My heart was in my throat as he began, knowing whatever ghosts he was about to reveal would be my mortal enemies. I considered getting dressed for this, but I didn’t want to give him any reason to stop talking.
“When I was in the service, I lived off base. My neighbor was a really cool dude named Alberto.” He shrugged one shoulder. “When I retired and went into disaster relief, I just stayed in that house. I liked North Carolina for the most part.”
I ran my fingers over his collarbone, trying to give him silent comfort.
“We got really close. I even stood in his wedding.”
My stomach twisted. I knew this story didn’t have a happy ending because I knew Luke. I had only seen him cry a handful of times—at his mom’s funeral, at both my grandparents’ funerals—but his eyes were glistening now with memories.
“Six months ago, the mudslides in California hit. His cousins lost their home.”
I kissed his shoulder, but I knew he wasn’t even aware I was there anymore.
“He volunteered to come with me on the mission. Wanted to help any way he could, you know? What I didn’t know at the time was if you volunteer with my disaster relief company, you’re not covered by their life insurance. I never thought to ask.”
My lips kissed his jawline and cheeks as he struggled to take a deep breath.
“We found a little girl alive in a house filled with mud. Walls collapsing down around her. There’s no reason she should’ve made it. It was like there was this force field around her. We went in after her and everything came down.”
He blew out a breath. “I got her out, went back in for him but—” He didn’t turn away from me as a tear slipped down his cheek. “He was alive for twenty-three hours, long enough for his wife, Alice May, to say goodbye. I promised him I’d take care of her.” He let out a shuddering breath. “She was two months pregnant.”
Realization washed over me, and I knew with certainty that these few weeks were going to be the last we had. Luke was a man of his word. If he’d promised to take care of Alice May and her baby, he was going to do it, just like he took care of his mom when she’d gotten sick.
Images of the beautiful woman on his phone flooded my mind. He’d be there for her when she was overwhelmed, when she needed groceries, when she was too tired to feed the baby. He’d cut her lawn and repair her car. He’d be there for her in the same way he’d been here for me.
He’d make it his responsibility to be a second dad to the baby, to fill the void Alberto’s death left behind. It was so Luke. He’d give up his life to make someone else’s life easier.
And he couldn’t do that in Grenadine.
He may come back to visit, maybe we’d even go out to dinner and talk about what was going on in our lives. I’d send him an email on his birthday and he’d never answer, like always. I fought to take a steadying breath. I could cry later, when he was asleep.
“They had just bought a house. She’s in school to be a nurse.”
I squeezed him tighter.
“When the hospital bills came in, she couldn’t make her mortgage. I sold my place and moved in. We barely kept the power on. Now she’s due in four weeks and there will be even more bills.”
He covered his eyes with his arm, and I knew he was really crying now. “It’s my fault.” His voice cracked on the last word and my heart broke.
“Shhh. Shhh.” I pulled him as tightly as I could against me. “Have you seen a therapist?”
“I’ve had a few sessions with my old one while I’ve been home. She says it’s not my fault.”
“Do you believe her?”
He shrugged. “Logically.”
I kissed the underside of his jaw. “So this vacation was just to get money?”
He shrugged. “Alice May’s sister came into town to stay with her. They only have two bedrooms. Figured it was a good time to come out and get the shop situated, and I have tons of vacation stacked up at work.”
Every muscle in my body tightened. Why did it have to come down to her or me?
Luke sniffled and shook his head. “Fuck, Reeses, I’m sorry.” He moved his arm and wiped his face with the bedsheet. “I make love to you and then cry everywhere.”
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “Ohmygosh, you were vulnerable in front of another human. Are you going to self-destruct?”
“It’s very likely. You better come here and kiss me, just in case.”
I pretended to think about it for a moment before I leaned over and kissed him hard.
Luke shoved me up against the front door and kissed me until my toes curled. “I had you twenty minutes ago, and I need you again,” he growled.
I laughed and gently slapped his arm. “Luke, I have to go open the shop and get you your money. But come on. Move in while you’re here. Stop wasting money on the hotel.”
He kissed me one more time and slowly stepped away. “I shouldn’t. Especially once the gossip starts. But you’re right, I can’t afford to keep staying at the hotel.”
“I’m always right.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. Remember that time you handed me a glue stick instead of Chapstick?”
I rolled my eyes. “You really should look at things before you put them on your face. Anyway, come by whenever. Back door’s open.”
He smirked and stepped into my space again. “Oh, really?”
I laughed and kissed him. “Go!”
“I want to spend every moment with you that I can. Preferably naked.”
I giggled. “Deal.”
We strolled to his truck in the driveway and I kissed him one more time before he climbed in. My heart was swelling, even as he was pulling away. For this one moment in time, this would be our bubble of happiness. I’d deal with the fallout later.
When I spun on my heel to walk back into the house, I heard the unmistakable footsteps of the dragon. Her ears practically had smoke coming out of them. “Edith Doreen! How could you do such a thing to me?”
I blinked, taking a step back. What the hell? “What are we blaming me for today?”
