Page 12 of The Marriage Demand

Every morning without fail, Isaac Flynn stood within the compound of his mechanic shop and watched as Lucy Rue approached. The young woman was only twenty-four years old, but slowly and surely, she’d been driving him crazy for weeks, if not months.

He couldn’t remember the exact moment he started to pay attention to her. It might be the dresses she wore, or the way she wore her hair, or maybe it was even the makeup, which was strange. He’d never been a guy who cared if a woman wore makeup.

Lucy always looked amazing. She rarely wore too much makeup. She was stunning.

From what he knew, she worked at the local care home and was loved by pretty much everyone within the small town of Saint Falls.

Being the local mechanic, he was the guy everyone knew, the good guy they could count on, and he loved his place within the town. It had taken him a long time to get accepted.

Many years ago, he’d bought this old place in the hope of setting it up for retirement. He’d been into some bad shit, but that time was long gone. He took care of all loose ends, walked away from the life, came here, and settled down. Nothing bad had happened in over ten years. Not that anything bad would happen.

A long time ago, when his father was still alive, he’d been a mechanic. All it had taken were a few classes to remind him, and since then, he’d been working on cars, trucks, and bikes.

None of the townsfolk knew who he was. They didn’t need to know.

He saw Lucy approaching, and like every other day throughout the week, she stopped at the gate.

“Hey, Flynn,” she said.

Never did she call him Isaac.

“You all right, Lucy?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m doing okay. You know how it is.”

Now, this was new, as she stepped up toward him. She rarely came into his shop. Lucy didn’t own a car, and because it was a small town, she tended to walk everywhere, or catch the bus. Like him, she didn’t have anyone. Her parents had died because of a drunk driver when she was eighteen, and that was six years ago, leaving Lucy all alone in the town.

“Yeah, I know how it is.”

Since then, he had become aware of a few people attempting to take advantage. Lucy was not wealthy by any means, but the house her parents had spent their lives in was now hers, and it was fully paid for. After buying the house, they had a small fund saved up, and from what he knew, it all went to Lucy. The funeral didn’t put a dent in the funds. For all intents and purposes, Lucy was fairly well-off, although she never showed it.

“What are you working on today?”

Lucy asked.

She wore another dress today. This one seemed to be crossed over the breasts, and her tits looked absolutely glorious in it. It then molded to her waist, before flaring out at the hip, and falling down her body, toward her ankles. She wore a pair of heels, but again, they were not too large or too small. The dress had large flowers printed all over it, and it just seemed to match her smile.

“Just a few cars. You know how it is. They don’t take care of the car, and it breaks down. You’ve got to learn to give your car a little TLC.”

The smile on her face seemed to widen.

“You really do love your cars, don’t you?”

“I’m a mechanic, it kind of comes with the title.”

“So very true.”

“Are you not working today?” he asked.

She glanced down at her dress and shrugged.

“Yeah, I am, but seeing as I change every time I go into work, I don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t wear what I want.”

“You have a uniform.”

“Yep.”

“Tell me, Lucy, do you love working at the care home?”

“It’s … I love it. What I don’t love is that I make so many amazing friends, and I lose them.”

He hated the cloud that landed over her face. Isaac also saw her eyes glaze over. She looked down at the ground, and he watched her hand clench seconds before she finally looked up.

“Anyway, I better go,”

she said.

“Don’t work too hard.”

“Nor you.”

She made her way toward the gate, and she had already broken the protocol they seemed to have.

Lucy stopped and turned toward him.

“What about a drink after work?”

she asked.

“You’re asking me out?” he asked.

She nodded her head and then shook it.

“Not if you don’t want to go.”

“It’s a date, Lucy,” he said.

Her smile seemed to widen, if not brighten just a little.

“Thank you,”

Lucy said.

“You do know that I am older than you, don’t you?”

“Does that bother you?”

she asked.

“No.”

“Good, because it doesn’t bother me either. Bye, Flynn.”

And with that, she walked out of the gate and he saw the little spring in her step. Every part of his sensible brain was telling him he shouldn’t turn up. Lucy was off limits. She was too young, and she deserved someone her own age, at least that was what he kept trying to tell himself.

Another part of his brain didn’t like the idea of her being with anyone but him. He couldn’t stand the thought of another man even looking in her direction. There was no way he was going to be able to cope with anyone else dating her.

They’d been doing this little dance for well over a year now. There was no one else good enough for Lucy. He was the only one capable of taking care of her.

