I bit my lip. “I’m Dottie’s granddaughter, Edith. Remember me?”
He patted my hand again before motioning for me to sit down on the couch next to him. Once I was seated, he grabbed my hand again. “They tell me I’m sick. Haven’t gotten to the shop. Tell Ed I’m sorry. I’ll get there soon.”
I swallowed hard and smiled weakly. “Of course. He’s been working on the Camaro.”
He smiled and leaned his head back. “Ah, that one’s a beaut! Take me for a ride when it’s done?”
I nodded. “I promise.” I didn’t actually know if I could get him in the car, but I would try my best.
He sighed and looked back at the television. “I hate golf. But there’s nothing on except this and politics.” He tapped his head. “I may be a little sick now, but even I know that guy is pazzo.”
“You’ve got that right.”
We sat in silence for a long time, watching the golfers take shots over beautifully manicured courses. I looked at the scattered frames along his window ledge, most of Will and Luke when they were kids. One of him and my grandpa in their coveralls, drinking beer. I swallowed hard and turned back to the television.
When the next commercial break came on, he hit mute and looked at me. “My sons are idiots, Dottie. You gotta help them out.”
A laugh escaped me, and I smiled at him. “What do you mean?”
He grumbled something under his breath. “I’m afraid William will grow up to think he needs money to be happy. There’s no shame in working in the shop. I put food on the table. Just because I can’t buy him a brand-new video game every time it comes out, he thinks we’re poor.” He tsked. “He wants to see poor? We’ll go visit mio fratello Angelo. Lives in one room.”
I squeezed his hand. Uncle Angelo had passed away from cancer the summer before high school. William and Luke had stayed with us while Mario and Caterina, traveled back to Italy to be with him for his last weeks.
He shook his head. “And Lucas...”
My heart picked up its pace, wanting to hear what he said. “What about him?” I prompted when he didn’t continue.
“I don’t know when that boy is going to realize he’s in love with Edith.”
I stilled, my breath caught in my chest. My chest and neck grew warm. “Why do you say that?”
He lifted our hands in a sort of shrug. “He’s too worried about getting out of here to realize it. I know I made some mistakes, but that boy needs to get his head on straight.” He reached over and unmuted the television as the commercials ended, and refocused on the television, leaving me to deal with this bombshell on my own.
I knew I needed to take everything he said with a grain of salt, but there was a part of me that desperately wished for it to be true. His memories were intact; they were just locked into a different time period.
“Mario. When the kids take over the shop, what if they want to sell it? All of our hard work?”
He looked over at me for a long moment, then shrugged. “It’s just a shop.” He said something in Italian that I think meant “as long as my children are happy, I’m happy.” I made a mental note to Google translate it later.
I wrestled silently for the next half hour with everything he’d said before the afternoon nurse came in to get him ready for the dinner service. With a hug and kiss goodbye, I promised to visit again soon. The ride home revived me a little and I swung by Ray’s for a to-go salad before heading into the shop.
I needed to get my hands dirty. This weather was perfect, midseventies and sunny, and I decided to work with the Camaro’s bay door open. The shop had closed an hour ago and the street was silent.
I was comfortably ensconced in Car Talk and rebuilding the engine when the sound of tires on warm pavement put me on alert. I eyed the crowbar near my workbench and slowly shifted away from the Camaro and toward the weapon. I knew better than to leave the bay door open when I worked in here alone, but I’d needed the sunshine today. Why did someone always have to ruin a good thing?
As soon as I recognized the stomping, I put the crowbar down, but only so he wouldn’t tell everyone I assaulted him. Shame I couldn’t punch him in the throat just for existing. My ex walked into the bay with his immaculate suit and a sour expression on his face.
“We’re closed,” I said, deadpanned.
“I still own part of this shop, Edith,” he returned, his gaze narrowing. “My fiancée told me how you treated her and Clementine today.”
