Carwash

"I'll look forward that, Mrs. Kimball, and I'd like it if you'd call me Chandler."

She smiled and in spite of looking like a wet doll, it was obvious she was a very pretty woman.

"I will if you'll call me Hadley," she said with a smile.

"And you can call me Avery," Avery let him know.

"Oh, I can, can I?" Chandler said as he took her chocolate and put a lid on it for her.

"Yes. Because that's my name. Avery Marie Kimball," she informed him.

He handed her the cup then bent down and said, "How do you know that's your name? Do you have a drivers license or something with your name on it?"

Avery giggled then said, "I'm only four years old. I can't drive a car, silly!"

"I see," Chandler said. "Would you please promise me you won't ever get out of the car again unless you ask your mom?"

She nodded her head several times and said, "I promise!"

The SUV was ready to go when they got outside, and Hadley thanked him profusely again for everything.

"It was my pleasure," he assured her.

He took the wet towels from her then said, "Here. Let me put a couple more in your seat and all around and hopefully that'll help until you can get home and dried off."

He noticed she was still shaking so he grabbed another large terrycloth towel and replaced the one that had been draped over her shoulders.

"Okay. Now if I can just get home without losing my d...."

She looked around and Avery wasn't there and Hadley nearly panicked.

Chandler bent down and looked under the SUV. He saw her tiny feet on the other side of the car and said, "There she is!"

"Be still my beating heart," Hadley said. "I'll just go put her in her seat and...."

"I'll get her," Chandler said.

"No, you don't need to...."

"It's fine," he assured he as he walked around back.

"There's the marshmallow lover!" he said.

He opened her door then asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, I am," she told him clutching her cup with both hands.

He scooped her up and zoomed her high over his head then lowered her into the seat making airplane noises.

Avery laughed loudly and said, "Do that again, please!"

"Oh, sorry. One ride per customer," he said very seriously.

"You're funny!" she said as he buckled her in.

Once Avery was set he called out, "Okay. You're all set Mrs.... Hadley."

"Thank you so much, Chandler!" she called back just before he closed Avery's door.

She waved as she pulled out, and Chandler waved back. He smiled when he saw Avery opening and closing her tiny hand as she tried to wave, too.

"Cute kid," he said to the man standing next to him.

"Si, senor. Y la mujer es muy bonita," the other man said.

Chandler had picked up a quite a bit of Spanish from his employees, and knew he'd said, "Yes, she is, and the woman is very pretty."

Chandler smiled then said, "Si, es la verdad, Jorge," which means roughly, "Yeah, that's the truth, George."

Thankful both the woman and her daughter were okay—and that she wouldn't be suing him—he went back to work and largely forgot about the incident for the next two weeks until she pulled back into the carwash.

"Hey! How are you Mrs...sorry...Hadley? It's good to see you again."

Chandler peeked behind her shoulder and said, "And isn't that Miss Avery McMarshmallow back there?"

She was playing with a doll and didn't look up, but she did giggle at his silliness before saying, "Yes, it is."

"Do you remember me?" Chandler asked. "Hot chocolate, marshmallows."

Suddenly she looked up and said, "Mommy? Can we please...."

"Not today, honey. We just need to get the car all nice and clean. Do you want to come around and put the money in the machine for me?"

Then she looked at Chandler and said, "I almost forgot. I have your towels with me. All washed, dried, and neatly folded."

"You didn't need to do that," he told her knowing a few towels was a small price to pay to avoid a lawsuit.

"I just feel bad for hanging onto them so long," she said dismissing his comment. "I've never owned a business, but I have managed a couple, and I understand inventory and the like."

Her comments weren't lost on Chandler as he helped her out and told her, "I'm upgrading both locations to take credit cards next month so you won't have to get out and get change for a ten or twenty anymore."

"Don't tell Avery that! She loves this thing."

"May I?" Chandler asked when Avery came around.

"Um, sure," she said.

"Chandler is going to pick you up this time, okay, honey? Here's the money. Just set in the tray and...."

"I know, Mommy," she assured her mother as Chandler raised her up.

"And we lay it in the tray just like this with George Washingmaton's picture like that!" Avery said as she laid the twenty-dollar bill with Andrew Jackson's face on in the tray.

"And then we push the slidy thing just...like...this."

