I snatch up the suitcase, push past my mom in the doorway and cross the hall into the bathroom I share with my sister, where I grab some essentials—toothbrush, shampoo and the like—and cram them into the bulging front pocket of my suitcase. Then, I take off for the front door.
“Where are you going, baby?” my mom calls after me.
Spinning around, I pin my parents with a glare. “I’m going to Stella’s. I am through with you treating me like a child. The only reason I stayed here was because having a job would make it harder to keep up at school, but if you’re going to use that to control me, I will happily get a job and both of you can go get the hell out of my life.”
I turn back around, fling the front door open and cross the lawn to where Stella’s parked at the curb, waiting for me.
Chapter 11
Now, I’ve Seen Everything!
Ryan
Charlie:We need to talk.
I’ve been staring at Charlie’s text for the past hour, debating about how to reply. Half of me wants to say “screw it” to her father and go see her, but that’s the selfish half. The other half—the one that’s not a total asshole—tells me I need to just let her go.
I really hate that half.
The bell over the door chimes, alerting me to a customer entering the store. I check my phone. It’s 11:15. We don’t have any appointments set for another hour and our guys are all too busy to accept walk-ins, so I’m probably going to get bitched at. Exactly what I need right now. I take a deep breath, set down the paperwork I was going through and turn around.
“Welcome to…” The words die on my lips. Charlie’s dad? Charlie’s dad is standing in the doorway to my shop. Why the hell is Charlie’s dad at my shop? Don’t tell me that asshole owns a bike because I will seriously lose my shit.
He steps up to the counter. “It’s Ryan, right?”
The way he says it, it’s obvious he isn’t here looking for a mechanic. Jesus, it wasn’t bad enough he threatened me at his house, now he’s coming to my work. “Uh… yes, sir. Charlie isn’t—”
“I know,” he says. “I’m here to see you.” His eyes rove over my face, pausing on the pierced brow, then my hair, which isn’t pulled back at the moment, and down to the tattoos on my arms. It’s strangely intrusive, and I find myself shifting positions, discomfited by his obvious scrutiny. He points to my tattoos. “Your folks don’t give you a hard time about those?” he asks, and I probably should be pissed, but his tone was more curious than accusing so I answer him.
“My folks are dead.” Well, my mom is, but my dad might as well be for all I care, but I’m not telling him that. Mr. Hayes’s shoulders sag a little at my admission. I guess in his world parents are assumed to not be huge pieces of shit, so he should feel bad for me. “My brother, Trey, basically raised me, and no, he doesn’t care. His only warning was not to get tattoos anywhere I couldn’t cover up.”
“Right. Right.” He nods and goes quiet again.
“Is there something you need, Mr. Hayes?” I ask. I’m trying to be respectful because this is Charlie’s dad, but I really just want to tell this guy to fuck off and chuck his ass out of the shop.
He sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “Being a dad is hard, you know?” He scrubs a hand over his face and shakes his head. “Of course, you don’t know. It’s just… being a father of girls is scary. You’re always worried about them getting hurt, and I overstepped. I didn’t try to get to know you; I just judged youand I… um…” he stammers, eyes trained on the countertop. He scratches his nose, licks his lips, clears his throat. Finally, Charlie’s dad meets my eyes and says, “I want to apologize.”
I blink at him. I had to have heard incorrectly. There is no way this man just apologized to me.
He must read the confusion on my face because he continues, “I misjudged you and I’m sorry. Charlie told us what you did.” He swallows, throat bobbing nervously. “It’s terrifying to think of what might have happened if you hadn’t been there looking out for my girl.”
I’m stunned stupid. He’s for real. My jaw’s fallen so far, it’s practically scrubbing the floor. “She’s…” I pause searching for the right word. I want to say “everything” but that seems like too much, so I settle for, “She’s important to me.”
Mr. Hayes nods, as though that’s what he expected me to say. His eyes are glassy with unshed tears, and he blinks like crazy trying to hold them back. “I was just trying to protect her,” he says.
“I know.” And that’s the truth. I understand that in his mind, as misguided as it might have been, he did what he thought would protect Charlie.
He takes a deep breath and shakes his head in an obvious attempt to get a hold of himself, “I won’t stand in the way of you seeing her,” he says and my heart jolts at the thought of seeing Charlie again, holding her, kissing her. I almost have myself fooled into believing this is all for real when Mr. Hayes says, “I just have a favor to ask of you, as her father?”
Fuck. I should have known better than to get my hopes up. “Okay,” I say, and brace myself for the other shoe to drop.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t drive her around on your motorcycle. They make me nervous. You two are welcome to use our extra car,” he adds quickly.
I let out a relieved laugh. “Sure. I can do that. My brother has an Explorer he rarely uses. I’m sure he’ll let me borrow it sometimes.”
His shoulders relax and he smiles. “Thank you.” Then, holding his hand out to shake, he says, “I hope we can start over.”
I clasp his hand and give it a firm shake. “I’d like that.”
