“You’ve always felt like family to me, Savvie.And now with you and Jake together, it feels even more that way.I know I’m not related to him, but I feel like I kind of am.”
She had to laugh at the puzzled look on his face as he asked, “If my mom’s with his uncle… does that make us kind of cousins?That’s the closest explanation I can come up with.”
“It sounds about right to me.”
“So, when you and Jake get married, will that make you my cousin-in-law?”
All her breath caught in her chest, but Josh didn’t seem to notice.He waved a hand.“You know what?You feel like my little sister.And a sister is closer than a cousin anyway, so we’ll stick with that, huh, little sis?”
She nodded happily.“Sure thing, brother.”
“I’m guessing I don’t get the honor of your company today, even though you’re not working?”
“No, but that shouldn’t matter since I knowyou’resupposed to be working.”
He chuckled.“Yeah, you were just my hope of an excuse not to.”
“Sorry.Can’t help you out there.I need to go over to the apartment to see Tiffany.And then I’m going to the garage.I need to get the Camaro in and bleed the brakes.”
“You mean any excuse to go and hang out with Jake?”
“Of course I do, but in this case, I reallydoneed to get the brakes done.We were supposed to do it on Monday.But when Taryn suggested that I should try out the assistant manager position for the week before I make a decision…”
Josh met her gaze.“And have you decided yet?”
She made a face.She kind of enjoyed having more responsibility, but she definitely didn’t enjoy working every single night and staying until the end of the night.
Josh gave her a knowing smile.“I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again – you need to find a job doing what you love.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing what he was about to say, then chanted with him, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
“So why are you still working at the restaurant?”
She blew out a sigh.“Because it’s a job.Taryn was so good to take me on, and now she’s being awesome about giving me a chance like this.I…”
“You’re too grateful, Savannah.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not.It’s a great quality to have.As long as it doesn’t come at the expense of you doing what you really want to in life.”
“Doing what I really want isn’t an option.It never was.”
“Maybe it wasn’t when we were kids, but it is now.”
She stared at him for a long few moments, wishing he was right.When they were kids, he’d encouraged her to train as a mechanic.He reckoned that if she were qualified, Art would be able to hire her, and she’d probably manage to build the business up.It hadn’t been an option for her.And Art, as much as he loved her, was an old-fashioned kind of guy.Even though he’d taught her so much about cars and engines and everything mechanical, he’d done it to give her an escape from her life – he hadn’t thought that becoming a mechanic and actually working in the garage was a suitable life for a young lady.
Josh got to his feet.“You know I’m right, Savvie.And as much as I hate to admit it, you were right too – I need to get to work.”
When she got to the apartment, Tiffany came out of her room and wrapped Savannah in a big hug.Then she stood back and held her by the shoulders and nodded approvingly.
“It suits you,” she said with a grin.
Savannah dropped her gaze, but Tiffany just laughed.
“Oh my God, I didn’t mean that.I mean, sure, yeah, I know you must be getting some.More than some – hopefully lots.And I don’t mind telling you that I envy you.Shoot — not that I mean Jake… damn, you know what I mean.I was just telling my huge pile of laundry yesterday that it shouldn’t feel bad.It’s not alone.Nobody’s doing me either.”
Savannah laughed out loud.“I love you, Tiff.”