****

“And what did he say?”

“Marge, will you stop?”

Lucy asked.

“What? I’m the one who encouraged you to stop waiting outside of the gate. What does a lady have to do to get an update?”

Marge was one of her favorite people in the world. For the last six years that she had been working in the local care home, taking care of patients, or clients, during the end of their lives. There were a lot of different people who lived in the care home. Most of them wanted to go about their own lives. Lucy cleaned for them, kept them company, and in all honesty, was just a friend to all. She had applied for the job a week after losing her parents. It had been a trying time for her.

Many of the patients had unfortunately passed since she arrived. Marge and Harry were two that were still alive. Harry was currently sleeping, though. He had a thick book pressed against his chest, and he looked completely out of it. As for Marge, Lucy had thrown a blanket over her lap, as the cold was starting to get to her, although it was the height of summer.

“We’re going out for drinks tonight,”

Lucy said.

“There, is that what you wanted to know?”

“Drinks? This is amazing news. Will you have time to go home and change? Update your makeup? Curl your hair?”

Lucy laughed.

“Will you stop?”

“Nope, I am not stopping until I know you’re happily married with a baby on the way.”

“A baby?”

Harry asked, yawning.

“Don’t be nosy, you,”

Marge said.

“Me, nosy. You’re the one who’s butting into the kid’s life. If I was twenty years younger, Lucy, I’d take care of you.”

She couldn’t help but blush. Harry had always been a sweet man. He had told her on many occasions that if a man can’t treat her right, then it was no good keeping him around. There might have also been a couple of choice words along the way about what a real man is all about.

She loved both of these people. They made her feel like she was part of their family. Although Marge and Harry’s kids barely visited. They didn’t even make time for a phone call. Lucy made sure to take care of them.

“I know you would, Harry.”

“But, you’re not twenty years younger, Harry, and besides, you’d need to be closer to forty years younger to have a chance. Now, come on, we all know that mechanic fella is a pretty good guy. He fixed our bus up really good and didn’t charge us a fortune for it.”

Harry grumbled, then went back to reading his book. Marge did not look entertained.

But what Lucy also saw was that her friend looked tired.

“I think it is time for you to rest.”

Marge didn’t argue with her. She unclicked the lock from the wheelchair and started to take her toward her bedroom. Once she had Marge settled, she did a quick spot of cleaning, then began to do additional work. She moved from room to room, picking up the laundry, stopping to chat with each resident, and then carrying on.

Her job was to work, but to also be friendly, to keep everyone happy. When she arrived here at eighteen, she didn’t have the first clue what to do, and Marge had taken her under her wing and helped her out.

The woman that had the job before her and been there over ten years, but left after someone had passed, and it became too much to bear. Lucy got it. She had lost a lot of people, but she kept coming back, because it was important.

“You know Marge is getting tired quickly,”

Harry said when she arrived at the main living area and started to clean it up.

“I know.”

“She just wants to see you happy, kid. We all do.”

He groaned as he got to his feet.

“We all see that you have a good heart, and none of us want to leave without knowing you’re going to be okay.”

He moved toward her, placed a hand on her cheek, gave her a smile, and then he left. They were her family, in their own way. She knew they wanted her to settle down, and she got it.

Lucy thought about Isaac Flynn. She started calling him by his last name because he had called her Rue once, and it kind of stuck. She’d been in a bad mood, and he’d shouted “Rue,”

making her stop. At which point, she called him Flynn, and that was that.

Now, she made sure she walked past the mechanic shop every chance she got. He was often working on cars, or bikes, or the occasional truck. She was the one who asked him if he’d take a look at the bus for their rare trips.

Everyone here loved him. He fixed their bus, and all the trips that had been put on hold came back in full force. He only took minimal payment as well, which was a shock. When they first got the quote for the bus, it had been more than they could have afforded.

She knew he was a good guy, and the way he took care of them all melted her heart. He was a true gentleman, and the truth was, for nearly six years and maybe even a bit longer, she’d had a crush on him. He arrived in town when she was fourteen, and she knew a lot of women were curious about him. Sure, people had their doubts, but slowly and surely he earned his place. Lucy would walk home from school, keeping a careful distance away so he never saw her, but she’d look at him, and yes, her crush had been cemented in her young heart. Now, it was at a fever pitch, and Marge had been encouraging her to ask him out for years.

She just couldn’t believe she had finally done it.

End of sample chapter