“I’ll see you tomorrow. Have fun, and don’t break the bank,” Kara says into the crown of Nellie’s head.
“Mimi gave me extra monies.” Nellie has a megawatt smile plastered on her face. Kara tosses her head back and laughs. The love this family has for one another is similar to what I have with my mom and Jace. Of course, thinking about that has my stomach sinking once again, like it does several times a day. Especially as the days go by and the feelings I have for Locke continue to go deeper.
“I’m not even surprised,” Kara responds. They finish their goodbyes and head toward the garage bays while Sable keeps her hand firmly in Nellie’s.
My mind wanders, thinking about how my car has been paid off and taken care of, courtesy of my brother and Locke whenever I have a problem or need routine maintenance. Technically, I’d banked on having two more years without a car payment, steadily putting half of my tips from bartending in a high-yield savings account for a short term until I had enough,then I’d put it in CD to make even more. I’ve repeated this process throughout my life, trying to stay ahead of the game when it comes to staying out of debt and preparing for my future.
One where being a bartender becomes too much on my body and where I’m hopeful I can eventually take over the managerial position. It looks like I’ll have to see which ones I can cash out, then I’ll need to figure out if I want a payment or to pay cash outright. I’ve got a revolving credit history with a couple of credit cards, and I pay those off every month like clockwork.
Jace and I have firsthand experience with being in debt; we were also told, without a shadow of a doubt, not to do what our mom had to do, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul in order to survive. The cost of being a single mom, as she further explained, meant repairing your credit history over and over again when you relied on a paycheck only to get laid off. She preached to both of her kids to have steady employment, live within your means, and don’t reproduce until you’re ready.
“Hey, Jade.” I’m knocked out of my thoughts when Colt calls out my name.
“Hey.” He sends a warm smile my way; either he’s giving me good news or is letting me down easily.
“Come on, I’ll go over what I found.” I look at Kara. She shrugs her shoulders, more or less saying she has no idea what’s going on.
“Yeah, okay.” I wipe my sweaty palms down my sides and follow the leader. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” I’m unable to hold back my question once we’re out of the waiting area and nearing the back of the shop.
“It ain’t good. You’ve got a couple of options.” Colt leads me to where my car is parked in the back of the building. It makes sense it’s not in a bay or out front. She really is an old lady—the paint is faded, rust setting in, the interior of the car has a crack inthe dash, seat covers are hiding the rips and tears, and now that she broke down on me, well, I think we all know what the most viable option is going to be.
“Alright, sock it to me and don’t hold back.” I lean my hip against the hood.
“Well, you need a new transmission, which you already knew. I ran the numbers. Parts and labor are going to run you about four thousand.” I suck back a breath. That’s a doozy of a number, and knowing Colt, that’s with a friend discount. “Looked online to see what your car is worth.” He takes his baseball cap off, runs his fingers through his hair, and settles it back on his head. “Honey, your car isn’t even worth half that. You can sell it, maybe get a grand for it, or you can part it out. That’ll take time, and who knows how much you’ll make. I’ll do whatever you want, but I’d much rather you take the four K to buy something better. You know whatever you find, I’ll look at first.”
“I had a feeling things would go this way. I’ve been researching some used vehicles. New cars are way out of my tax bracket. I really appreciate you taking a look and weighing out my options.” I’m going to talk to Locke. Scrapping my old girl may not give me as much as selling her, but the thought of dealing with potential buyers isn’t my cup of tea. The asking a million questions, responding to them, only for them to ghost you. Yeah, no thanks.
“Not a problem. Hate like hell it took me so long to go over it.”
“I’m not upset. Does Kara have the bill for me to settle?” May as well get out of here, pull out my laptop, and start figuring things out.
“It’s already taken care of.” He drops my keys in the palm of my hand.
“Jace?”
“Nope, Locke. I’m not getting in the middle of that. I know nothing, I see nothing, and I hear nothing.” I let out a small laugh.
“Message received, loud and clear.” I guess it’s hard to miss what Locke and I have when he’s doing things like paying my bill. We walk back through the shop, I say my goodbyes to Colt and Kara, then climb into Locke’s truck, liking it entirely too much. It’s a beast, sits up higher, takes a lot more gas, and is probably way out of my price range. Still, when driving home or back to Locke’s late at night after closing down the bar, I’ve felt safer than I did in my car. Which means I should probably look at a small SUV at the very least.
3
Locke
“Yeah,” I answer the phone once I’m back in my wrecker. The pile-up ended up being a six-car collision involving a semi and five cars, ranging from a utility truck, an SUV, and a few cars, one of them being a two-door convertible. Luckily, there weren’t any fatalities on scene. That doesn’t mean life-flight wasn’t involved, because it absolutely was. It made my gut sink, and I was pleased as fuck that Jade took me up on driving around my truck instead of one of the cars from the yard.
“Hey, man, figure Jade will tell you, but if not, her car is toast. Would take more money than it’s worth. She has the keys, but if you could pull it outta here in the next few days, I’d appreciate it,” Colt says on the other end of the line.
I hadn’t heard from her, then again, she doesn’t usually call when I’m out working, too worried it’ll interfere with what I’m doing. Plus, she’s worried about my safety, full fucking stop. Every time I get called out, her last words arebe safe. If I tell her I’m heading out via text or a phone call, it’s the same. The least I can do is keep my wits about me and my head on a fucking swivel.
“Thanks. Haven’t talked to her yet. Probably will here shortly. Jace get the lowdown?” I ask, talking about my best friend, the man who I love like a brother but is a pain in my dickand will no doubt give me exactly what I deserve when the time comes and he finds out I’ve been with his sister.
I get it. It’s not like I was a fucking saint when I was younger or even in my twenties. I was wild and free. Settling down wasn’t anything I wanted or needed. By the time I hit my thirties, I’d dated a few times here and there, nothing serious and nothing long lasting.
Jace has been the same way right along with me. Hell, he hasn’t slowed down at all. Every other weekend, he’s out doing something or other, bringing someone home. And while I’ve been able to beg off for the most part, there are times when I join him, sit on a barstool, nurse a beer, and let him do his thing. He will try and get me to talk to some woman or other who’s with whomever he’s talking to. I usually head in another direction, and while Jade knows her brother, she also knows I’m not straying and am coming home to her.
“I didn’t tell him. Figure it’s your rig that will tow it out. The rest is up to you and her. Though, I’m assumin’ his ass tracked her here.”
“Be kind of hard since she left the family tracker after the last incident.” Jade gave him an earful, pulled her mom into it, and left whatever app they have that tracks the family. Their mom gave Jace hell right along with Jade. I was in the room when they had the three-way call. Both women hung up on him. I almost felt bad for him, but he brought it on himself. While there’s being protective, there’s also being overprotective without leaving an inch of breathing room. He’s been teetering on that edge for a long time and tipped the scale when he met us at Barlow’s.
