“Sure. Park it in bay two, please.”
Even without the Mercedes tag on the keyring, Lily would have been able to identify Eva’s car. Three were in the lot—Lily’s Corolla, a beat-up Subaru, and the sleek silver Mercedes that flashed when Lily clicked the key. It had a rack on the roof, and Lily wondered, as she slid behind the wheel, if it was a modification for Eva’s mother.
She was unsurprised to find the inside of the car immaculately clean, not a wrapper or water bottle in sight. Classical music played through the speakers when the engine purred to life. Putting the car into reverse, Lily checked her mirrors three times before releasing the handbrake.
She tossed the keys to her dad once she’d successfully parked it in the workshop, and he caught them with practiced ease, tucking them into his pocket.
“Would you mind going out front? There’s a few admin tasks that need doing. Orders, filing, things like that.”
“Things you find too boring, you mean?” Lily knew he much preferred the hands-on aspect of the job.
He grinned and bumped her shoulder with his own. “Too right. But let me know if you need a hand.”
“Like you’d know how to help. Do you even know how to use a computer?”
“I’ve come a long way since you were last here. I can make a spreadsheet now. Anna taught me.”
“So you can teach a dinosaur new tricks.”
He flicked his greasy towel toward her, and Lily leapt out of the way. “I hope you don’t speak to your usual boss that way.”
Alisha would find it funny. “I know you can take it.” Lily pressed a kiss to his cheek before returning to the office. Much to her relief, it was empty, but she knew it wasn’t likely to last for long.
Sure enough, the bell jingled half an hour later, signifying Eva’s return. She glanced once at Lily before taking the furthest seat she possibly could, and Lily tried to ignore her as she concentrated on ordering twenty tires from their usual supplier. Her dad would kill her if she got the wrong ones.
A phone rang, and Lily tried not to listen as Eva answered it.
“Hi, Angela.”
Okay, she didn’t try very hard. Who the hell was Angela? Did Eva, the self-professed loner, actually have friends?
“Is everything all ri—what?”
The note of panic in Eva’s voice made Lily look away from the computer screen, because she’d never heard her sound like that before. Her face was pale, the fingers of Eva’s hand shaking where they held the phone to her ear.
“Is she conscious? Have you called an ambulance?”
Jesus. Was it her mom?
Eva was shaking her head, beginning to shove the papers she’d been grading into her bag with one hand. “No, no, that’s okay. I didn’t realize Tom was with you, if he can drive her to the hospital that’s fine. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.” Eva hung up the phone, her eyes wild as she turned to Lily. “How much longer do you think my car will be?”
“Uhm.” Lily glanced through the window toward the workshop. Her dad was bent over the engine of Eva’s Mercedes. “I can ask, but I think it’ll be a while. It usually takes an hour or two, and he’s on his own this morning.”
“No matter. I’ll call an Uber.” Eva was already scrolling on her phone.
“I can drive you to the hospital. Save you from having to wait.”
Extending the offer in light of everything was madness, but Eva was frantic, and Lily wasn’t going to leave her stranded. She’d make the offer to any other customer. It didn’t have to mean anything.
Eva’s head jerked away from her phone, her gaze meeting Lily’s, disbelief written across her face. “You would?”
Lily shrugged. “Sure. It’s not too far from here.”
“I—thank you.”
“Let me just go tell my dad,” Lily said, logging off the computer and pushing herself away from the desk, “and we can go.”
* * *
