Page 108 of Structure of Love

Emma handed me the Carfax, which matched the one I’d found online showing her as the only owner, and there were no wrecks reported. She’d also been good about the maintenance on the car, and considering its age, it was remarkable it only had a hundred and twenty thousand miles on it. She’d averaged maybe ten thousand miles a year, so basically just buzzing around this area, seemed like.

I popped the hood, checking out a few things and whatnot, but I seriously didn’t see an issue with this car besides the smell. I finally shrugged and returned to Emma.

“Two thousand?” I offered. “Cash.”

Emma stuck out a hand. “Sold.”

Well, that had been easy. I couldn’t blame her. At least her husband was finally leaving the doghouse.

She had the right paperwork with her in the car—I guessed she’d brought it just in case—and we filled it out. I put the car in Erin’s name. It was her car, after all. I transferred the money over to Emma, got the keys and the spare keys, and we were sold.

“Hey, Emma?” Erin waggled her phone. “I think I’ll do a TikTok series of me getting this car back in shape. I’ll save your number so I can send you the link, and you can follow along, if you’d like.”

“I’d love to. I feel bad for this car.” Emma swapped phones with her to make the exchange. “What’s your plan?”

“So, I know of a product that is used to get vomit smell out,” Erin explained. “I’m, like, ninety percent sure it’ll do the ticket. If not, my brother knows someone who does interior car work, so we can just rip it all out and replace it if I’m wrong.”

“Wonderful plan,” she said, approving wholeheartedly. “Send me the link to that product too, if you don’t mind. Just in case I need it in the future.”

“Sure thing. Oh, and do you have pictures of the initial damage? So I know what spots to focus on.”

“I sure do. I’ll text them to you.”

Smart question. Then again, my sister was smarter than me. That wasn’t hard, as I wasn’t some genius. I’d succeeded in life because of spite and determination, not brains.

We said our goodbyes and I turned to Erin. “You’re driving.”

“It’s my car, of course I’m driving. Let’s take it to the house and then go get a carpet cleaner and the product I need.”

“Okeedokalee.” I felt like that was as good a game plan as any.

Erin got into the car but immediately opened the sunroof and all the windows. Trying to air it out some, eh? Well, hopefully it made the drive more bearable. Fortunately for her, it was a short trip.

Still couldn’t believe we got this car for two thousand dollars. That was insane. All because of this stench, too. Erin had done some amazing shopping here. Once we got the car back to rights, she’d likely drive it for years. A hundred and twenty thousand miles was a lot for some vehicles, but not a Volvo. I’d seen some of them go four hundred thousand miles.

Erin looked a tinge green by the time she parked the car in my driveway. I didn’t tease her, because at least she hadn’t thrown up and made the whole situation worse. I just drove her to the hardware store so she could rent a carpet cleaner and get the product she wanted. I noticed she bought two bottles.

The second we got home, she poured some of the product straight onto the floorboards and one side of the back passenger seat. I noticed her staring at her phone each time before pouring, so Emma must have sent the pictures.

Me? I went inside and handled some house chores. This was Erin’s project. I’d help if she couldn’t get the smell out.

Gage:Good morning?

Seriously loved how he just wanted to talk to me. I called him back, as my hands were soapy from doing dishes, and he answered quickly.

“Sorry, doing dishes, but wanted to answer. Yes, a good morning. In fact, we found Erin a car.”

“Oh wow, that didn’t take long.”

“That it did not. Steal of a deal. If she can get the smell out.”

“I’m sorry?”

I laughed and told him the story of how this car came to be in such a terrible odorous state. Gage heard me out and then whistled long and low.

“Wooooow.”

“Yeah. My reaction.”