“Holy shit, that’s a ’64 Chevelle,” Jesse gasped, their hand wrapping around my forearm like a vice. Their voice rose.“You have a ’64 Chevelle?”
“I used to.”
Gray straightened as I walked toward him.
“What’s this?” I asked, instinctively catching the keys when he tossed them.
“Peace offerin’,” he replied, his lips quirking up at the side. “Nice to see you again, Teddy. Kids.”
With a nod, he turned and walked a little further up the street and climbed into an SUV.
“I thought you sold it,” Dylan said, leaning down to look in the window. “You said you sold it.”
“I did,” I replied. The Chevelle looked like it hadn’t been touched since the last time I’d driven it. Everything was the same down to the little black tree air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.
“Then how did Gray get it?”
“You didn’t tell me you had a sick black Chevelle,” Jesse said, practically screeching. “Holy shit. Holy shit.”
“It’s navy,” I mumbled, still staring.
“Can we go for a ride?” Finn asked. “Does it have seatbelts?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I’d spent years restoring that car, and I’d never thought I’d see it again. My throat felt tight as I reached out to run my hand over the hood.
“Okay, let’s give Curt a minute, yeah?” Teddy called. “Everybody back inside.”
“Mom, it’s a’64 Chevelle,” Jesse argued.
“It’ll still be a Chevelle later. Go. Inside now.”
After a few moments, the street was quiet again when Teddy’s arms slid around my waist, and she tucked herself under my arm.
“So this was yours, huh?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “I spent most of my teenage years fixing it up. I mean, I spent every fuckin’ dime I made on this thing. Finally finished it when I was seventeen. I fuckin’ loved this car.”
“So what happened?”
“Life,” I replied. “Dylan. When he was two years old, he needed tubes in his ears, and even with insurance, we couldn’t afford it. The doctors were sayin’ that if he didn’t get ’em, he could end up with permanent hearing loss.”
“So you sold your car.”
“Fuckin’ killed,” I confessed. I hated that I’d felt that way. I’d given up a lot to stay close to my boy, and I’d never regretted it for an instant, but selling the Chevelle had felt like pouring salt on a wound. “I’d left it in my parents’ garage when I went to Montana, so I had my dad sell it.”
“He obviously didn’t,” she said, looking up at me.
“No, he did.” I swallowed hard. “I think one of my grandpas must’ve bought it. If my dad still had it, I would’ve seen it before now, and Gray wouldn’t have been the one to deliver it.”
“Do you think it was Casper or Dragon?”
“Don’t know.” I shook my head. “Gray’s dad, Leo, is my mom’s brother, but his stepmom is Casper’s daughter. It could’ve been either one.”
“Jesus, your family tree is a damn spider web.”
“You have no idea.”
“What did he mean by ‘peace offering’?”
