Not what are you going to do.
What would help.
She sat.
“I need car.”
“Eventually.”
“I have $1,840.”
“Budget three?”
“Maybe by summer.”
“What if shop helps you find something at cost?”
She looked.
“How?”
“We get trade-ins sometimes.”
“Customers abandon old vehicles when repairs exceed value.”
“Some are structurally good.”
“Could find one needing labor more than expensive parts.”
“You pay parts.”
“Shop donates labor?”
Rachel shook head.
“No.”
Marcus waited.
“Why no?”
“Because that’s hundreds.”
“Then we structure.”
“Caleb helps where safe.”
“You pay over time.”
“No interest.”
“Normal invoice.”
Rachel considered.
Not charity.
Not exactly.
But help.
Transparent.
She asked:
“What if car breaks?”
“Then you bring back and complain like everyone.”
Dean called from across bay:
“She will.”
Rachel laughed.
“Okay.”
The search took six weeks.
They rejected five cars.
Too much rust.
Transmission slipping.
Cooling problems.
One had electrical nightmare Dean described as “haunted.”
Then a customer named Mrs. Elaine Cooper brought in a 2007 Toyota Corolla after engine overheating.
She was seventy-four and planned to buy newer car anyway.
Diagnosis:
radiator leak.
Water pump worn.
Thermostat questionable.
Front brakes needed within months.
Car body good.
Engine compression good.
Transmission good.
Mrs. Cooper asked trade value.
Dealer offered eight hundred.
Marcus asked permission to tell her about Rachel.
Not pressure.
She listened.
Then said:
“I’ll sell for eight hundred if she wants.”
Marcus shook head.
“Car worth more even needing repair.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because dealer gives eight.”
“If she gives eight, same to me.”
Marcus smiled.
“That’s your choice.”
Rachel came.
Drove.
Loved nothing about appearance.
Beige.
Boring.
Exactly what she wanted.
“How much repair?”
Marcus calculated parts at cost.
Radiator.
Pump.
Thermostat.
Coolant.
Front brakes soon.
Tires acceptable one season.
“About six-fifty parts.”
Rachel looked terrified.
“Plus eight hundred.”
“One thousand four-fifty.”
She had $1,840.
But registration.
Insurance.
Gas.
She could manage.
Marcus offered labor installment.
She shook head.
“No.”
Then looked toward Caleb.