“Well.” Dad shuffles past me, plopping into my expensive office chair. I grimace when he leans the backrest as far back as it’ll go. Things do not stay nice for long in the Massy household. “You can tell me the truth about it when you get back.” He winks. “Or you and I can go for a drive.”
I shudder.
When I was in high school, and something bothered me, I would clam up and get real quiet. Dad said he always knew when something was wrong because my spark was dull. So he’d get me in the car, and drive around town…in silence. He wouldn’t say a peep. Five minutes of that and I’d crack under the pressure, word vomiting all my troubles until I either felt better or cried it out.
It’s a non-issue, though. By the time I get back from interviewing, everyone is going to know anyway.
“I’ll tell you everything. Not tomorrow, but the next day.”
“Alright, Sugar.” He raises a brow when I grab my keys off the pegboard behind the desk.
“Kellan put it outside.” I shrug.
Moving a car from the shop is our universal sign that it’s been fixed and is ready for pickup. Considering I’m the client, I skip the bill and head straight for my candy-apple-red Mercury Mountaineer that’s chilling in the parking lot.
God, I’ve missed her. Eve has been my ride since I bought her straight out of high school. She’s a great little SUV. Most people wouldn’t be able to drive their first cars around, but it helps that my brother is both a talented mechanic and body man. All the little bumps and scrapes have been buffed out, and Eve had a new transmission put in just last year.
I’m a solid fifteen minutes out of town when I go to plug my phone into the aux cord. Shock and a mild amount of horror fill me when I realize I left it at the shop face down on the desk.
Poor Hazel.
And poor me. Nothing like a nine-hour road trip with only the radio and my thoughts to keep me company. Fuck’s sake.
Could this month get any worse?
Good thing I know where the spa is.
Chapter 10
Eli
She’s ignoring me.I mean, I don’t blame her, but I need to see her. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to explain myself for weeks now. How do I tell her what happened? How do I convince her that I needed a little time? That I can make things work if she’s willing to try again.
I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t forgive me. Hell, I wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to me again. Right now, though, I need to know what’s going through her mind.
It’s the middle of the day on a Tuesday, which means she should be at the shop—the shop I’ve been avoiding like a coward. How does one come back from that? I kicked her out of my house after having sex, as I spun wild stories in my head about being a cheating husband while she ran out of there crying, with tears streaming down her face. It’s unforgivable.
The worst part? Lara was the kind of person who’d want me to move on. She told me one night when we were tucked into bed together, that if she ever left before me, I was to find someone else. Someone young, hot,and funny. Lara wanted me happy, more than anything else in the world, and I…I ran away at the first sign of it.
When Lara died, I lost the best thing that ever happened to me. What if it happens again? What if having Tucker is supposed to be enough? It feels greedy to have more.
“Well, I gave up calling and went by the house, but she’s not there. And why does it look like she’s been sleeping on the couch?” Hazel’s voice rings through the shop the second I yank the door open. If there wasn’t a goddamn bell attached to it, I would’ve snuck right back outside. Hazel is…a lot.
“Oh no, you don’t, asshole. Get your fine ass in here and start explaining what the fuck is going on.” Hazel pins me with a glare. Chuck Massy’s eyes widen, a hand barely hiding the smile he’s trying so desperately to smother.
“What’s wrong this time, Haze?”
“Don’t youHazeme.” Her eyes narrow, hands gripping her hips. “Our beloved Sibby has gone missing, and you two have been weird for weeks.”
“She’s right about that.” Chuck cocks his head.
“What do you mean by missing?”
“She’s ignoring my calls. When I called here, Chuck said she left for the day—nay, the next two days. So I stopped by her house, but she’s not there. Her comforter and pillows are on the couch.”
My heart cracks in half, knowing I’m the cause of Sibyl’s pain—the reason she’s avoiding her bedroom, avoiding me, and by extension, Tucker. My boy misses her something fierce. And it’s all my fault.
“Dad!” Kellan’s voice booms when he runs in from the shop. “Where’s Sibyl’s car?”
