added that he could fix everything from lawnmowers to semi-trucks.

Sounding pleased, Swede went over the list of questions Ty answered earlier that afternoon via email.