It made a noise then spit out four five-dollar bills and Avery clapped.

"All right! You did it," Chandler said as he lowered her down.

"Yes. I always do the slidy thing," she informed him.

"Now you get the new dollars, Mommy," she told Hadley just in case she forgot.

She and Chandler chuckled at the tutorial before he told Hadley, "Remember, you have a freebie coming."

"And you please remember, I never take something for nothing," she reminded him with a smile.

He'd been so surprised to see her he hadn't even noticed how nice she looked. Jorge was absolutely right. Hadley was muy bonita. She was as attractive as any woman over 30 he'd ever seen, and that was saying something as Chandler noticed pretty much every good-looking woman over 30.

He'd lost interest in girls his age several years back and had no desire to date anyone who cared what Kim Kardashian said or thought about anything. He understood that just being 30 or even 40 was no guarantee of maturity or intelligence, but being 18 or 19 was a near-certain guarantee those very important qualities he valued so highly in a woman would be severely lacking and in too many cases, missing altogether.

Chandler wasn't sure why he asked but he did ask.

"Any chance I could talk you into coming inside for another cup of coffee?"

He smiled at Avery and said, "Or hot chocolate?"

"Well, I do have to return your towels, and we're not in too big a hurry today, so...sure. We could do that," Hadley told him with another bright smile.

"Can I have lots and lots of marshamallows again?" Avery asked immediately.

"You can have as many as your mom says you can. How's that?" Chandler told her.

"A little splash of cream, right?" he said as he poured her coffee.

"Wow. And you remembered my name. I'm impressed," she told him as she set his towels on the cheap leather couch with metal arms.

"Good customer service means customer satisfaction," he told her with a smile. "I didn't mention it last time, but I also own the carwash on 14th street you said you normally use."

"Oh, right. I completely forgot. Yes, that's more convenient, but this one is also on my way when I'm in this part of town," she told him as he handed her the cup before getting some hot chocolate for little Miss Avery.

"I have to say, you're by far the youngest owner of any business I've ever been associated with," she told him in a way that wasn't condescending.

He handed Avery her cup then sat down across from her and explained how he got into the carwash business.

"Ah, so you're an entrepreneur then," she said as a compliment.

"I'm working on it," he told her modestly.

Remembering what she'd said earlier he asked, "You mentioned having managed a business or two. Are you currently working anywhere?"

"Oh. No. I um...I quit after my husband passed away," she said. "I really enjoyed my job, but the stress level was very high and after losing James it was just too much. Why do you ask?"

"I've been looking for a manager of my other location, but I've been so busy over here getting this one up and running, I haven't had time to interview anyone. The guy who's in charge is okay, but I really need someone with managerial experience who can take care of the administrative and logistical side of things."

He smiled at Hadley then said, "You wouldn't by any chance be interested in a job, would you?"

"Honestly? I'm at a point where I think I'm ready to go back to work. I'm just not ready to work 60-hour weeks in an intense, very high-stress environment. I'm not sure I ever will be again, but I do miss working, and to be honest, the money would be very nice."

"I'd only ask for around 30 hours a week, and you could choose the hours if you need to drop Avery off or pick her up from school. I can't offer you full benefits, but I can offer all the free coffee you can drink. The pay won't be anywhere what you're used to, I'm sure, but I can pay $25 an hour. Even if you only did admin and logistics, that would be fantastic. But if you could maybe flash that beautiful smile of yours to our customers...."

Hadley laughed and said, "For a minute I thought you were going to say my 'legs' and my first thought was scaring them away!"

"Um...not hardly," Chandler told her with a smile.

"You know...that's very close to my home, and if I could come in after dropping off my daughter...."

"Sure or leave early to go get her," Chandler filled in. "If you think you might be interested, just bring me a resume at your convenience, and if everything checks out, I'd love to have you on the team."

"You know what? I may just take you up on that. You're right, it's nowhere near what I was making, but it sounds like the right level of pace. With Avery gone for a half day, I don't want to sit and do nothing, and I don't think I'm ready to handle constant high pressure yet, but this might be perfect. I'd just have to figure out how to take care of childcare once I pick Avery up."

"You could bring her back to the carwash. The office is the same size as this one, and we could create a little play area in the corner by your desk," Chandler offered.

