“Fine, but will you come back and work on my car?” The next word came out the way a rusty nail comes out of a plank of wood. “Please.”
“No.” He walked toward his kitchen table. “You can let yourself out.”
Sitting, he continued reading aWall Street Journalarticle online.
Her boots approached. The chair across from him squeaked under her weight. After a few seconds, she caught the top edge of his laptop and carefully lowered it. “I made a mistake,” she acknowledged. “It won’t happen again.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I promise you that it won’t happen again. From now on, I’m going to stick to our agreement. Will you give me a second chance?”
His conscience pricked. He’d done a hundred things wrong in his life, yet Finley hadn’t hesitated to give him a second chance. She’d hired a parolee. She’d let him into her work and life and treasure hunt. It would be hypocritical to refuse to do the same for Blair, even though he didn’t expect her to change. Nobody couldcompel Blair to make good decisions, and he highly doubted she was ready to start making good decisions for herself. “If I do start back to work on your car, I’m warning you that if you step out of line again, I’m done. Nothing you say or do at that point will convince me to help you out again.”
“I understand.”
“People don’t like it when they place their faith in someone and then get burned.”
“I understand.”
“Also, if I do start back to work on your car, you need to cut out your derogatory comments and your rude attitude toward Mom and Dad. I won’t put up with that.”
“Okay.”
“And you need to make sure that I’m alone at least three-quarters of the time I’m in the garage. There’s been way too many people in my business.”
“Got it.”
Silence settled. “You went on and on the other night about how you’re a replacement child for Ethan. You complained about trying to live up to his standard. Was that just the booze talking?”
A blush rolled up her cheeks. It encouraged him to see she could still feel embarrassment.
“That was mostly the booze talking,” she said.
“The way I see it, Mom and Dad did a great job with you. They didn’t expect you to take his place. Right? Be straight with me.”
She fiddled with the table’s edge. “Right. Mom and Dad are cool.”
“But?”
“But that doesn’t mean it’s been super easy to grow up with a dead brother.”
“Life isn’t easy. If you want to find out how hard it can be, then mess up as much as I have. If you want to save yourself a lot of grief and jail time, then start taking responsibility for yourself.”
“But—”
“No buts. Don’t blame anyone else for your mistakes. Especially not Ethan. He doesn’t deserve it.”
She set her chin at a defiant angle, but then her shoulders relaxed. “Fine. Does this mean that you’ll fix up my car?”
“On a trial basis.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.” Her face brightened and she lifted a hand for him to high-five.
He didn’t reciprocate.
