Chapter 12

He tells me to have a seat and adds, “I thought I would do something nice for you for a change.”

He’s always nice to me: Car runs errands for me when he doesn’t walk dogs, he cleans the house, floor by floor, and he does minor repairs around the Cape Code, like fixing the leaky faucet at the kitchen sink, trimming the ancient oak tree out back, and glued a twenty-gallon, ceramic flower pot together after I accidentally backed into it with my Frontier. Plus, he does numerous loads of laundry, grocery shops, and keeps the house warm, adjusting the thermostat. All of these self-motivated tasks are accomplished without me telling him to do them. Car takes the initiative and does them himself, without complaints. I can’t have a better boarder, let alone a personal friend; someone who just happens to leave me notes of encouragement here and there.

“This is nice, Car. You shouldn’t have.”

He rolls a palm up and down my back, offering comfort. “I wanted to.”