“Yes, I do.” I shifted in my seat, pretty damn pleased with myself. “It’s not my fault you lost yours, J.”
“Okay, I told you they fell out of my jeans somewhere! I didn’t know the pocket was ripped.”
“You are such a clown.” I smiled, tousling his hair. “But I’m so happy you’re finallymyclown.” I took a breath. “I’m sorry for making you wait this long, James. We could’ve had months together.”
“Izzy, wewillhave months together.”
I chewed on my lip. “Only one together at school, though.”
“Yes, and then we’ll have the whole summer. It’ll be great, okay?”
I nodded slowly and then said, “Drive. I want…”
WhatdidI want? I already hadproofthat Papá had lied, that he was back in Philly; I’d seen him with my own eyes in that restaurant. Why did I need to track down his car, too?
My jaw tightened. On the off chance that my father was currently searching for his car, I wanted to confront him.
James took one of my hands and kissed my knuckles. “We’re going to find it.”
I took a deep breath when he backed the Tesla out of its parking spot. We slowly wound our way through the vast lot, passing into territory that none of us had covered while searching for the Tesla. Monitoring the map, I watched the distance between us and my father’s car shrink until the radius was nothing more than a small speck. James didn’t bother parking once we found it; he just stopped in the middle of the vacant row. There were no open spots, and frankly, I didn’t care about proper parking lot etiquette right now. No one was here anyway.
Including Papá.
But nevertheless, my heart sped up when James looked at me, watching the nervousness unspool in my eyes. “I don’t understand,” I heard myself say. “Why didn’t he park in a garage?”
“Maybe he did.” James shrugged. “Then they went on a joyride around the city or something?”
They,I thought. The word made my pulse drop—and not in a good way.
Before I knew it, I’d unbuckled my seat belt and muttered something about grabbing my father’s new telescope from his trunk. There was going to be a meteor shower tonight.
I didn’t give a damn about astronomy.
“Izzy, wait!” At first I thought James was going to stop me, but instead he dug a stray bobby pin out of his pocket. “We don’t have your dad’s spare keys,” he said, “so this is our best chance. These things can be tricky to maneuver sometimes.”
I closed my eyes but nodded. We both opened our doors, rounded the Tesla, and I admit…I stared at my father’s car for a few moments. You couldn’tnotstare at his car, the one missing from our precious garage. It was something straight out of a James Bond movie, an opalescent green vintage convertible with smooth beige leather seats. “The 1961 Jaguar E-Type SI,” I said to fill the silence. Papá had spent two years researching and looking for this car, and I remembered he’d bought it without telling Mamá. It’d been shipped over from France, and when it arrived, the argument they had over itwaslegendary.“This car is his prize,” I told James. “It’s his passion….”
“It’s his fault for not noticing it got towed to a sketchy parking lot under the highway,” James joked, and we both took a moment to ponder how such a luxury car hadsurvivedthis long here. Even I would’ve attempted to steal it.
Yikes, I shouldn’t have said that. My father had raised me to appreciate cars. One of the biggest things he and Everett’s dad had had in common was their devotion to motor vehicles. They talked about cars constantly, texted about cars constantly, and even went to car shows together. The only difference was that while Mr.Adler had refurbished his Bronco himself, as a weekend hobby, my father had no interest in getting his hands dirty. His Jaguar had arrived in pristine, restored, Bluetooth-boasting condition.
James and I headed for the convertible’s rear, and predictably, the trunk was locked. He offered me the bobby pin, and I told myself that all we were doing was grabbing the telescope. One small act of rebellion.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit the pin into the keyhole. My fingers wouldn’t stop trembling. “Hey, relax,” James said, putting a hand on my back. “Take a deep breath.”
I exhaled a couple seconds later, but felt no relief. “J…”
“Step aside, Miss Cruz,” he said, smoothly twirling me around before taking the bobby pin and going to work. Hehummed the alphabet to himself as he meddled with the pin inside the keyhole. Something quietly clicked when he reachedS.
“S” rhymes with “yes,”I thought.
The Jag’s trunk sprung open, and bless the stars, there it was. Papá’s telescope, among his golf clubs, roadside assistance kit, and the leather briefcase Mamá and I had gotten him for his professorship. James grabbed the telescope, and for some reason, I stole his five iron from the golf bag. Would he notice? My father did love a good eighteen holes.
“Mission accomplished!” James cheered before slamming the trunk shut and nodding his chin back to the Tesla. “Let’sroll!”
“Yeah, all right,” I said, but in no way did I feel victorious.
“Hey, come on,” James said gently. “Let’s go.”
