CHAPTER 95

I left and headed into town to meet with Mr. Wilkerson at the bank. I was quickly ushered into his office, he was between meetings. I sat down and explained to him what I had in mind. I explained to him that I felt Ashley should have the house, truthfully I would never move back into it. Money was not an issue, so giving her the house felt like the right thing to do. He told me that he felt that was an admirable gesture on my part, the paperwork was a mere formality. I asked if it could be done without Ashley's knowledge. He said it certainly could, although once the deed and title was transferred to her, she would have to sign to accept. I told him to proceed with the paperwork, since I had no idea where the original papers were, he told me the bank kept copies of everything, he could work from those. I thanked him for his time, gave him my phone number and asked him to call me when everything was finalized. I then left and went back home , relaxed for a while waiting on Ashley's call. I decided to call Mr. & Mrs Timmons, seeing if it would be ok with them if I dropped by later that evening. Mrs Timmons told me although her husband was not home, she assured me it would be fine if I visited with them for a while. I told her I would come by at about seven o'clock or so, she thanked me and hung up.

A few minutes later Ashley called me and told me she was headed for the dealership. I walked out right away, arriving at exactly the same time she did, maybe a minute or two apart at best. I followed her back to the service department, where she began to explain to the service manager exactly how the vehicle had been performing lately. After listening to her, he mentioned she possibly might be having several different issues going on at once. He told her he would run some diagnostics on the vehicle, then call her later in the day.

We removed some groceries, a few other bags from her SUV, transferred to my rental and drove home. I helped her put away the groceries, then laid on the sofa and took a quick nap. By the time I got back up it was close to three o'clock. I heard Ashley in the kitchen, apparently talking on the phone. I caught the last remark she made before hanging up.

"I understand that, but I am a teacher in a small town, I don't make a lot of money. I'm not sure if I can afford that, can I come down and talk to you ? Thanks, I will be right there.", she said, hanging up.

Just about that time I walked into the kitchen, as if I had heard nothing. I poured a glass of iced tea, then sat at the table with her. I could instantly see she was worried , I pretended not to notice. Finally she looked up, her eyes met mine.

"Um Brian, can I borrow the car for a few minutes? I need to run over to the dealer to talk to him about the repairs on my SUV.", she asked.

"I'll take you, come on.", I answered.

"I'm sure you have better things to do than go to a car dealership ?", she replied, trying her best to be discreet.

"Nope.", I said, jumping up and grabbing my car keys.

With no argument left available, she shrugged her shoulders, grabbed her purse and followed me out the door. We took the short drive over to the dealer, went into the service manager's office and sat down. He listed the items that were giving Ashley problems, none of them sounded good. Apparently the wiring harness for the onboard computer system was going bad, causing the car to either not start sometimes, or just shut off while she was driving. In addition he told her the transmission was slipping, not severely, but enough that it would have to be addressed in the near future as well. On top of that, she needed a complete brake job, two ball joints and the universal joint changed. By the time he was finished with the list of items Ashley's face was white as a ghost. Just at that time, there was a knock on the door, a big young guy in company uniform came in with a clipboard. I immediately recognized him from high school, it was a former teammate of mine, Louis Hunter.

"Brian, Ms. Thompson, what are you guys doing here ?", he exclaimed.

I stood up and greeted an old friend, it had been a few years since I had seen Louis, or any of my former teammates for that matter.

"Hey buddy, I'm on my bye week, so I flew into town to see everyone. Ashley's has her SUV here for repairs.", I answered, hugging him as old friends do.

"Man it's good to see you dude. I hear you are lighting up the league man. I saw that catch against KC bro, it took my breath away.", he said.

"Thanks, things have been going well.", I replied.

He dropped the clipboard on the service manager's desk, then asked me to walk outside for a second so we could catch up. I followed him outside, to a small break room where the mechanics took their lunch.

"What vehicle is Ms. Thompson's ?", he asked.

"The gold SUV right there , next to the white pickup truck.", I said pointing out the window, that overlooked the service bays.

"I did the eval on that vehicle myself, it needs a lot of work Brian. I'm not sure it's even worth it.", he answered.

"He'll try to sell her the repair package, I'm guessing about seven to eight grand. Personally, I would take it, trade it in on something new. Don't mention what needs to be done, they might or might not catch it. If they don't you get a good trade in price and she's in a new car with no problems.", he finished.

"Thanks Louis, I appreciate it buddy.", I replied.

"Just don't let him know I told you that.", he laughed, pointing to the service manager's office.

I left my friend to his work and went back to where Ashley was still talking to the service manager. He was still trying to sell her on the repairs that were needed on her vehicle. She was holding the estimate in her hand, her eyes riveted to it. I reached over and gently pulled it from her hand and scanned the document quickly. Louis had been right, the repairs totaled over eighty five hundred dollars before taxes. I laid the estimate back on the manager's desk, leaning forward slightly in my chair.

"Get the vehicle ready, we have to think about this for a day or two, we will be back.", I said.

Ashley gave me a strange look, but the service manager shrugged his shoulders, called to the back and asked them to bring the SUV up front for customer pick up. I thanked him for his time, assuring him we would be back after we talked it over. Ashley climbed into her SUV and pulled out of the lot. I followed her home. When we were both back inside, she turned to me with a rather stern look on her face.

"Brian, I am an adult, I can make my own decisions you know.", she said, slightly scolding me.

I began to tell her of my conversation with Louis, what he had found, how he felt she was being overcharged for what they were actually doing. When I suggested we look at new vehicles, her tone got even colder.

"Brian, I can't afford a new car right now, there's no way.", she stated.

"But you can afford to pay over nine thousand bucks to fix a car that's four years old ?", I replied.

"Well no not really, I will have to make a loan from the teacher's credit union, I guess.", she said, somewhat embarrassed.

"So you will have a monthly note to pay anyway, let's see what kind of note we can get trading your SUV in, if it doesn't work, then use your plan and get it fixed.", I responded.

"Well we can look, but I know I can't afford a new car now.", she shot back, walking out of the room.