him,” her mother said when they reached her father. “She went to him.”
Mia met her father’s curious and disconcerted expression. “I just wanted him to know I wasn’t angry at him.” Though, dammit, she hadn’t gotten that part out.
“Why do you care what he thinks?” her father asked in his low, emotionless voice.
“Or do you care?” her mother asked. “You’re not still—”
“Of course not.” Even uttering the words in love was preposterous. Mia couldn’t help herself, glancing toward Raleigh. He was kneeling in front of the stone again, but his eyes were on her. “It was just a summer romance. Teenage hormones.”
They seemed gratified by that last declaration, even though it sounded hollow to her ears. “We should go,” her father said, nodding toward the people now milling by the limousine.
Once they reached it, she shot one more look toward Raleigh. She wanted to believe her recent declaration, but she felt exactly like that girl who had fallen fast and hard for the boy who’d made her a woman.
Chapter 3
Raleigh was doing mundane mechanic stuff, his day job, but his mind was on the developers who were coming in two days to look at the garage and the land it was on. Peter had warned him, because he knew how much Raleigh wanted to buy it.
“I’ll stick to the price we talked about, Raleigh,” he’d said. “But I gotta honor the promise I made to my wife years ago. She’s been missing the grandbabies something fierce, and we never have enough money or time to travel to California to visit. I told her we’d move out there when I can retire. She’s waited long enough.”
“I understand.” But Raleigh wouldn’t if the place was sold out from under him. The garage had been like a second home. Hell, a first home, since he spent more time there.
Panic tightened his throat. He’d spent the money he’d been saving since high school on the one acre of land the Airstream had sat on. After that, he’d built a cabin, buying materials and bartering his services with various contractors. Then the ‘Cuda. Since last year, when Peter had warned him that he was going to be retiring, Raleigh had been working harder than ever to save money for a down payment. He’d even listed the car for sale on the various classic car sites, but there had been nothing but ridiculously low offers.
“You have to do what you have to do, Peter.” He glanced at the clock, then placed the screwdriver carefully back in his toolbox. The one nobody touched at the risk of dismemberment. “I’m taking off for lunch.”
“Again?” Mike asked from the other side of a truck’s open engine compartment. “I never saw you leave for lunch so much before.”
Which had nothing to do with Mia’s being in town. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, sucker. Luckily, Mike had started at the garage long after the accident and Raleigh’s jail sentence, so he wouldn’t be ferreting out the truth. Then again, Chambliss was still a small town, even if it was growing.
“Have to run to the bank today.” He washed, using his nail brush to get out the grime. He remembered people making derogatory remarks about his “grease monkey” hands when he was a teenager. Mia’s parents had used the phrase, too. He’d determined not to look like one ever again, even though he was proud of what he did. Everyone needed a mechanic. People with money and a need for speed wanted a good, high-performance mechanic. They were willing to pay big for it, too.
He hadn’t seen Mia or her parents on his lunch outings, which was probably a good thing. Look at the scene her mother had been about to launch at the memorial. The woman hated him on sight.
I don’t blame you.
Mia’s words coiled through him, even though he’d run them, and every second of their brief exchange, through his mind a thousand times. She’d gone out of her way to tell him that. If that was the only thing she said to him, the only time he saw her, he would be happy with those simple words.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true, since, yes, he was looking for her as he drove into the downtown area fifteen minutes later. Dressed in fresh clothes, new boots, smelling of cologne.
She’d been beautiful, heart-stopping, just like the first time he’d seen her. Sure, her complexion was a little rough beneath heavy foundation, and his heart shriveled at the thought of his part