"You'd let me do that?" Hadley said not sure she heard him correctly.

"Yes. Definitely. The current manager makes quite a few administrative errors. Fixing them costs far more than I'd pay you to keep from letting them get made. And that frees him back up to detail cars, the one thing he's really good at. So if letting your daughter stay with you incentivizes you to take the job, then that's a no brainer," he told her sincerely.

Hadley, who'd been listening intently and occasionally smiling suddenly got very quiet. When Chandler saw her eyes glistening with tears he stopped talking.

"Are you okay?" he asked kindly.

Hadley blinked twice then said, "Since I lost my husband, I haven't experienced much in the way of kindness. We moved out here from Ohio a year before James got sick and all of our family is back there. They came out for the funeral and my mom stayed for a month, but other than that, it's been pretty...."

She stopped talking then said, "Sorry. I don't take something for nothing, and I try not to complain. It's just that you've been extraordinarily kind to me and my daughter, and I think it just all hit me at once. I promise you I'm not an emotional basket case, Chandler."

"I never thought that," he said in a soft tone. "In fact, I've thought just the opposite since I met you. I see you as incredibly strong, very brave, and a totally devoted mother. My gut tells me you're going to be perfect for the job, so I'm the one who's grateful."

Chandler went on to give her a fairly good rundown on what she'd be doing and Hadley said, "Then I'll get you that resume ASAP. Oh, and you mentioned Carl not being so good at telling others what to do. Please know I have no problem at with that I believe in the honey/vinegar thing and I'm definitely a honey."

Chandler smiled and only then did Hadley realized what she'd just said.

"Oh, my gosh. I can't believe I just said that! No wonder you're laughing. At my age, who wouldn't!" she said cheerfully.

"No, it wasn't that," Chandler told her. "In fact, I was thinking just the opposite again. I was thinking how accurate that statement was."

Hadley laughed for the first time and Chandler thought she was...gorgeous.

"Now that is funny!" she said. "Me? A honey? Please!"

"I'm not your boss yet, so it isn't harassment for me to tell you are a very beautiful woman, Hadley. You're either being polite or you're just very unaware if you try telling me otherwise. Either way, you are most definitely a honey. Or I guess the better word is—hottie."

Hadley smiled in a way that told him she was flattered if not touched by his words.

"Well, thank you. You have no idea how good you just made me feel. My husband always told me I was beautiful, but we were the same age and grew older together so I always believed him."

Chandler smiled before saying, "So...you don't believe me when I say it?"

"It's not that I don't believe you. It's just that you're...well, you're a very handsome young man, and it doesn't make sense that you would think of a woman my age as...."

She looked away for a second then said reluctantly, "Hot."

She laughed again then said, "I don't think anyone has ever used that word to describe me. Well, except for James."

"What can I say? I just call 'em like I see 'em and you really are a very attractive...hot... woman."

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence were no one spoke when Avery said, "May I have some more marshamallows, please?"

"We need to get going, Pooter Poot," Hadley said.

"Ahhh!" the little girl said putting on a pout.

"I can't believe she's sat here drinking her chocolate with nothing else to do. At home, she's got five things going at once and runs me ragged."

Hadley laughed again then said, "Maybe that's why I want a job. You know, to um...get a break from Miss Precocious over here. Except that if she's with me half the time...."

"What does preekoshot mean, Mommy?" Avery asked knowing it had something to do with her.

"It means...I love you very much, sweetie," she said smiling at Chandler.

"She really is a sweetie," Chandler agreed.

"Yeah, I think I'll keep her," Hadley said as she gently brushed back her daughter's long, blonde hair that looked a lot like her mother's.

Chandler laughed too, then said, "She's gonna be a honey or a hottie or whatever someday, too."

Hadley smiled warmly at him then said, "I guess it's a good thing I'll be working several miles away from you and your smooth-talking, silver tongue."

"And don't forget my dashingly good looks," he said in a clearly joking way.

"I...I don't think I will," she said in a way that made Chandler wonder if there might ever be any possibility of maybe one day....

"I have to go potty, Mommy!" Avery announced snapping him out of his fantasy.

"Right over there," Chandler said pointing to the restroom.

"Are the restrooms gender compliant?" Hadley asked, a hot topic in Washington State the last few years.