She pointed in the direction Luke’s truck went. “That is my fiancé’s brother! Do you know what the people in this town will think if my own daughter is sleeping with her new uncle?!”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I patted my pockets for my phone and realized I had left it on the table along with my portable coffee mug. This was not going to be my morning. I turned my back to my mother and started up the porch steps. Her talons wrapped around my wrist and yanked me back down. I missed the last step and tweaked my ankle.
“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” I screamed, so tired. Tired of her drama, of her playing the victim. “The town doesn’t care what I’m doing with Luke! And even if they do, he’ll be gone soon anyway. You’re the one who’s getting married to YOUR DAUGHTER’S ex-fiancé. And quite frankly, I don’t fucking give a shit what the town thinks.”
She crossed her arms, shaking her head in apparent disbelief. “This is just like you. You can’t be happy for me for one damn moment, can you?” She smacked her hand against her chest to emphasize her words. Her giant engagement ring glinted in the sun. That was my mother, always posing.
I turned around again, making sure my arms were tight to my front so she couldn’t latch on. “Whatever you think, Mother, because clearly I’m always wrong.” I started up the stairs.
“This last year with William has been the happiest year of my life and you don’t even care!”
It wasn’t her hysterical tone that stopped me this time. It was her words. Slowly, I turned half my body to face her, tilting my head. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
She looked startled. “William makes me happy?” she said.
“No, what did you say, word for word.”
She huffed, her hysteria changing to incredulity. “I don’t see what this has to do with—”
“You said the last year with William has been the happiest year of your life.”
If her forehead
wasn’t full of Botox, I knew she’d be frowning. “Yes, we started dating last August. I don’t understand what—”
Her words went muffled as if we were suddenly at the bottom of a lake. Someone replaced my blood with ice water. I weaved on my feet and gripped the railing.
Will had been sleeping with my mother before we broke up.
Before we booked the venue and tasted the cakes. Before I bought the expensive dress I still needed to pick up from the shop and donate. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
“Edith, what is your problem?” She took a step forward, but I held out my hand. Whatever she saw on my face made her stop.
“Will and I didn’t break up until after Thanksgiving,” I whispered. “You were sleeping with my fiancé while we...while we...” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Bile rose in the back of my throat. I had never been more thankful that I had stopped sleeping with Will long before our breakup.
My mother put her hand on her hip. “You’re being a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Leave.” My voice was loud, echoing in the still morning.
She reared back. “Excuse me?”
“Leave before I call the police for trespassing.” I looked directly at the woman who’d given birth to me but hadn’t been a real mother to me in years, if ever. “If you ever step foot on my property again, I will press charges. I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to hear your name. I’m not coming to your wedding, I’m not coming to Thanksgiving, Christmas, or your birthday. Are we clear?”
“Edith—”
“I am not joking. I will call the cops right now, I swear on my auto shop.”
Her mouth fell open in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”
“Show up without an invitation directly from me, and I swear to God I will tell all of social media what the two of you did to me behind my back.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Do you really want to take that chance?”
She took a step back. “When you calm down, we’ll talk about this.”
“No.” I shook my head. “We won’t. If you have any messages for me, call Jami. Otherwise, I don’t want to hear from you. And if you try, I will make that post.”
Her mouth opened and closed, and she spun on her heel, walking away indignantly. I managed to make it through my front door before kneeling in my foyer and crying. Crying for the mother I had, crying for the one I didn’t have. Crying for Will’s betrayal. Crying for my own idiocy. I should’ve seen the signs. I should’ve known.
Then suddenly it was like my grandpa was standing next to me. I could hear his voice so clearly, I stopped crying. Hell, I stopped breathing.
When you’re driving down the road to your dreams, you’re going to hit potholes, get a flat, and maybe have an accident or two. A few people will even cause those accidents on purpose. But Edie, my girl, you know how we make a car drive again? By fixing one part at a time. Next time you’re stranded, pull out your toolbox. Everything you need to get going again is right there.
I took a settling breath, the ache of missing him so strong I was drowning. I would give anything to hear his voice again. Anything to make him laugh. Anything to hug him.
But what I wouldn’t do was stay here on the floor for one more second. I needed to get my ass to the shop and pull out that toolbox. I would have a lifetime to get over the Will-Mom thing. I only had a few more days to save the shop.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Edie’s tip #17: Sure, it’s about what’s under the hood, but it’s definitely also about the size of the back seat...
The car wash/bake sale was absolutely amazing and exhausting. After a quick call to Luke to summarize my mother’s visit and his appropriately expletive-filled response, I didn’t even have time to think about the Mom-Will situation. Instead, I spent the day taking out my anger on mud splatters and cupcakes. Luke worked next to me in a tight, white, wet shirt. It should’ve been illegal for him to look that good. No wonder we got so many tips.
When Thursday morning rolled around, we were all zombies. Jackie asked Rosa to cover her shift and Chieka texted she was running late. Early August in Michigan could go from cool and rainy to brutal and humid. We had obviously chosen to wash cars on a ninety-five-degree day with ninety percent humidity. My nose was red, my shoulders were pink, and my headache declared I should’ve drunk more water.
