“You just remember what I said. If you like that pretty hair of yours, you be good.”
Garrett gets up from the swing, grabs Lori, and spins her around.
“She’s beautiful,” I say.
“She’s…everything.”
Garrett approaches with Lori, the small girl clinging to him with reverence.
And I couldn’t possibly be more smitten. I don’t care if he’s dirt poor with a poorly-run body shop, Garrett Flint played the starring role in my teenage dreams, and he’s shaping up to be my ‘summer getaway’ from the hell I’ve put myself in.
“You ladies will have to continue to catch up later,” he says, launching Lori into the air to her fearful delight.
Before I can get a word out, Irene embraces me, and I’m lost in a hug. And for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’ve come home.
“We’ll talk later,” I say, then climb into the passenger seat of Garrett’s Mustang.
“Say goodbye to Uncle Ret and Trainwreck Tam,” Irene says to Lori, and despite the fact that it’s literally the WORST nickname I’ve ever had, I can’t help but smile.
Garrett puts the car into gear, and we take off, and while he focuses on the road, I begin to formulate my plan of conquest.