I blinked. What in the actual fuck was going on? “Okay, first off—”
“I don’t want to hear it! How could you bring Clementine to the shop today? She’s young and impressionable.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Mom showed up on my porch this morning without warning. Guess what? I have a job. Someone has to run this shop because Lord knows neither you nor Luke plan to!”
“And that’s another thing! If you had to work so badly, why am I hearing from the nurses that you went to visit my dad today?”
I frowned at him. “I broke up with YOU, not your family. I went to see him because I wanted to. Your dad is the only decent adult left in my family!”
“He’s not your anything! He’s mine!” He slapped his chest. “You are the most selfish woman I know. You only think about yourself and cars.”
“Get out of here. I don’t want to see you.”
“Just do us all a favor and sell the damn shop, Edith. No one trusts a female mechanic anyway. Go to college, get a grown-up job, and start being an adult.”
I eyed the crowbar again. I bet I could get one good swing in.
“You don’t get to try to weasel your way back into my family because you miss me. I found a real woman who makes me happier than you ever did.”
This time, I didn’t hesitate. I reached for the crowbar and held it up. “Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. My. Shop.”
William turned on his two-hundred-dollar shoes and stomped back out the way he came. I threw the crowbar after him and enjoyed the loud clatter it made as it hit the pavement. I wiped my hands on a towel and grabbed my phone. I hit my cousin’s number and held my breath as it rang and rang.
The moment before it went to voicemail, she answered, out of breath. “You’re calling me and not texting me! What’s wrong? What can I do?”
I took in a shuddering breath, but couldn’t manage more than a squeak.
“I’m just closing up the salon,” she said. “Give me twenty and I’ll be there. Do you trust me?”
I nodded, even though I knew she couldn’t hear it.
“I’ll assume you’re nodding. Be there soon.”
Chapter Fourteen
Edie’s Tip #34: My best pickup line is “Yeah, I’m totally checking out your tailgate.”
I shoved another bite of Edie-safe tacos in my mouth as Kristy finished doing my hair. Eating with my eyes closed was a challenge, but I was willing to get a little guacamole on my face. I was full two tacos ago, but they were my favorite food, so I had just unbuttoned my jeans and kept going.
Kristy put down the curling iron with a clunk. “Okay, wipe your hands off and cover your eyes. I’m spraying you.” I took a deep breath and held it, covering my face. “This is a texturizing hairspray. I’m leaving it for you.”
Once it was finished, she waved her hand in front of my face, her bracelets tinkling together. “Voilà! Now, give it a minute or two to dry, then run your fingers through the curls. It’ll give you badass, beachy waves.”
I let my hands fall to my lap. “I like how you say that like I know what that means.” She rolled her eyes, then poked me in the side. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” I laughed, shoving her away. Despite not wearing makeup or doing my hair often, I knew a few things from my mother’s obsession with “looking feminine” and Kristy’s ministrations.
When she pulled back, one of my curls caught on her sleeve, and I saw pink. I gasped, jumping up from the chair and running to my bathroom mirror. She had cut several inches off but still left it long enough to
weigh down my locks. But the best, most amazing part, was my light blonde hair was now pastel rose pink.
I turned to look at her when she walked in, then turned back to the mirror. My eyes filled with tears and I shook my head. It was perfect. A color I’d always wanted but wasn’t brave enough to try. I’d always been so afraid of what my mom or Will would say.
“Say something,” Kristy said.
“It’s perfect,” I whispered, pulling at a curl. “How’d you know?”
“I pay attention. It’s my job.” She wrapped her arm around my waist. “When I showed you a pic of Michelle with her pink hair, you talked about it for weeks! You weren’t ready for pink hair then, but you are now.”
I nodded, my hands against my cheeks. “I am now,” I agreed.
She turned me toward her. “Get ready. Get makeup on. We’re going out.”
“Find me an outfit that will hide my taco belly,” I ordered.
She rolled her eyes. “Be proud of that taco belly! But maybe for comfort, we won’t go with skinny jeans.” She winked at me and left the bathroom. “Tonight, we take back the real Edie! Fuck these bitches!”
