Page 13 of Whispers and Wildfire
“How is Luke, anyway? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
I blinked at her. “I don’t know. He was yelling at me on the side of the road, not telling me his life story.”
“Did you yell back?”
“Yeah. And I flipped him off when I drove away.”
She laughed softly. “Oh, honey.”
“What? He deserved it.”
“I’m sure he did.”
I couldn’t tell if she meant that or was just humoring me. She’d always liked Luke, even after we’d broken up, and she and my dad were still friendly with his parents. I didn’t mind—it was all ancient history anyway.
The door opened again, and a whirlwind of children tumbled inside, followed by Nathan and Sharla.
My nieces and nephew were a fascinating study in genetics. Ten-year-old Lucia had dark hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin from a summer spent outside. Eight-year-old Zola was platinum blond with ice-blue eyes and skin that burned in about five minutes of sun exposure. Nico, the baby of the family at six, was a carbon copy of his dad, with brown eyes, dark hair, and an olive skin tone.
Same two parents, three different looks. Although their features—eye shape, noses, and facial structure—made it obvious they were siblings.
“My sweet darlings!” Mom scooped them each in a hug and kissed the tops of their heads. “How are you? Ready for pizza?”
“Yeah!” they answered in unison.
As the kids took their seats at the table and started coloring, I helped my mom bring drinks, plates, and napkins. Dad brought out the pizza to applause from everyone, and it suddenly hit me that I was home.
So much of what I’d been missing all the years I was married wasn’t just a good relationship—although that was a big part of it. Jared hadn’t liked Tilikum and hadn’t particularly liked my family, so we’d rarely visited. I’d missed years of pizza nights because I’d married the wrong man.
I wasn’t going to blame him. Okay, yes, I was. It was totally his fault, the jerk. But it wasn’t like he’d held me captive. I’d been too wrapped up in my own life—my own stuff—to make time for my family.
That was over. I was home.
And Luke Haven? He and I would just have to get used to living in the same town. We were both adults, and our breakup had been ages ago.
How hard could it be?
CHAPTER 5
Luke
I was notin a good mood.
I’d started my day working on my latest restoration project—a 1955 Ford Thunderbird—but nothing was going according to plan.
Andrea, my receptionist, was out on maternity leave. Great for her, but not so great for me. I’d hired a woman named Stephanie as a temporary replacement, but she hadn’t shown up for work. Again. That meant I kept having to stop to deal with customers, and now I was missing a part I needed and couldn’t find a copy of the order form.
The noise of power tools drifted from the garage into the lobby as I shuffled through stacks of paperwork on the cluttered front desk. The lobby was small, just the tall wooden desk and a couple of chairs next to the front door. The walls were decorated with photos of cars we’d rebuilt and restored—some of the highlights of our work. We’d done everything from muscle cars like the ’69 Charger to an old Ford Model T. One of my personal favorites was the cherry-red 1952 Corvette. Such a hot car.
Behind the desk were old black-and-white racing photos,most from the early 1900s. I’d inherited them when I’d taken over Haven Auto Restoration from my great-uncle in my early twenties. Since then, I’d grown the business from a one-mechanic shop to an award-winning restoration garage.
Over the years, I learned that there was a lot more to being a business owner than knowing your way around an engine. And some days, when all I wanted to do was get my hands greasy, a million other problems seemed to come out of the woodwork.
Like what had happened to that order.
And where the hell was Stephanie?
With a frustrated groan, I dropped into the chair and pinched the bridge of my nose against the headache threatening to split open my skull. That was why I was so grouchy. Work stuff, and my head hurt. It had absolutely nothing to do with unexpectedly seeing my ex-girlfriend the other day.
