Jack’s work was done and he was glad. He hated working Saturdays, especially hot ones. He had known that there would be days like these when he’d started his own business 2 years earlier, but he didn’t have to like them. Still, there was a bit of satisfaction in making a customer happy, and Jack was the kind of man who still thought that meant something.

Even as a teen walking down Main Street in Edgemont, he knew he wanted to have a sign above his business someday, and now he did. RICHARDSON AUTO REPAIR. He smiled as he read it again. Head held high, he filled his lungs with air the way only a proud man can. He had started from scratch, and now the shop had grown into one of Edgemont’s biggest and most respected businesses. He started his car and pulled out onto Highway Nine. As he watched the shop shrink in the rear view mirror, he exhaled slowly and deeply, then rounded the corner and headed for home.

Tomorrow: Courage – Part II