I laughed and grabbed my phone and my makeup case, turned on my favorite upbeat playlist, and got to work.
Grenadine wasn’t known for its nightlife, so Kristy and I climbed into her Camry, whose brakes I had just replaced, and took it a few cities over to a local jazz and margarita bar. My flirty black A-line tank dress, stack of rose gold jewelry, and pink hair made me feel like a new woman. This was the person I knew I was inside. I was a car lover, I was a woman, and I was strong.
We were halfway through our chocolate martinis when Jami and Chieka showed up, making gasps of shock—Chieka—and squeals of delight—Jami. They fingered my hair and toasted Kristy and called my ex every name in the book once they heard the story. I was flying high on my happy buzz and finishing drink number two when I spotted a familiar broad set of shoulders and dark hair walking toward me. My stomach tightened, and my heart started doing a triathlon.
“Oh yeah!” Kristy proclaimed, all innocently. “I invited Luke.”
My mouth went dry as Luke approached, wearing a tight black T-shirt and perfectly worn dark jeans. “Holy hell,” I whispered, my verbal filter clearly left in the wreckage of martini land.
Chieka let out a low whistle. “Is he walking in slow motion or is it just my imagination?”
Jami nodded. “No, I honestly think it’s slow motion. There’s no reason he should look this good in a plain black tee. It’s not fair to us mere mortals.” I kicked him under the table.
Luke smiled shyly as he approached the table. “Hey guys. Kristy told me to be here or...” He stopped midsentence when his gaze landed on me. He rocked back a step and blew out a breath. “Holy hell, Reeses, you look phenomenal.”
I smiled so hard my jaw hurt. I flipped my hair a little. “Like it?”
He nodded, keeping his eyes locked on me. “Very much.”
Kristy moved from my side to the empty chair next to Jami. I widened my eyes at her with a silent way to be obvious! Luke sat down next to me, letting the entire side of his body brush against mine. My nipples pinched and my chest hollowed out like I had just run a marathon.
Maybe it was the pink hair, maybe it was the two martinis, maybe it was my face-off with both my mother and Will, but I no longer cared how long he was in town. I wanted the man next to me, badly.
It was time for new Edie to get what she wanted.
That was assuming Alice May wasn’t his girlfriend. But then would Luke be this flirty with me if he had a girl back home? Surely not.
I really needed to woman up and ask him. Come on Edie, just ask him. Simple question. Who is Alice May? Do you have a girlfriend? Can I suck your face? Okay, maybe not the last one. Yet.
His arm went around the back of my chair and I leaned into him and chickened out. I knew Luke wouldn’t be like this if he wasn’t single. So, instead of being an adult and asking, I put my hand on his knee. His leg tensed under my hand for a brief moment and the muscle I felt under his jeans made my heartbeat thrum in my ears.
“Edie....” he whispered.
I looked at him. “I’m going to stop drinking. Just in case.”
His eyes went dark and his gaze held mine. He didn’t respond, but when the waiter came by, he ordered both of us a coffee. Kristy’s eyebrow nearly touched her hairline, but she didn’t say anything. Kristy looked at Jami for support, but he was glued to his phone. She frowned when she realized our fifth group member wasn’t next to her. “Where’s Chieka?”
I tilted my head toward the bar. “Talking to the band, most likely about the mechanisms that make piano keys work.” She was awesome like that.
Kristy elbowed Jami. “What?” he snipped.
She rolled her eyes. “I was trying to find someone to be in cahoots with about the fact Luke just ordered a coffee for himself and Edie, but you’re not paying attention and Chieka is nerding it up.”
Jami frowned between us. “So? Eds loves coffee.”
Kristy stared at him for a moment. “She stopped drinking alcohol...”
“Okay?”
“Because she wants to be sober...”
I smacked the table in front of her. “Stop, he’s not going to get there. It’s a sibling safety feature. Like a mental block.”
“Seriously?” Kristy asked the table at large. The leg under my hand shook as Luke tried to cover his laughter with a hand over his mouth. Annoyed, Kristy reached over and grabbed Jami’s phone from his hand.