My arms still ached from washing so many cars. My thighs burned because I couldn’t keep my hands off Luke after seeing him in the wet shirt. Truly, I couldn’t be blamed.
It took me two tries to make the coffee—it really helped to put actual coffee in the machine—and I nearly stepped on Sergeant Cornflakes when he ran by out of nowhere. I swear he was half cat. Tamicka flicked her hand in the air when she came in, but went directly to the office without bothering to say any actual words. I was anxious to find out the total amount we raised.
My eyes were only half opened when I flipped on the Open sign and unlocked the front door. Chieka shuffled in with her dark hair in a messy knot and her shirt hanging off her shoulder. “Incoming,” she mumbled before disappearing into the office.
I was shocked to see Amy LeMarks, one of my mother’s best friends, march in. To my knowledge, Amy had never once been in my shop. “Good morning, Mrs. LeMarks. What can I do for you?” My pulse quickened; I didn’t like the look in her eyes.
She tucked her blonde bob behind her ear with a perfectly manicured nail and put her hand on her hip. “It’s incredibly unprofessional to make your customers wait like that. If your shop is supposed to be open, it should be open!”
I glanced at my wall clock and then back at her. It was less than two minutes past. This woman was nuts. My customer service mask slid on. “I apologize for my tardiness. If you ever come by again and have an emergency, please don’t hesitate to ring the doorbell. It’s programmed to send an alert to my phone.” Technically, it was programmed to Chieka’s phone since I had a prehistoric brick for a phone, but, details.
“I don’t think I should have to ring a bell to get service.”
Oh boy. It was going to be like this. I smiled brighter and nodded. “I don’t want to waste any more of your time. Where’s your car? I’ll get that bay door open right away.”
She laughed once, without humor. “I would no sooner trust my car to a woman mechanic than I would trust a straight man with my hair.” Her fingers brushed over her perfectly styled hair.
I counted to ten in my head, reminding myself not to ball my hands into fists. “Then please, enlighten me as to the honor of your visit.”
“I have left you four messages and emailed you as many times about your mother’s bridal shower. I knew I simply must have the wrong contact information for you, so I wanted to come by in person so I could update that and we can start planning!”
“Excuse me?” I whispered. I couldn’t raise my voice any louder because surely she wasn’t asking what I thought she was asking.
She reached out and touched my upper arm. “Us girls are so excited that she’s finally found Mr. Right and—”
“No.” Was there a more beautiful word in the English language? I didn’t think so. “No.” I said it again and thrilled at the steel that reinforced my spine. “I can’t even believe you would have the audacity to walk into my shop and ask me to throw a bridal shower for my mother, who is marrying my ex.”
Amy gasped. “Edith Becker, what has gotten into you? Who cares if you dated him first? That’s over and she is your mother!”
“No. She is the woman who gave birth to me. She hasn’t been my mother for a long time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” I went to walk past Amy, but she grabbed my wrist. I twisted out of her grip and held both hands up. “Touch me again and I will call Sheriff Jasmine and file assault charges. Now please leave. You’re not welcome in my shop ever again.”
Amy’s face was so red, it looked like she had a sunburn. “I
told Cynthia to keep you out of this shop. It was unnatural and was going to rot your brain. I see it has!”
All of a sudden, Sergeant Cornflakes made a terrifying noise and flew between us like a wrecking ball. I jumped back and snapped my head to the side to find Rosa holding up her phone to record everything. I narrowed my eyes, putting the pieces together. She probably threw the rooster at Amy...not that I was going to be mad, as long as he was okay.
My guard bird was clucking and pecking at Amy’s feet while she screamed like a bad horror movie actress. It took everything I had not to burst out laughing. Instead, I stepped forward and picked up my pet before she tried to kick him. She rattled off threats about calling animal control and suing me on her way out of the shop. My bird let out one last crow before struggling out of my hands and waddling over to his tire.
Rosa bent over, laughing so hard she was silent. She lifted her phone and shook it in the air, then pointed at the spot Amy had evacuated. Then she laughed harder.
“I think we broke her!” Tamicka called from the office. I walked over and leaned against the doorframe. She was sitting there with Chieka, eating popcorn. “Is the show over?” Tamicka asked. “It was just getting good.”
I studied her. “Do you literally just keep popcorn around, waiting for showdowns?”
She nodded. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
I reached over and grabbed a handful. “That’s why I keep you.” I nodded to the shop phone on the corner of the desk. “If anyone calls and asks to speak with me and it’s not Kristy, Jami, Luke, or an employee, I am absolutely unavailable. They must leave you a detailed message.”
Chieka threw a piece of popcorn up in the air and caught it in her mouth, like a badass. “What if it’s Ray’s telling you they made lasagna?”
I pointed at her. “Good point. Add Ray to that list.” I ran my hands over my hair and sighed. “I really hate when people don’t trust me because I’m female. Especially another female!”
“Girl, preach,” Chieka nodded.
Tamicka lifted her eyebrow. “So what are you gonna do about it?”
Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex's Brother Page 15