I slowed down.
“Daddy?”
“I’m going to stop for a minute.”
I pulled onto the shoulder and turned on the hazard lights.
“Stay buckled in. I’ll be right outside.”
Lila pressed her face toward the window.
The elderly woman looked relieved the second I approached.
“Oh, thank goodness. I’m sorry, young man. We don’t want to ruin your Thanksgiving.”
“You’re not ruining anything.”
Her husband gave me an embarrassed smile.
“We’ve been here almost an hour. I used to change tires in ten minutes, but these hands don’t cooperate anymore.”
He held up his fingers. The joints were swollen from arthritis.
Their phone had almost no signal, and the roadside assistance company hadn’t answered.
I took the jack from their trunk.
The wind was brutal once I crouched beside the tire. Within minutes, my fingertips hurt despite my gloves.
The old man, whose name was Howard, kept trying to help until his wife, June, finally told him to stop pretending his knees were twenty years younger.
“I’m standing right here, June.”
“I know. Unfortunately.”
I laughed.
So did Howard.
About fifteen minutes later, the spare tire was secure.
Howard took my hand in both of his.
“I wish there was something we could do for you.”
“You can drive slowly.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
June peered past me toward my car.
“Is that your little girl?”
“Yeah. Lila.”
Lila saw us looking and waved enthusiastically.
June smiled.
“She’s watching her daddy do a good thing.”
I shrugged.
“I just changed a tire.”
Howard didn’t argue, but the way he looked at me made me slightly uncomfortable, as though I’d done far more than that.
We said goodbye, and I returned to the car.
Lila immediately gave me a thumbs-up.
“You saved them.”
“They weren’t in a burning building.”
