“Can I ask about the garage?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be going to sleep?”
“I slept all afternoon.” But she yawned anyway. “See? I’m tired.”
“And nosy.”
“Curious. Someone told me they liked that.”
He smiled despite himself. “Ask about the garage.”
“Do you have another location? Keep any vehicles anywhere else?”
“Not really. Will and I both have muscle cars that we put away for the winter, but I don’t…I’m not at the point of needing a warehouse.” He winced at that not-exactly-accurate fib. “I won’t need one, actually. This isn’t the kind of business I once dreamed of. That’s how life goes sometimes.”
He was proud of himself for saying all of that as casually as can be.
Monica was quiet for a minute. “So you can’t drive your Gran Torino in the winter here?”
And his casual vibe shattered like a wine glass hitting concrete. “Don’t have that one anymore.”
“Oh. Did you sell it?”
His jaw tightened. “Yep.”
He traded it for a ’71 Cutlass sedan on the way back to Canada. He hadn’t wanted to keep the car they’d had sex in, kissed in, laughed in…and then broke up in.
He liked the Cutlass just fine, but there were days when he regretted selling the Torino. Nights when all he wanted was to stretch out on that backseat and remember.
And that was why he filled both his days and nights with anything and everything.
“I don’t think you like it when I say I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But I am.”
“Don’t feel like you have to keep saying it,” he grated.
“But—”
“It doesn’t make anything better.” He said it as softly as he could. “I loved you so fucking much. And you changed your mind.”
Carefully, gingerly, she brushed the knuckles of her close arm against his, where it lay between their bodies.
He tensed, but didn’t move away.
“I need to tell you something. I will try to do it without words that, okay, I acknowledge won’t make anything better.” She let out a watery laugh. “Oh, this is the worst possible moment to do this. Fuck.”
Ironically, hearing her swear made him feel marginally better. Not great, but it was something to know his posh, well-educated wife was reduced to crude reaction words due to their circumstances. “Is there going to be a better moment?”
She didn’t say anything.
He glanced sideway, and fuck. Her eyes were swimming with unshed tears. With a twist of his hand, he caught two of her fingers with his. “Then just say it.”
“I was pretty naive. About immigration, and work visas. Remember when I thought we should just get married, so you could have a green card? And you were like, that’s not how that works.”
Something in his chest pinched, like a cramp in his heart. “Yeah.”
“When we got back from Bali, my father…”
Acid rose in Josh’s throat. “What did he say to you?”