“Hey, Kris, don’t be an ass!”
She held the phone out of his reach. “Who are you texting? That guy?”
“No,” he lied. I could practically see his nose grow.
I sucked in a breath through my teeth. “You’re never getting that phone back now,” I muttered.
“Ask her about my Game Boy,” Luke said.
She shrugged, unapologetically. “I warned you. Call me a bitch, I would take your Game Boy.”
Luke nodded. “A lesson I learned the first time. At eleven. Never called a woman that again.”
Jami plopped his head on his arm and groaned into the table. “Fine! Fine. That guy I met? We’re going out on our third date tonight.”
Kristy yelled, “I knew it!” She promptly handed his phone back. He snatched it and hid it under his leg.
“Third date?!” I exclaimed, nearly spilling my coffee in excitement. “You clearly had amnesia and didn’t tell me about the second one. Spill. Is he nice to you? What’s he look like?”
He rested his chin on his hand and stared at me. “His name is Caden, he looks like Karamo Brown’s twin, and I’m leaving the bar in ten minutes because I want to make out with him.”
I let out a low whistle, because Karamo Brown was delicious.
“Caden LeBlanc?” Luke asked. Jami nodded. “Met him a few days ago when I was doing forty-five in a twenty-five.”
“He’s the new cop in town!” I exclaimed.
Luke nodded. “I’m straight, but I would definitely consider at least making out with that guy. He is a beautiful man.”
Jami’s ears turned pink and he bit his lip. “He’s pretty great.”
I groaned, then laughed, putting my head against Luke’s shoulder. “Jami, I don’t want to think about you making out, ‘cause gross. But also—” I reached out my hand for a fist bump and he gave me one.
“Thanks, sissy.”
As Jami told us the story about how he and Caden met and about their first two dates, Luke’s head leaned against mine. I concentrated hard on controlling my breathing. It was so easy to fall into him, to not fight against this attraction. For tonight, I was going to pretend there was nothing between us.
So when Jami kissed my cheek and told me he’d call me tomorrow, I leaned into Luke more. His arm tightened around my shoulders. Then when Kristy made her excuses to get home to Sam, I laced my fingers through Luke’s. And when Chieka decided she was going home, my
lips brushed the skin next to Luke’s ear as I whispered, “Want to get out of here?”
He just nodded.
Chapter Fifteen
Edie’s Tip #23: Humans don’t have anti-lock brakes, which is why there’s no smooth way to stop when your mouth is going 80 mph.
The ride home was silent except for the “Yesterday’s Country” station playing in the background. Luke had placed our joined hands on his leg before he started his truck and drove the half hour back home. Every mile ratcheted the anticipation higher and higher. Would he kiss me? Would he do more than kiss me? Was this all we’d ever be?
As we pulled into my driveway, the opening guitar to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” started playing. I put my hand over my face and laughed. It was too much. All I needed now was some lightning bugs to form a heart outside the window. Maybe some cherry blossom trees to shed their petals strategically around the car.
“Uh...are you okay over there?” Luke asked, a smile on his face.
I laugh-sighed. “Yep, totally cool. Nothing to see here.”
“Is this a drunk-Edie thing?”
“Nope, haven’t had a drop to drink in two hours.” I pointed at the radio. “This song. It just...” I took a deep breath. “It has memories.”
Luke’s smile grew. “This song always reminds me of prom.”
My breath caught in my chest and my gaze snapped back to his. “Me too.”
His eyes held mine and all of the humor was gone. “You were wearing that dress—” He motioned to his torso. “It had those holes cut out in the side.”
I smiled. “My mom hated that dress, but I bought it with my own money and there was nothing she could do about it.” I bit my lip. “It’s probably why I still have it.”
His gaze grew dark and he leaned closer. “When this song came on, I had my hands around your waist, touching that skin. You threw your head back and sang every word.”
I laughed softly. “Yeah, this was like my favorite song foreva.”
Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex's Brother Page 10
