By Stacey and Meggie

Holding her hand tightly, Jeffrey guided Meggie down the stairs of the boarding house. Once outdoors, they marveled at the setting sun, at the red streaks across the horizon marking the end of yet another day.

"It’s beautiful here," Meggie finally spoke, leaning her head against Jeffrey’s right shoulder. His arm once again wrapped itself protectively around her, pulling her closer as if she would disappear or suddenly vanish.

"Yes, very lovely indeed. Not quite as lovely as you, my Meggie," he softly said, gazing lovingly down at her. She seemed more relaxed now, almost like her happy self he had fallen in love with a couple of months ago. Months…felt more like a lifetime ago now. But he realized what Ivy had said to him was true. Love is not something that we control; love finds us, somehow, someway, despite the wreckage and pain society generates over and over. It captures two hearts, and tenderly fills each soul with the hopes and yearnings for an eternal love, a union defined by mutual understanding, respect, and commitment. And above all else, the desire to grow each day, closer and closer, until the two hearts beat and exists as one.

Smiling, Meggie reached with her hand to touch his cheek. He looked happy now, content and at peace with himself. Is it possible to convince him to stay? To try making a new life here, with her, loving him completely for whom he is? Repair that broken bridge which kept them apart?

"My Jeep is parked over here," she finally said, pointing towards the parked vehicle. "It’s about a ten minute drive from here back to my home."

When Meggie put her key into the ignition and started the engine, a loud squealing and scraping noise, followed by white smoke, began drifting from under the hood. Quickly moving, Jeffrey ran to the Jeep’s hood to open it as Meggie shut the engine off.

"Careful, Jeffrey! It might still be hot!"

Coughing, he used his hand to wave the smoke away before peering down into the engine. "I think you’re going to need a mechanic to get this fixed, Meggie. Might be the coolant or the camshaft."

Meggie opened the driver’s door and walked up beside Jeffrey, frowning. "I just had this thing checked out before I left the States. Where will I get it fixed…wait, I remember seeing an advertisement in the Glen Times about a garage. I don’t remember the name of it, though. Maybe Andy would know."

The two walked back inside the boarding house and found Andy wiping up the counter. Explaining what had occurred, Andy supplied the name, address, and telephone number of the garage. Using her cell phone, Meggie dialed the garage hoping someone would be there to help.

Colin hung up the phone and quickly grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

"Where you off to, Col?" Kate called after him, as she followed him through the garage and into the office.

He flashed her a grin. "Gotta go save a damsel in distress. Wanna go with?"

"Nothing better to do," she sighed, jokingly, and then locked the office door behind her as she followed Colin out to the tow truck and climbed into the passenger seat.

It was a short drive to the boarding house, where Colin and Kate found the young woman and an older gentleman waiting alongside her Jeep. He pulled the tow truck up in front of it, slid out of the truck, and then walked up to greet them.

"G’day," he said, smiling friendly, as he stood in front of the couple. "You the young lady that called for the tow?"

"Yes, that’s me. Thank you. I appreciate the fast service and assistance," Meggie said, extending her hand to Colin. "Oh, I’m Meggie Ward. This is Jeffrey Wigand. We’re residents here at the Glen."

She liked Colin and the young woman with him right away.

"Good to meet you," Jeffrey spoke, shaking hands with Colin. He smiled at the woman beside Colin.

"Nice to meet you, too," Colin replied with a smile. "I’m Colin O’Brien and this lovely young lady next to me is my girlfriend, Kate Morrison."

Kate greeted the couple, whom she immediately liked, then stepped back to let Colin do his job.

"So, what seems to be the trouble then?" he asked, motioning towards the Jeep.

"This vehicle is pretty old, a 1998 model. I hope it’s still salvageable. I had just put the key into the ignition and turned it when the engine made this horrible…racket noise. And then smoke came pouring out from under the hood. That’s not very mechanical, is it?" Meggie added, laughing.

Colin tried to stifle a giggle, without much success. "Um, okay," he grinned, walking over to the front of the Jeep. "Pop the hood for me luv and I’ll give it a quick look."

She reached into the car and pulled a little lever and the hood popped open. Colin lifted it up and bent down to take a look at the engine. After a moment, he poked his head around the hood. "Go ahead and turn the key for me, luv," he told Meggie, as Kate watched over his shoulder.

The car began making what sounded like metal scraping together. Colin winced at the sound, and quickly motioned for Meggie to stop. Kate handed him a rag to wipe the grease from his hands as he stepped out from in front of the car.

"Good news and bad news, luv," he said, as he walked up to the driver’s side of the car where Meggie sat.

She winced. "What’s the good news first?"

Jeffrey, who had remained standing back, chuckled as well. He’d see if she wanted to just stay at the boarding house for the night, or whether she wanted to go home.

"Well, the good news is that I know what’s wrong and I can fix it," he replied, closing the hood of her car with a loud bang.

"That part I like. And the bad…" Meggie asked, wincing as if in pain. Her brother had told her repeatedly to get rid of that "old junker" and buy something more, "modern," as he liked to say. But to her, the blue Jeep was special and still had plenty of fire and spunk inside it to keep running.

"Bad news is it’s gonna take a bit for me to fix," Colin told her, as he continued to wipe the grease from his hands. "Needs a new alternator, and seeing how it’s an older model I’ll have to call around and see if I can track one down for ya. With luck, I’ll be able to find one in Coff’s and have the car back to ya in a couple of days."

Meggie breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that’s all right. I’m just glad you’re able to fix the old gal."

Jeffrey approached Meggie, reaching out to hold her hand. "I’ll drive you home, Meggie. And stop and get the paperwork filled out for your ‘ol gal,’" he said, smiling down into her worried face.

"Colin, Kate, I wish to thank you both for your help. For coming so quickly. Jeffrey and I’ll follow you to the garage to take care of the paperwork."

"No worries, luv," Colin told her, with a smile. "Happy to help. Give me two ticks to rig up the Jeep to my tow truck and we’ll be off.

Moments later, the Jeep securely attached to the tow truck, the group headed down the road for Colin’s garage. Once they arrived, Colin and Kate showed the couple into the office to get started on the paperwork.

"Alright then, Ms. Ward, everything seems to be in order here," Colin told her as he scanned back over the paperwork he’d written up before handing it to her. "I’ve written in my estimate here," he said, pointing to it on the form, and then continued, "With parts and labor, it shouldn’t come to more than around $200. If you will just sign here at the bottom I can get started."

Nodding her head, Meggie signed the form and handed Colin her credit card. "Sounds good. Should I call in a few days to check on it?" She also handed her car keys to him feeling a bit more relaxed knowing the Jeep could be fixed.

Colin took the keys from her, attached a tag to them and placed them with the paperwork in a clear plastic slip. "No need. If you leave me a number where I might contact you, I’ll give you a ring as soon as I can locate the part. Shouldn’t take more than a day, I would think. I’ll get started making calls right away."

He stood up, and then walked the couple to the door.

"Thank you again, Colin. And you too, Kate. I guess I’ll be hearing from you soon." Jeffrey reached for her hand, also thanking Colin.

"Now you can show me your new place, darling," he said gazing down into Meggie’s face.

Getting into his silver Audi, the two headed towards Meggie’s home.