"My last mechanic charged me six hundred dollars for a problem he didn't fix."
He nodded toward the garage.
"Figure if you fix cars for kids who can't pay, you probably won't rob an old man."
Daniel looked at Nadia.
She raised both eyebrows.
Daniel sighed.
"Bring the truck around."
By 7:45, the garage parking lot was full.
Daniel unlocked the shop.
People entered.
Some wanted repairs.
Others brought coffee.
Someone dropped off doughnuts.
A retired teacher gave Daniel a twenty-dollar bill and told him to use it the next time somebody couldn't pay.
He tried to refuse.
She pushed it into his shirt pocket.
"Don't argue with retired teachers."
He accepted.
At 8:10, Karen and Grace arrived.
Karen wore scrubs again.
Grace looked embarrassed enough to disappear.
Daniel spotted them.
"Karen Hanson?"
She nodded.
"Daniel."
They met near the office.
Karen immediately said, "I'm sorry."
Daniel laughed despite himself.
"So you're responsible."
"I genuinely didn't expect this."
Grace said, "Mom has like two hundred Facebook friends."
Karen gave her a look.
"Thank you."
Daniel smiled.
"It's okay."
"Really?"
"No."
Karen laughed.
Daniel continued.
"But I'm getting there."
Nadia approached carefully.
"Would you be willing to speak with us?"
Daniel looked toward the camera.
"No."
Grace looked disappointed.
He saw it.
"Maybe five minutes."
Nadia brightened.
"That's all I need."
The interview took place in front of the garage.
Daniel felt ridiculous.
He was wearing work pants.
Grease already marked his hands.
Nadia stood beside him.
"Daniel, thousands of people have seen the story of what happened here last night. What made you decide to help Grace?"
Daniel looked at the camera.
He thought about Melissa.
Chloe.
The teacher who drove Chloe home.
The customer who overpaid.
All the people who had quietly helped him survive.
"It didn't feel like a decision."
Nadia waited.
"A kid was scared."
He shrugged.
"The car wasn't safe to drive."
"What else was I supposed to do?"
"Many people would have told her to call a tow truck."
Daniel looked toward Grace.
"She's sixteen."
"Seventeen," Grace corrected from behind the camera.
Daniel smiled.
"Seventeen."
Then he looked back.
"If my daughter is ever standing alone somewhere at night, I hope the person who finds her thinks of her as somebody's kid before they think of her as a customer."
Nadia's expression softened.
"You didn't charge anything."
"It was a hose clamp."
"Still your time."
Daniel smiled.
"I was already there."
Nadia asked about Melissa.
Daniel hesitated.
Then answered briefly.
"My wife died three years ago."
"I'm sorry."
"Thank you."
"I learned during that time that sometimes people survive because strangers help carry pieces they can't carry alone."
Nadia nodded.
"Is that what you were doing for Grace?"
Daniel looked toward the shop.
"Maybe."
The segment aired at noon.
By then, Daniel had no time to watch.
Cars kept arriving.
His phone rang constantly.
Online booking requests filled two weeks.
By early afternoon, Daniel called Marcus Odum.
Marcus had retired six months earlier after thirty-eight years as a mechanic.
Daniel had worked beside him when he was nineteen.
Marcus answered:
"If you're calling because you're famous, I already saw."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Can you help me?"
Marcus laughed for twenty seconds.
"I've been waiting my whole life to hear those words."
"Seriously."
"I'm serious too."
Marcus arrived forty minutes later.
Sixty-three.
Broad shoulders.
Gray hair.
Same sarcastic smile.
He stepped into the packed garage.
"This place finally has customers."
Daniel handed him gloves.
"I can still fire you."
"You can't afford to."
Marcus was right.
For the next week, Carter Auto became almost unrecognizable.