Jake wanted to reassure him — he didn’t know Troy all that well yet, but Harvey spoke highly of him, and that counted for a lot.
They both turned when Harvey stuck his head out of the office door.“Are you two coming inside?You might as well — you’ll only have to repeat everything for me later if you don’t.”
Jake chuckled and led Troy into the office.As soon as they were inside, Harvey smiled at Troy.“Did Dom call you?”
Troy shot Jake a puzzled look.“I thought your dad’s name was Damon.”
“It is,” said Harvey.“I’m not losing my marbles here.I’m trying to line you up another job.I was talking to my Sadie and Dom yesterday — telling them that if they’re going to want a dock, they should probably get it built while the house is being done.Be easier for them to get everything out of the way at once, and I thought it might be best for you, since you’re going to be working at Damon and Jo’s place right next door anyway.”
“Thanks,” said Troy, “but I don’t even know if I’ve won that bid yet.”
Harvey just smiled.“That’s what I’m telling you.”He glanced at Jake.“Even though I probably shouldn’t.You’ve got the first job for Damon and Jo, and if you play your cards right, you’ll get the second one for Dom and Sadie, too.But we can talk about all that on the way.”
He grinned at Jake and held his hand out to show off his car keys.“I’ll take my own car — be back before you know it.”
Jake narrowed his eyes at him, but he was hardly going to argue in front of Troy.Instead, he gave Troy a quick rundown of the work he planned to do on Cara’s car.
Troy looked back at him as he followed Harvey outside.“I know you don’t know me yet, but I’m straight and I’m fair.And any of my customers will tell you that I do good work.I’ll do a good job for your dad and your uncle — if they hire me.”
Jake smiled back.“I have no doubt.And I intend to do a good job for your daughter.I’ll give the Civic a bit of a service while it’s in here.”
The way the lines around Troy’s eyes deepened a little, almost as if he winced, made Jake clarify, “Just as a courtesy.”
Some of the tension left Troy’s shoulders as he said, “Thanks.I’ll talk to you later,” before hurrying out after Harvey.
~ ~ ~
Savannah still felt a little shaky when she pulled up at the garage.She’d barely slept after her encounter with Rick last night.She liked to think of herself as the kind of person who could handle whatever life threw at her, but Rick had scared her.She hated that.
She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly before getting out of the Camaro.Turning to look out at the lake, she took a few more deep breaths.Clouds hung low in the sky, and the lake was a deep, flat, blue-gray color.It might not be a clear blue-sky kind of day, but she was here.She used to think of the garage as her happy place back when she was a kid and Art owned the place.
If anything, she was even happier to be here now – with Jake.Now it was his place, and she got to hang out with him.That was what she needed to focus on today.She wasn’t going to let anything distract her from how good her life was right now.Today might be the first time ever that she got to hang out with a guy she cared about and, at the same time, do the kind of work she loved most.
She checked the small parking lot and was surprised not to see Harvey’s car.He’d no doubt be here later, and she loved that she got to spend time with him, too.She was going to make the most of this day.She wasn’t going to let Rick’s shadow hang over it.
She’d have to tell Jake about it at some point — she’d promised him she would.She might not know much about relationships, but she knew they had to have honesty at their core.Even if Jake were only a friend, she wouldn’t want to break the promise she’d made to him.But she could save it for one more day.She’d tell him tomorrow.Just like she’d give serious consideration to Taryn’s offer tomorrow.She should be thrilled at the prospect of becoming an assistant manager at the restaurant.And it did make her feel good that Taryn thought she was capable and wanted her.Maybe she was just being greedy; her life was good at the moment — better than it had ever been.Maybe she’d be stupid to turn down the opportunity.
She took one last look at the lake.Even on a gray day, it was still beautiful, and she took in one more big breath that filled her with the scent of pine and lake — recognizing as she did that it was the smell of home — before turning to go in to see Jake.
She’d only taken a few steps when the door to the office opened and he came out wearing a big smile.
“Hey.”When he held his arms out, she hurried to him and closed her eyes when he wrapped them around her.
She buried her face in his chest, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.When he held her closer, she finally relaxed a little, wishing they could just spend the day like this.With his arms around her, she felt like nothing could touch her.
More than that, there was nowhere else she’d rather be.She laughed when he tapped the top of her head and said, “Good morning.Are you in there?”
She looked up into his big brown eyes and smiled.“I am.I’m here now, and it’s so good to see you.”
He brushed his lips over hers.“It’s so good to see you, too.”He cocked an eyebrow.“Are you okay?”
She nodded rapidly.“Yeah, I’m good.Well, I didn’t sleep well.”At least that part wasn’t a lie.
His smile faded.“You don’t have to be here if you need to go home and rest today.I know this is your one day off.”
She tightened her arms around his waist.“No way am I going home.Like you said, this is my one day off, and I get to choose how I want to spend it.”She smiled — both for his sake and because it hit her just how comfortable she felt with him.She didn’t feel awkward or nervous at all about telling him, “I want to spend it with you.”
He ran his hand over her hair and tucked it behind her ear.“I’m glad.I want to spend it with you, too.But I worry about you.You work a lot as it is.”
