Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela (8 page)

―Were you suddenly struck blind on your way in here?‖ Irene

snapped. ―She has an interview at
The Carlton
.‖ She enunciated the

name of one of Pittsburgh‘s finest restaurants with the slightest trace of

condescension before adding, ―Not Chuckie Cheese.‖ Irene swiveled

her chair towards Tish, saying, ―I can get you a nice white blouse and a

suit from The Closet.‖ The Closet was the term ACC used for the on-

site collection of clothing and shoes that Irene maintained for her

protégés to wear to interviews. All were donations from her wide circle

of contacts.

Though he couldn‘t really see what was wrong with Tish‘s

choice—other than it being a bit bright—Nick stepped in and soothed

ruffled feathers on both sides, eventually convincing Tish to take

Irene‘s advice.

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

43

After Tish had flounced out, Irene collected her Furla handbag

and file folders while shooting Nick a sardonic look. ―For a gay man,

you know dick-all about clothes, you know that?‖

―How about just ‗for a man‘? How does my sartorial knowledge

stack up then?‖ Nick retorted. ―Despite what you may have heard, the

‗gay‘ part
does not
negate the ‗man‘ part.‖

Fortunately, Irene, along with all of her other bruising traits, was

almost impossible to insult. ―Okay. Point taken.‖ She leaned her tall,

athletic frame briefly against the doorjamb, saying, ―I promise I‘ll

never again accuse you of being
fabulous
.‖

Despite her imperious nature, Nick couldn‘t help liking this

difficult woman—and it wasn‘t simply because she devoted countless

unpaid hours to ACC, though he would have been hard put to give

another concrete reason. ―Thank you,‖ he laughed. ―You get Tish that

job, and I‘ll forget it ever happened.‖

Nick expected his session with Norah to be less demanding than

Tish and Irene‘s had been, though there was quite a bit of ground to

cover. In May, Trudy had ―strongly suggested‖ that Nick move his

appointments with Norah from every other week to once a month. He

had acceded to his boss‘s wishes, reluctantly acknowledging that most

of his misgivings probably sprang from his sheer personal fondness for

Norah.

It was Nick who had picked up the battered and shaken girl from

the Uni-Mart all those months ago, Nick who had supported her

throughout her progress to independence, and now Nick who faced

―cutting the cord.‖ But not yet. He knew with the conviction of an

experienced abuse counselor that she was not ready yet.

Twenty minutes into the session he was more convinced than

ever. Norah persisted in asking when it would be ―okay‖ for her to start

dating again. Nick always fervently advised his clients to delay entering

a new relationship until they had a chance to be alone for a while and

develop a healthy attitude towards men—and themselves.

―Why? Got your eye on someone?‖ he joked cautiously.

―No, not that. It‘s just that I miss….‖

―Sex?‖ he supplied.

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Felicia Watson

Norah laughed uproariously. ―Oh, hell no. Gotta say, never saw

what all the fuss was about there.‖

―Too bad, but when you meet the right guy, you will.‖

―Right.‖ She nodded vigorously, and Nick saw her trying to

convince herself more than anything else.

Feeling the desk was too great a barrier between them for the rest

of this conversation, Nick moved to the other guest chair, positioning

himself directly across from Norah. ―You were saying? You miss….‖

―I miss the way…. I miss feeling… important, I guess.‖ She

hastily added, ―I know the way Alex treated me was wrong and he had

no right to do those terrible things, but there was also the way he was

so… so
passionate
about me. I know it got all twisted and fucked up,

but… but the love….‖ By now Norah was staring at the hands tightly

clasped in her lap. She went on in a near whisper. ―It was there in the

beginning….‖ She turned tearful eyes on Nick, finishing, ―Know what I

mean?‖

Nick took a minute to leach all exasperation from his attitude

before he answered, ―Norah, don‘t confuse possessiveness with a show

of overpowering love.‖

―I know you told me that a million times, but—‖

―No!‖ Instantly regretting his outburst, Nick took a deep breath,

making time to deliberately dial back his approach. ―There are no

‗buts‘ with that distinction. The two things couldn‘t be further apart.

The way Alex treated you—even in the beginning—was all about
him
.

When you love someone you want
them
to be happy. When you need to

control them, own them and order them around, it‘s all about
you
.‖ He

dipped his head so he could catch her eye and shoot her an encouraging

smile.

―I know all that. But I can‘t help wanting…. I been working so

hard for so long. When does it start to pay off?‖

―It already has. Give yourself some credit. You have a job. Okay,

not the greatest job in the world, but they love you there and it‘s just a

stepping stone. You have an apartment—‖

―That I gotta share with two other girls.‖

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

45

―Yes, but a third of that place is all yours. You have rights and

you‘re not afraid to exercise them. You have a car that you‘re learning

how to keep running. It‘s all coming together. Give yourself a little

more time—time to heal and time to get to know Norah Seebold and

what she really wants out of life.‖

―And then what?‖

―And then when the right man comes along, you‘ll be ready to

give
and take
, to build something together. When genuine love

happens, you‘ll know it.‖

―Is that how it worked for you?‖

Nick wished he hadn‘t long ago decided to be completely honest

with his clients and patients. A resounding ―yes‖ would have been the

capper to that little speech, but he couldn‘t possibly lie to Norah‘s

earnest face. Instead, he evaded wryly, ―Umm sure… any day now.‖

LOGAN was mentally girding himself for his second automotive class

as he parked near the garage steps; he hiked up them hoping there was

to be no repeat of ―storytelling time.‖ Hearing about Tish and Norah‘s

past was hard enough, but the worst part had been figuring that he was

now unfairly lumped in with creeps like that Alex and Joe. He felt a

brief rush of anger at Trudy… or maybe it was Linda‘s doing for

holding a grudge… or Marie for putting her up to it….

