Outside, a dark SUV stopped.
The headlights went off.
A man remained inside.
Watching.
Maggie saw him.
Frank saw him too.
Neither moved.
Finally, the SUV drove away.
Frank stood.
“I'll make a call.”
Maggie stopped him.
“No.”
“What?”
“Let him watch.”
She smiled faintly.
“Sooner or later, he'll realize I'm watching too.”
The next week became a battle of paperwork, repairs, and exhaustion.
Maggie worked from dawn until midnight.
Samuel filed documents.
The surveyor returned.
The county reopened its records.
Customers kept arriving.
The bikers kept returning.
One brought groceries.
Another repaired the garage roof.
Someone replaced the broken chair.
A young mechanic named Luis arrived from Reno and offered to work for free.
Maggie refused.
So he worked for half wages.
Soon, Carter's Garage had more work than it had seen in ten years.
But Calder did not disappear.
His lawyers challenged the injunction.
They questioned the water rights.
They questioned Roy's survey.
They even questioned whether Maggie was capable of operating the business.
That last argument made Maggie furious.
At the hearing, Calder's attorney asked her age.
“Seventy-two.”
“Do you believe you're physically capable of continuing to work as a mechanic?”
Maggie looked at him.
“Are you?”
The room laughed.
The judge struck the laughter down, but even he seemed amused.
The attorney continued.
“Do you have employees?”
“No.”
“Then how can you manage a property of this value?”
Maggie leaned toward the microphone.
“By knowing what I'm doing.”
The attorney paused.
“Mrs. Carter, are you aware that the property may be worth several million dollars?”
“Yes.”
“And you still refuse to sell?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maggie looked at the judge.
“Because some things are worth more than money.”
The judge nodded.
The hearing ended with another delay.
Calder was running out of time.
Maggie was running out of strength.
One night, she collapsed beside the workbench.
Frank found her.
She was awake but exhausted.
“I can't do this anymore,” she whispered.
Frank crouched beside her.
“Yes, you can.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I miss Roy.”
Frank's expression softened.
“I know.”
“I've been pretending I'm fighting for the garage.”
“What are you fighting for?”
She looked at him.
“Proof that he didn't die for nothing.”
Frank sat beside her.
“He didn't.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know you.”
Maggie wiped her eyes.
“I am tired.”
“Then rest.”
“I can't.”
“Yes, you can.”
Frank stood and called the others.
Within minutes, Rosa arrived with blankets.
Tom brought food.
Luis took over the night repairs.
Maggie was carried into the house.
For the first time in years, she slept without listening for the sound of the power meter.
In the morning, she woke to something unfamiliar.
Silence.
Then she heard laughter.
She walked outside.
The garage was full of people working.
Frank looked at her.
“Morning.”
“What are you doing?”
“Your job.”
Maggie smiled.
“You're doing it wrong.”
Frank grinned.
“Then teach us.”
She picked up her wrench.