It’s a small problem for you but a big problem for someone else.
Stranded by the side of the road, Mary threw open the car trunk, removed the spare tire, wrench, and jack. She thought, ‘Why did that tire have to go flat out here? Just five more miles and I would have been in town. And me without a cell phone.’
She had never changed a tire before but had watched her brother do his and it looked so easy. Getting the jack under the car where it was supposed to go was no problem. Then she tried to loosen the first lug nut and pushed on the wrench with all her might. It wouldn’t budge. She tried all the lug nuts and none would budge an inch. Mary threw down the wrench and called out to no one, “Now what do I do?” Putting her hands on her hips, Mary wondered what to do next. “Ok brother Jerry. What would you do in a case like this?’
Mary surveyed her car with the flat tire and looked up and down the road. Nope, no one was coming from either direction. ‘Drat! Just my luck,’ she thought as she picked up the wrench.
Looking the wrench over carefully, Mary tried each of the four sockets to the lug nuts, but only one fit. “Well, at least I had that right,’ she thought as she again tried to turn one of the nuts loose. Still it wouldn’t budge. Mary was thankful she had worn her jeans, t-shirt, and penny loafers when she went to visit Emma because a bright idea popped into her head. Carefully she put the wrench on a lug nut, put one foot on the wrench, both hands resting on the car fender, Mary brought the other foot up and gave a little jump on the wrench. One foot slipped off and down she went in the dirt. She was so angry with herself for not learning how to change a tire, that she didn’t hear the car stop behind her car. A very masculine voice said, “Do you have a problem, Miss, or are you just playing in the dirt?”
Surprised, Mary jumped up, brushed herself off and flinging her arms out to encompass the scene, she demanded, “Does it look like I’m playing in the dirt?”
With a flicker of a smile playing around his mouth, he said, “Yes, ma’am. It sure did.”
Mary took one step in the man’s direction and would have kicked him in the shin until she really gave him the once over. ‘Hm m m, not bad,’ Mary thought. ‘A real he-man cowboy type, about five foot seven inches tall. Levis that were almost too tight and a plaid shirt that seemed to draw out the blue of his eyes. And,’ she thought, ‘he’s not wearing a ring.’
Instead of kicking his shin, she held out her hand and said, “Hello. My name is Mary Hotchkiss. I’m sorry for blowing up but, you see, I have a very big problem. I can’t get the nuts loose so I can change the tire.”
He took her hand and said, “Hello Miss Hotchkiss. Jake Burkley here and I don’t see a big problem, only a small one.”
Mary felt a little uncomfortable because he didn’t seem to want to let go of her hand, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Burkley, and thanks for stopping. You can help me, can’t you?”
With a big grin on his face, he asked, “Do you mean to help change the tire or play in the dirt?”
“Oh you know I mean the tire,” Mary laughed. “I never learned to change one. I had watched my brother change his tires and it looked so easy.”
“It is easy,” Jake said as he rolled up his sleeves.
“First I’ll check to see if the jack is in the right spot.”
As he lay down to look under the car, Mary felt his eyes studying her and her face turned bright pink. She heard him chuckle as he turned his head, then said, “Someone sure was looking out for you, Miss. That jack wasn’t quite under far enough. If you had gotten those lug nuts loosened and jacked the car up, it could of come down on you. Bend down here and look.”
Mary didn’t know where to bend down to, so she looked under the front end and heard him laugh, “You won’t be able to see anything from there. Over here,” as he patted the dirt beside him.
As she knelt down beside him, she felt his eyes taking her in and he thought, ‘Well, Jake, old boy. Maybe you’ve met a taker this time. She sure fills out those jeans in the right places and that Betty Boop t-shirt sure does a lot for her.’
He heard, “Ahem. Mr. Burkley. What is wrong with the jack?”
“Oh yes, yes. You see this cradle part has to go around this part, like so. I won’t use technical terms until you are ready to learn to change a tire all by yourself.”
Mary backed away and stood up, “Well, I thought I was being so smart to get that under the car and it wasn’t even right. Thank you.”
To herself, she thought, ‘I wonder if he means he’ll teach me to change a tire,’ and she flipped her shoulder length auburn hair over her shoulder.
As Jake proceeded to loosen the lug nuts, he thought, ‘Lovely hair. Frames that pretty face perfectly.’
Mary said, “My gosh. I couldn’t loosen any of the nuts and here you have them all loose already.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I told you it was no problem at all.”
Jake was pleased with the affect she had on him and her genuine compliment about his work. He stood back, shook his head and said, “Mary, I hate to tell you this, but your spare is flat.”
“Oh my gosh! Now what will I do? Do you have a cell phone? I’ll call my brother to come get me.”
“No such thing, Mary. When I start a job, I see it through to the end. We’re five miles from town, so I’ll take you and the tires in. We’ll get them fixed and have your car up and running again real soon.”
He put both her tires in his car trunk and held the passenger door open for her to get in. She thought, ‘Well, he’s a gentleman, too.’ Out loud she said, “Thank you, Jake.”
As he walked around to the drivers side, he thought, ‘She’d kick me good, if she knew what I just pulled. But I couldn’t let her get away so quickly.’
At the tire repair shop, Jake rolled both tires in and talked in a whisper to the attendant. The guy smiled and shook his head and Jake said, “Fine, we’ll see you in an hour.”
“An hour,” Mary cried. What will we do for an hour?”
“Well, it is lunch time and I’m hungry. Aren’t you?”
Mary did feel little tuggings at her insides, but was it from hunger? Jake had taken her arm as he guided her towards Lucky’s Café. They each ordered a sandwich and a glass of milk. Mary thought, ‘It sure is strange, but it’s like we’ve known each other for years.’
Just then Jake said, “You know, I was just thinking. It seems like we’ve known each other a long time. It’s great being able to talk with you so easily.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Mary said. “It’s funny how time flies, but our hour is almost up. I owe you this one, Jake.”
“Thanks Mary, I appreciate that.”
Mary asked for the check and the man said, “All taken care of, Miss.”
“But, but,” Mary stammered as Jake took her arm and guided her out the door. “But I need to pay him.”
“Don’t worry so. I had him put it on my tab.”
“But it should have been my treat for all you’ve done for me.”
“Next time. O.K.?”
Was he suggesting they would see each other again? Mary excitedly said, “O.K.!”
They picked up the tires and returned to Mary’s car. Jake seemed nervous and quiet as he put all her equipment away. She turned to him and said, “I sure do thank you for all you have done today. I hope it didn’t make you late for an appointment or something important.”
He wiped his hands on the rag she handed him and said, “I was just out for a drive and….and you were in need of my assistance. So I was happy to help out.”
He threw the rag into the trunk and said, “Mary, I know we only met a while ago, but would you please have dinner with me tomorrow evening? I’d like to get to know you better.”
Mary’s heart did a flip-flop as she said, “You helped me with my difficult problem, so I cannot say no. I owe you, remember?”