I duck my head, pretending to examine the old stack of books at my feet. “No, nothing is going on and nothing is going to happen either. He has a three-year-old.”
She makes a noise in the back of his throat. “Is he married?”
“Widowed. His wife died.”
“Okay, so he’s a free agent…” She says this slowly, as if not understanding what the heck my problem is. Honestly, I’m not sure I understand what my problem is either.
“He’s not interested, and I’m off men after Thomas, who, incidentally, turned up at the store the other night.”
Her mouth drops open. “He did what?” She puts down the decoration she’s holding, which is a good thing. I’m worried she might launch it across the storage unit. “Did he hurt you?”
My smile is sad. That she immediately thinks that makes my stomach feel hollow. “No. He just spouted a load of crap and left.”
“That man…” She shakes her head. “You’re better off without him, you know that, right?”
I nod. “I know it, Sim. You don’t have to worry. I have no intention of going back there with Thomas. Not now, not ever.”
This is the truth. I don’t trust the man and I’m no longer in love with him anyway.
“You make sure it stays that way. That man was bad news from the moment you got with him.”
She’s not wrong about that. I made some bad decisions when it came to Thomas, but I never expected the sweet man I started to date to become violent behind closed doors. It took me years—and Simone’s help—to get free from him.
“But Jared… he seems like a good man.”
“I’m sure he is.”
He did come over to fix my plumbing, and he helped me move that heavy chest. Then again, Thomas didn’t start off a monster. The monster appeared over time.
“Girl, if you don’t snap him up someone else will.”
“I don’t want to snap him up.”
Lie.
Every time I’m near him my emotions go on overdrive. Considering I’ve felt nothing for a man in years, it has me confused.
Simone just stares at me and mutters an “Uh-huh,” before going back to sorting things.
Do I want Jared?
Yes.
Can it happen?
No.
He’s clearly hurt by his own past and he has a son to raise. He doesn’t need to be worrying about dating. Neither do I for that matter.
I push Jared out of my head, and try to forget about the fact his son is adorable, that Jared himself is gorgeous. My past is just as messy as Jared’s and I really don’t want to drag him into my disastrous life.
Simone reappears from behind a large dresser. “Girl, you’re going to need a month to sort this crap out.”
She’s not wrong about this. I’m going to be here forever, but it’s worth it for the items I can sell in the antiques store. Some of these items should fetch some money.
We load the things I definitely want to keep onto the van and lock the rest of the things back up in the storage unit to be sorted another day.
I drive us back to the shop and Simone helps me unload everything into a back room that I keep for stock.
“Are you seriously keeping that ugly assed portrait?” she asks as she leans it against the wall.
“I’m intrigued by it. I want to know who painted it and why, where it came from.” I stare at the painting. “I know a valuer with much better knowledge than me. He may be able to get to the bottom of where it originated.”
I want to try and dig up some information myself, but Simone is right. It’s a little creepy, but I push that down. My inner historian is twitching, desperate to know something—anything—about it.
9
Jared
Mom can’t take Coop today, so I have to take him to work with me. My kid isn’t fazed by this. He loves hanging out at the garage. I have a little area set up for him if he wants to play, but the guys are great and keep him entertained (and out of harm’s way) too.
I grab three takeout coffees on the way in and head over to the garage. Coop talks at a hundred miles per hour, his excitement getting the better of him. I understand half of what he says, the other half gets lost in translation.
As I pull into the parking lot, my son lets out a whoop of excitement. He’s so enthusiastic I can’t help but wonder if he will follow in my footsteps one day and take over the garage or maybe go into the forces as a mechanic. I don’t care what he does, as long as he’s happy doing it, but would I love to teach my kid about something I love?
Sure.
I climb out of the car once I’ve cut the engine and head around to the back door to release Cooper from his seat. As soon as his feet touch the ground, he’s rushing off in the direction of the main bay door, where Slider is working on a car.
“Coop, careful,” I yell out, but I don’t need to worry. Slider is there.
He scoops my son up and out of any danger.
“What are you doing, little man?” he asks, tickling at his ribs. Coop squeals.
“Workin’.”
“Working, huh? What you working on?”
He shrugs. “Whatever you’re workin’ on.”
Slider laughs even as my eyes roll. This kid of mine.
“You got him?” I mouth at Slider, who nods and puts Coop to work with him.
Knowing my friend will take care of my son like he’s his own, I head into the office and check through the paperwork for today’s repairs.
Slider brings Coop to me after about thirty minutes.
“There’s been a three-car pile-up in town. I’m going to head out with the tow.”
I nod. Beanie’s day off is today, and usually on this kind of thing, I’d go with Slider, but I can’t leave Coop and taking him with us isn’t an option.
“You’ll be okay?”
He waves a hand. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
He gets down on his haunches in front of my son. “We’ll work some more when I get back, yeah?”
Cooper nods.
“See you in a bit, boss.”
I scowl at Slider’s retreating back. I hate being called ‘boss’, even if I technically am. Bean and Slider are like brothers to me. I’m closer to them than I am my own sister. I served for years beside both men, and they had my back more times than I can count—as I did theirs. They are bonds that cannot be broken, which is how both men ended up moving to Louisiana. After Robyn died, I needed them here—even if I didn’t realize I did—and they came. I’ll never forget that. They helped me with Coop over the years and they helped me get my head on straight enough to raise my son as a single parent.
I move over to the cabinet and pull out some colored pencils and a coloring book.
“Why don’t you do a picture while Daddy finishes this paperwork, kid?”
Coop sits his ass on the floor and starts to draw, leaving me to head back to the paperwork.
I work in silence, but Coop talks to himself as he colors. I’m used to him never being quiet, so I’m able to block him out to concentrate on my paperwork.
The bell from the reception area I can’t block out, though.