“Dammit to hell,” JC’s head fell against the steering wheel, hearing the engine fail to start up. His skepticism of the rental car was catching up to him now. Climbing out of the sedan, he popped the hood. It would be pointless since he was pretty much useless when it came to cars. He knew the basics, but he was no goddamn mechanic. He was a singer for fuck’s sake. 

Looking down at the conglomeration of never-ending tubing and unidentifiable car parts, he knew that he was royally screwed. Looking around the parking lot, he saw several cars parked around him but not one soul walked the lot. Reaching back into the car, he found the rental place’s phone number. Quickly dialing it, he cursed as he heard the ‘sorry, but we’re close’ message. 

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, pointlessly kicking the vehicle’s tire. 

“Having some trouble there?” startled him, and his head whipped around the opened hood to see who’d spoken. 

“Hey there, uh, yeah, my car won’t start,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head. He felt a bit ashamed admitting it, since cars are a man’s thing. But, he was not too proud to admit he needed help, especially since he had no one else to call. The pretty woman that had sauntered up to his car smiled, and nodded in understanding. 

“Mind if I take a look at it?” she asked, pointing to the car’s exposed engine. She’d watched from afar his dilemma, and she’d tried to keep her laughter hidden. Putting down the grocery tote bag that’d been on her shoulder, she stepped forward to the engine. 

“Are you good with cars?” JC asked, shamefully skeptical that a woman could help him. 

“I do alright on my own, I guess,” she replied, her head bent into the engine and her hand buried in one of the crevices.

“You want to try to start it so I can hear it?” Climbing back into the car, JC inserted the key and turned the ignition. Nothing. A click and that was all. 

“Well, I think your distributor is faulty. Gotta get it replaced,” she announced, checking one, two things before giving her diagnosis. 

“Well, I’m not from around here so do you know of somewhere I can go to get it fixed?” he asked, coming over to stand beside her. His gaze fixed on the engine, as if by looking at it, he’d gain an understanding of its function. 

“Well, you have Larry’s Garage about ten minutes from here, but its 6:30 on a Friday evening. Every place is gonna be closed, and sorry to tell you but around here, mechanics don’t work on the weekend. It’s like their Sabbath or something,” she informed him, adjusting the bill of her baseball cap. 

“Oh great, just fucking great,” he grumbled, his hands frustratingly pulling at his dark hair. 

“Hey, no need for the foul language. The auto parts shop opens in the morning around 9am, and they should have a spare in stock. If you trust me, I can change the distributor for you then,” she offered, shrugging her shoulders. JC’s gaze turned, hesitantly, towards her. Despite her rugged wardrobe, dirtied jeans, gray plaid shirt, black grey baseball cap, and black gumboots, she looked like a typical woman. She had very ladylike manners, long and lean fingers, and delicate facial features. 

“I don’t have a choice but to trust you. You’re the only other person I know besides the guy from the rental place and the elderly cashier inside,” he replied. 

“Well, at least, you’re honest. I’m sure the guy and the cashier both wore nametags, so they have an advantage over me. Scarlett Rae, pleasure to meet you,” she smile brightly, sticking out a hand. 

“Josh, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he returned the handshake and smile. 

“Alright then, Josh. You’ll have to leave the car here overnight, but I’ll give you a ride to wherever and then we can come back in the morning,” she announced, slamming down the hood. Hoisting her grocery bag onto her shoulder once more, she looked expectedly at him. 

“Um, well alright, but I have my luggage and groceries in the car,” he announced, pointing back to the car. 

“Well, alright then, let me pull my car up and we’ll load it up,” she said and walked away. He sighed deeply before moving to pull his luggage from the trunk and the couple bags of groceries from the backseat floorboard. 

A large black Chevy Silverado pulled up in front of his car, and Scarlett Rae climbed out. Grabbing a hold of his large duffle, she carried it with ease and lifted it over the gate onto the truck bed. 

“Is that all you have?” she asked, as he lifted his suitcase onto the truck bed. 

“Yeah, that’s it,” he replied. They each walked around to the front and climbed in. Shifting the truck into the right gear, she eased it through the parking lot and to the traffic light. 

“Where am I going?” 

“I’m staying on Back River Circle,” he announced, his hands twirling in his lap. 

