I can come to the garage around one tomorrow.
Solo’s initial excitement ratcheted down, but only a notch or two. The garage wasn’t on the same level as a fancy restaurant, but it wassomething. Janie’s relationship with her parents was complicated, making every interaction with them difficult andoften negative, and she wanted to talk to Solo about it, not that stupid Austin guy.Thatwas progress, and after last night, she’d take anything she could get. She typed out several responses before landing onGreat xx
She clutched her phone for a little longer, praying for more gray dots. When none came, she switched to Gabe’s message.Make it an hour. We’re just finishing up lunch.She added an exploding head emoji.
“Everything okay?” her dad asked.
She put her phone face up on the table instead of back in her pocketjustin case Janie continued their conversation. “Maybe better than okay,” she said then relayed the short exchange with Janie.
“That’s great news.” Her dad smiled and patted her hand. “You were worrying about nothing.”
“I hope so.” Solo wasn’t about to make the same mistake and put too much expectation on this date like she had on last night’s. Though date didn’t sound right, and meeting seemed way too formal. She supposed what she called it didn’t really matter as long as she didn’t fuck it up again. Hopefully, Gabe and the gang would have some more advice on how to keep her stupid mouth under control, since she’d failed so miserably yesterday… If they had the patience for it. Solo was asking a lot of her chosen family, but she needed them and their understanding more now than ever.
And she needed Janie more now than ever too. Solo didn’t know what Angela had done to make Janie call her, but she was damn grateful for it, and she’d use it as a chance to prove that she was the wife Janie needed.
CHAPTER 12
Yesterday,Janie had tried to wait until after work to message Hannah, but in the end, she couldn’t concentrate until she’d arranged to meet her. That same lack of focus had kicked in again on her way to court today and had only been exacerbated when her judge was delayed for her case management conference. Now that was finally over, she made her way to the garage. The traffic inexplicably eased up, and she ended up there thirty minutes early.
She parked around the back and was pleased to see the bank of cars and trucks waiting for work. It looked like their financial gamble was paying off, and Hannah’s dream was on its way to being a viable reality. At least one thing was going right in their lives, and Janie’s mother couldn’t use it against them. Janie turned off the engine and scoffed silently at her naivete; her mother could weaponize any situation to her advantage.
Janie started to walk up the alley to Bonnie’s Brew to wait rather than sit in the garage waiting room. She had no idea what the rest of Hannah’s friends thought about her right now, and she was in no hurry to be on the receiving end of more negativity. She was still struggling to shake off her mother’s visit, and her self-loathing hadn’t faded much either, especially after her aborted attempt to reconnect with Hannah on Saturday. The irony of the restaurant’s name, Embers, hadn’t been lost on her as she’d left, wondering if her marriage was beyond rekindling.
The garage’s side door creaked open, and she glanced behind her to see RB emerging, wiping her hands on a cloth that may have once been white. Their eyes met, making it impossible for Janie not to acknowledge her. She gave a hesitant wave,unsure whether or not she should stop to talk.
RB nodded in her direction. “Are you coming in?”
Janie paused mid-step and gestured up the alley. “I was going for coffee.”
“That makes two of us.” RB closed the door behind her and joined Janie in a couple of purposeful strides.
“Oh… Okay.” Janie tried for a smile but from RB’s reaction, it was clear she hadn’t succeeded.
“I’m not going to give you a hard time, Janie,” RB said, and her frown deepened, “if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She fell into step with RB, paying close attention to the pitted ground, not wanting to break a heel. “Do I look worried?”
RB raised her eyebrow and nodded. “But you don’t need to. About me or any of the others. We all know Solo can be tough to take.” She caught Janie’s arm when Janie stumbled slightly on a loose stone and chuckled. “We’ve lived with her for years. It’s a wonder none of us buried her alive in the desert.”
“Really?” Janie risked a sideways glance at RB. “She was that bad?”
“She wasthatbad.”
RB offered her arm, and Janie took it, not wanting to add a twisted ankle to her list of problems.
“She’s mellowed some since you took her on,” RB said, “but she’s still an acquired taste.”
Janie bit the inside of her cheek. They might be separated, but that didn’t mean she took kindly to people bad-mouthing her wife. Although, RB wasn’tpeople. She was Hannah’s family. “This isn’t Hannah’s fault.”
RB opened the door to Bonnie’s and gestured for Janie to enter. “That’s not the way she tells it.”
The blast of cool air from inside the café made her wish she’d brought her light jacket with her, but it was the ice-cold fingers wrapping around her heart that chilled her to the core. In her shame, she’d forgotten that they were having problems before...before she’d proven herself to be a terrible mom, and that meantHannah thought everything washerfault. Janie’s fears that she was also a bad wife resurfaced from their shallow hiding place and taunted her further.
RB placed an order for her team and turned to Janie. “What can I get you?”
Janie waved the offer away. “That’s okay. I’ll get mine.”
“Don’t be crazy,” RB said. “What’s your poison?”
