been released without payment, my shop’s insurance company had already been notified.
Laura didn’t know that.
Brent didn’t know that.
And apparently, neither did the lawyer who was now standing in their kitchen.
“Craig,” Laura said, quieter this time.
“Please.”
That word stopped me.
Laura almost never said please to me anymore.
“What?”
“Can we talk about this?”
“We’re talking.”
“You know what I mean.”
I sighed.
“Laura, you had a $7,018 bill. You refused to pay it.”
“We thought the repairs were defective.”
“You inspected the car.”
“Brent said—”
“I don’t care what Brent said.”
Silence.
Then I heard Brent in the background.
“Put me on the phone.”
Laura hesitated.
“Give him the phone.”
She did.
Brent’s voice came through.
His confidence was gone.
“Craig.”
“Brent.”
“We may have misunderstood the document.”
“You did.”
“So let’s just fix this.”
“That’s what I wanted from the beginning.”
“What do