“Skidaway Island, nice. Vacation?” she asked, turning on the radio to provide some background noise. 

“Something like that, more like an escape,” he admitted, his eyes keeping an eye out. He needed to make sure that she was indeed taking him back to his home, and not to some deserted dock. 

“Understandable, no better place to get away from the world than here, that’s for sure,” she replied. 

“Are you from here?” he asked, hoping to keep a conversation going. The silence was too awkward. 

“Born and raised, left for a couple of years to ‘spread my wings’ and now I’m back,” she confessed, adding a slight laugh at the end. 

“You seem too young to talk like that,” he pointed out, turning a inquisitive stare her direction. 

“Like what?” 

“Like your life has come full circle already and you’ve flown back home to await the end,” JC pointedly stated. He saw her eyes widen slightly as she drove. 

“Well, aren’t we a bit brash?” 

“I apologize if that were a bit rude. I simply stated the fact. I’m not completely tactless, but I dare say that you are quite a bit younger than myself,” he inwardly chuckled at the way his speech had already been altered by his environment. Deep in the south, he was remembering every manner that Justin’s mother had ever instilled in him all those years ago. 

“Well, I am not an old maid by any means. And I have yet to see my 30th anniversary, but I have seen lots,” she replied, a bit of indignation lacing her voice. 

“Well, you see, then I was correct. I’m 34,” he announced, a bit of pride clouding his features. 

“You disguise them well,” she spoke before realizing that she’d complimented him. “Oh, I apologize for that.” 

“No harm,” he laughed, seeing a slight blush rise on her olive skin. She shook her head slightly, her ponytail of dark hair shaking through the cap’s back. 

“Scarlett Rae, huh? I haven’t heard that name before,” his comment broke through the silence after a bit. 

“Blame my mother’s obsession with ‘Gone with the Wind’ and my father’s belief that I was the sunray that brightened his life after 5 sons,” she replied, chuckling. 

“Five sons, yeah I bet. Do you go by your entire name?” he asked, thinking it to be way too long to say everytime. 

“No, not really, I introduce myself as Scarlett Rae. But, it ends up shortened in a small window of time. So, call me Scar, Rae, or whatever you wish. Do you?” 

“Not really, full name is Joshua Scott, but everyone calls me JC, C, or Jace,” he replied. She nodded in understanding, but didn’t say anything. He turned his gaze back to the streets, and he began to recognize his surroundings. He knew that they were close to his rental house. 

“Are you in town for long?” she asked, as she turned onto another street.

“Not set plan or anything,” he replied, turning his gaze back to her.

“Well, let me tell you something. If you have anything you need to get back to wherever you come from, get a calendar. Why? Well, time doesn’t exist out here,” she advised, before asking which home was his. Pointing to one at the end of the street, she eased the truck down the street. 

“I’ll keep that in mind. I really do appreciate you doing this for me. You didn’t have to help me out,” he said as she pulled into his driveway. 

“Well, I figured that I’d want someone to help me or my loved one out too. But, here’s my phone number, give me a call in the morning when you’re set and we can go check out the auto shop and try to get you all fixed up,” Scarlett said, writing her phone number on the back of an old gas station receipt. Taking it from her, he smiled and thanked her for the ride. 

“I’ll help you out,” she offered, getting out and helping with his luggage. Placing it on his front porch, she backed up towards her truck again. Before he could step into his house, she called him back. 

“A bunch of us are probably gonna go out tonight to a bar or somewhere, would you like to hang with us? I’d hate for your first night here for you to be stuck at home,” she kicked her gumboot at the paved driveway. 

“That’d be great. Are you sure I won’t be a bother?” he replied, his hands burying themselves in his jean’s pockets. 

“Not at all, the more the merrier. Let’s see, its almost 6, so let’s say 8:30. I’ll come by and pick you up, yeah?” she said looking at her watch. 

“Yeah, that’d be fine. I’ll be here,” she smiled, nodded, and then waved. 

“Thanks Rae,” he smiled, waving back at her. 

“Welcome to Savannah,” she smiled before climbing into her truck, pulling out the driveway, and driving away. He shook his head clear before pulling his luggage and groceries through his front door. Leaning back on the door, he sighed and smiled in relief. 

“Welcome to Savannah, indeed,” he chuckled before pushing away and walking towards the homey kitchen at the back of the house.