He was still casting about for a scapegoat when he was stopped

short by the sight of the wide-open garage door. It wasn‘t even two-

forty-five, and there was no sign of Norah‘s car, so Logan guessed it

must be the owner come to check on his shop. However, when he

entered the garage, he found none other than Nick Zales. He was

wearing dress pants, Logan noticed, topped by a coarse weave, off-

white shirt; his sleeves were rolled up, displaying muscular arms.

Nick had one hand on his hip while the other was carding through

his thick brown hair as he stood staring at the red convertible. He

started ever so slightly at Logan‘s approach and straightened up,

saying, ―Oh, hey, Logan. You‘re early.‖

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Felicia Watson

―Yeah. Where‘re the girls and the car?‖

―Norah‘s picking Tish and Cheryl up; I had a court appearance

today.‖ Logan cocked his head, wondering what the man had done to

necessitate that. The unspoken question must have been evident, since

Nick immediately clarified, ―A client of mine needed to get a

restraining order.‖

Logan wanted that subject taken off the table immediately, so he

gestured at the Thunderbird, saying, ―Still thinking about that car,

huh?‖

―Thinking I maybe just made a huge mistake, yes.‖

―A mistake. You mean… you went ahead and bought it?‖

―Yep. After Dave dropped the price a bit, I took the plunge.‖ Nick

added with a laugh, ―Because apparently insanity really does run in my

family.‖ Abruptly the smile left his face, and he cleared his throat while

plainly attempting to reassemble his genial face into something sterner.

Logan wondered why the sensation of a cloud covering the sun

swept over him even though they were standing inside. He shook it off,

asking, ―That Dave guy gonna restore it for you?‖

―No, he‘s still not up to coming back to work. Besides I don‘t

have the money for that on top of what I just spent. He threw in use of

the shop as part of the deal, so I‘m gonna try an‘ do most of it myself.‖

―You ever done anything like that?‖

―Nope, but I do a lot of work on my Jeep, and I downloaded a

bunch of stuff off the Internet. I figure if I take it slow, I can‘t mess it

up too badly. What have I got to lose? Besides six thousand dollars,

that is.‖

Without thinking, Logan blurted out, ―I could help.‖

Nick‘s head jerked towards him as he answered warily, ―Thanks,

but… I really couldn‘t afford to pay you….‖

Wishing he could either take his words back or disappear right

through the concrete floor, Logan mumbled, ―I didn‘t mean….‖ He let

the annoyance he felt at himself creep into his voice as he said, ―Look,

I just like workin‘ on cars, okay? I wasn‘t lookin‘ to make a bunch of

money—‖

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

47

Nick cut off Logan‘s mounting anger with a raised palm. ―Hey, I

couldn‘t let you do it for free.‖ Logan had no intention of repeating his

offer, but Nick added uncertainly, ―But I really could use your help….‖

He made a quick calculation, and before he lost his nerve, Logan

offered, ―Let me get the parts. I can get ‘em a whole lot cheaper than

you could. Then, when we‘re all done, you could just give me a quarter

of what ya spent on parts. That way you won‘t spend no more‘an you

were gonna, and I‘ll get somethin‘ for my work. How‘s that sound?‖

The smile came back with no attempt to hide it. ―Sounds good.‖

Logan tried to disguise his answering smile behind a gruff, ―So

when did ya wanta start?‖

―I really hadn‘t given it much thought. Do you have time on

Saturday mornings… or afternoons?‖

―Nope. I work most Saturdays.‖ Logan didn‘t feel it necessary to

add that he also saw his girls every other Saturday afternoon, instead

suggesting, ―How ‘bout Sunday—that‘s my other day off.‖

―Yeah, sure, that‘ll work fine. Can‘t do it this Sunday, but…

wanta get started next weekend?‖

Logan gladly agreed. He had nothing better to do with his

Sundays and felt an almost giddy eagerness to work on that car. No

more was said about their plan since Norah‘s car was heard pulling up

the driveway.

With growing confidence, Logan capably executed his plan for

the second class—showing the women how to examine the brake pads

and the air filter and how to check the fluid levels. All three pupils were

earnest in their efforts, but Tish was picking things up much quicker

than the other two, so much so that Logan asked if she‘d had any

experience with auto repair.

―Not unless you count my brother Butch teaching me how to

hotwire a car.‖ She immediately launched into a detailed and accurate

description of the process.

Logan cut her off with the reproach, ―That ain‘t gonna do you

much good for keepin‘ your car runnin‘.‖

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Felicia Watson

―Yeah, that‘s what Nick said when he talked me into this. He

went on about how I‘d never really be independent ‘til I could take care

of my own car.‖

Norah wiped the grease off her hands, saying, ―He said I‘d save a

bunch of money and no mechanic could take advantage of me.‖ She

turned to Logan saying, ―Umm… no offense.‖

Shrugging, Logan said, ―None taken; there‘s that kind out there

for sure.‖ He was more surprised to learn that he wasn‘t the only

reluctant participant in this class. He glanced over at Nick intently

typing away in the corner and wondered at the effort he‘d expended

just to put together this one module.

―How ‘bout you?‖ Norah‘s question was directed at Cheryl, who

was gingerly replacing the dipstick. Her sweet smile appeared briefly as

she answered, ―Same as both of you. I was kinda scared it‘d be too

hard.‖ Warming to the subject, she added with a blush, ―But Nick said

he knew I could do it.‖

―Oh,‖ Norah laughed. ―He pulled the charm card on you.‖

When Cheryl‘s blush only deepened, Tish joined the fray.

―Another one crushin‘ on Nick. Get in line, honey. If that man weren‘t