“How much was it?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“What about insurance?”
“I have it covered.” Thanks to the envelope I’d rinsed in the auction house. Cam’s fairy godfather act had meant my cute little savings account remained untouched, and I had enough in there to insure that little Fiat for the next two years. “What’s up with that window?”
Kara glanced back at her house. “The catch is broken, has been for ages. How can you see that from here?”
Cos I’d spent ten years hauling people out of fires they could’ve escaped if they’d fixed little things like broken window catches. “You have a screwdriver?”
“It’s fine, Locke. Bob will fix it.”
I kept my scepticism off my face. Bob was a stand-up dude but as handy with a toolbox as I would be at the helm of his secondary school classroom.Be pleasant, be pleasant, be pleasant. “It’ll just take a second. So Bob doesn’t have to worry about it.”
Kara clicked her teeth. “Fine. But don’t take too long, okay? I have things to do.”
She went inside for the screwdriver.
I retreated to the car and explained myself to Embry.
He waved me away. “Whatever you need. It’s nice that you get on.”
“Hard fuckin’ work, that’s what it is.”
I trudged back to Kara’s house and fixed the window without setting foot inside.
Five minutes later, it was done. I left the screwdriver on the sill and closed the window.
Kara had already gone inside and shut the front door. Taking that as my cue to fuck the fuck off, I retreated to Orla’s car and slid behind the wheel, texting Willow that I’d keep her posted about the car.
Willow:His name is JAM JAR.
Dad:okay
Willow:This is literally the best day of my life.
That escalated fast, but I couldn’t deny it put a smile on my face. I told her I loved her and shoved the phone in my pocket.
Embry grinned and switched the radio station to some dubstep bullshit. “Being around you and your kid is better than therapy.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Embry dumped his phone on the dashboard. “Your relationship is fucking beautiful.”
“That’s all her.”
“No, it isn’t. She is who she is because that’s how you raised her.”
“I didn’t raise her.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Believe what you want. It’s fact. You think running with the Crows gave me time to be dad of the year?”
Grumpy, I put the car in gear and drove away.
Embry waited until we joined the A-road before he answered. “Showing up isn’t always literal, and that kid isn’t one who’s ever gone a day without knowing you love her.”