"We only have one at each location so I just put up the sign that lets people know it's first-come, first-served."

When Avery came out her mom asked her if she washed her hands then told her to tell Mr. Caulfield goodbye.

"Bye nice man!" she said with a pretty smile.

"Bye, Marshmallow Girl!" he told her.

"May I walk you out?" he asked Hadley.

"Um...sure. That would be nice. Thank you, Chandler," she said sweetly.

He opened her car door and she promised she'd drop off a resume in the next day or so.

"I'll look forward to it," he told her with a smile. "You know, I'm sorry about what happened here a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not sorry it gave me the opportunity to meet you."

She smiled back then said, "Yeah. Me, too. Sometimes life surprises us just when we least expect it."

"Well, it was a very pleasant surprise, at least from my perspective," he told her sincerely.

She sat down then looked up at him while he held the door open for her and said, "You're a very unusual young man, Chandler Caulfield."

He laughed quietly then said, "Don't forget you said a very handsome young man, okay?"

"Yes. I did say that, didn't I? Perhaps I was briefly delusional or something. I did inhale a lot of soap suds here, you know," she replied trying hard not to laugh.

"Bring me that resume, okay?" he said before closing the door.

"Will do. Bye, Chandler," she said still smiling.

"Bye, Marshmallow Girl!" he said to Avery.

"Bye Mr. Nice Man!" she said loudly before giggling again.

As she drove off, Jorge walked up beside him again and said, "Jefe, you like her, no?"

Chandler didn't know he was there this time, and he was thinking about Hadley to the point where he was startled by the other man's voice.

"Oh, hey there, Jorge. Um, yeah. She's very nice."

"Si. And she is very nice looking, no?"

"Yes, she is. She lost her husband a year or so ago, but I don't think she's into guys my age. But yes, she's muy bonita."

"You never know, jefe. Maybe someday you ask her out, no?"

Chandler laughed then said, "Si, es posible. I guess that's possible. Come on, mi amigo. We've got work to do."

True to her word Hadley came by two days later and asked Chandler if this was a good time to give him her resume. He couldn't help but notice her hair and makeup were perfect and she was wearing a very nice-looking dress.

She saw him notice and smiled.

"I thought I should be ready for an interview just in case," she told him.

"Wow. You look great," he told her.

"Thank you. I didn't mean to interrupt, but I did promise I'd drop my resume off."

"You did," Chandler said. "Look, I was just getting ready to have lunch. Is there any chance I could talk you into joining me? It's on me, of course."

She smiled then asked, "Is this...a business lunch?"

He smiled back and asked, "Would that affect your decision?"

"No, I don't think it would," she told him truthfully with a pretty smile.

"Then let me take you to lunch. I can look over your resume, and we can better acquainted."

Chandler didn't tell her he always brown-bagged it and had his lunch in the little refrigerator in his office nor that he almost always ate at his desk while he took care of paperwork. But after seeing Hadley and how beautiful she looked, going to a decent restaurant suddenly seemed like a very good idea.

"Let me just change shirts real quick, okay?" he said. He didn't typically get too dirty or wet, but he always kept a couple of nice shirts on hand just in case.

She thanked him when he opened the door for her and asked if she'd like some coffee and this time she declined.

"Okay, I'll just be a sec," he said.

He didn't really have a private area, but he did have a partition that went up to about chest level. Hadley pretended not to look as he quickly stripped off his shirt and threw on something a little nicer.

In those brief seconds she was aware he was even taller than she'd remembered and although she could tell he had an athletic body she didn't know he looked like that until she saw his chest, shoulders, and upper arms.

She felt somewhere between embarrassed and downright silly for even noticing, but together with his very handsome face, that perfect smile, and his great-looking, very thick, dark hair, he was really quite good attractive. When she factored in his maturity, work ethic, and amazing personality she couldn't help but think how lucky some young girl would be one day.

He turned his back to her and she even noticed his lats, something she just never did. She'd been happily married for eight years and had never so much as looked at another man—any man—since the day she fell in love with James Kimball some ten years ago. But as much as she hated to admit it, she was no longer married and she also had to admit, at least to herself, that Chandler Caulfield was different from most men of any age in many ways. And from what she knew so far, all of them were positive.