Chapter 29 – Rhiannon
“Rhiannon! Why the hell is your car being dropped off by a tow truck right now?” Gabriel’s voice booms from downstairs the next morning.
“Hold on, Gabriel’s calling me,” I say into the phone pressed to my ear.
“Okay I’ll wait,” Leo replies.
I roll out of bed, still in my pajamas, my hair a wild, slept-on mess. I twist it into a messy bun and pad down the carpeted stairs before pocketing the phone in my pajama bottoms.
Gabriel’s standing in the open front doorway, cold November air spilling in from last night’s snow, his dark brows raised to his hairline.
I follow his gaze outside. Parked at the curb is a tow truck with Rossi’s Auto Garage stenciled along the side. The truck is unhooking my beat-up SUV which, somehow, looks slightly less beat-up than it did when I saw it yesterday.
“Did your car break down last night?” Gabriel asks me.
I shake my head. “No. I took the train into the city and back. I have no idea what’s going on, but I’ll find out.”
Slipping into my snow boots and winter coat, I step out onto the frozen ground. The snow crunches softly beneath my feet as I walk around my vehicle inspecting it.
“Uh, excuse me?”
A man looks up from the hitch he’s unclasping, a friendly grin flashing under the brim of his wool beanie. He looks to be in his late thirties, with the slightest bit of grey dusting over his dark, black beard. Dark brown eyes and muscles that tell me this guy knows how to fix cars.
“Hey there.” He yanks off his gloves and holds out his hand for a shake. “I’m Nick Rossi.”
“Um, hi. I’m Rhiannon Carpenter. The owner of this car.”
He gives me another polite smile. “Well, she’s as good as new now.”
“She’s… what?”
He blinks and tugs at the back of his neck. “Ah, shit. Cain didn’t tell you?”
My heart races. “Cain Prescott?”
Nick laughs lightly, tugging off his hat and scratching his head. “Yeah. Cain called me late last night and asked for a favor. Said there was a car that needed some urgent work and an updated inspection. I own Rossi’s Auto Garage.”
“Oh.”
“I picked it up around midnight last night,” he continues, matter-of-factly. “Didn’t want to wake you. My guys got right on it this morning. Hope we didn’t inconvenience you by getting it back too late.”
I shake my head, still stunned. “No, I had no idea it was gone. I just… had no idea Cain was doing this.”
He grins knowingly. “Cain’s always done things his own way.
Anyway, it’s been inspected, oil changed, brakes replaced, filters too.
Your wipers were shot, so I threw in some new ones.
Put on winter tires so you won’t go sliding all around the interstate and fixed the radiator.
That thing was busted. She’s solid now. Should run smooth for a good while. ”
“Oh. Wow. Um… all that? Thank you.” I swallow hard, aware of Gabriel still hovering behind me like an inquisitive crow.
There’s no way I can afford all this. And the extra money that I made last night from Cain’s appointment is supposed to go to straight to Eden and her school trip, not to fix up my car that was getting along just fine with a few extra bumps and screeches.
“Um, how much do I owe you?”
Nick waves his hand and tugs his beanie back on. “It’s already been taken care of.”
“That—” I blink. “That can’t be right. You did so much.”
He nods but doesn’t elaborate. “Cain said if you ever need anything else done, to drop it by my shop and we’ll take care of it for you.” He hands me a business card. “On the house. Have a good one, Ms. Carpenter.”
And just like that, he’s gone, leaving me standing there on the frosty driveway, blinking at my newly revived SUV like it’s a hallucination.
Sure, those things have been on my list to get fixed eventually. But things like groceries, the mortgage, and the electricity bill have continuously taken priority.
“Rhiannon?” Leo’s muffled voice comes from my pajama pocket. I pull out my phone.
“Sorry. I forgot you were on the phone.”
“What happened?”
I exhale, watching the Rossi Auto Garage tow truck disappear down the road, its taillights fading around the curve by the sparkling lake.
“Cain got my car towed last night without telling me. It just got dropped off and it’s completely fixed and passed inspection.”
There’s a pause, then Leo sighs.
“I swear, Leo, I didn’t tell him to do that. I didn’t even know he knew it had expired tags.”
He chuckles softly. “I know. Because you’d never ask for help.”
“That’s not fair.” But he isn’t wrong.
“What is it you always tell your clients? ‘To be loved is to be known?’ Cain’s trying to know you, Rhiannon.
Actually, I think he already does. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be showing you he cares the only way you’ll let him.
You’ve probably told him you don’t need help, reminded him that you have things under control, and this is his way of not so silently helping you and showing you it’s okay to accept his generosity. ”
I tug off my mittens, running my fingertips over the cold metal of my car door, still trying to process what just happened. “But I’m scared to be known.”
Leo sighs again, softer this time. “It’s time, Rhia. Time to accept love. To let someone in. To stop blaming yourself for what happened.”
The words sting, and the cold air suddenly feels sharper, like it’s slicing at my skin. Tears prickle in my eyes, warm and unwanted. “I need to go.”
“Rhiannon—”
“I’ll call you later. I have to get ready to meet with Rebel.”
He’s still cursing when I hang up on him. I duck past Gabriel, who’s giving me a look that screams we’re going to talk about this later, and hurry upstairs.
In my room, I drop onto the edge of the bed and grab my phone again to text my best friend.
Rhiannon: Sorry for hanging up on you.
Rhiannon: Send me Cain’s number, please.
Leo sends it through instantly, followed by another message:
Leo: Please give this guy a chance. You know I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it and think he was good for you. But Rhia, he likes you and he’s good.
I bite my lip, thumbs hovering before I finally type up a message to Cain. The first time I’ve contacted him since last night.
Rhiannon: Thank you. For my car. You shouldn’t have done that.
Cain: I wanted to.
Rhiannon: I know.
Cain: I didn’t finish my message. I wanted to buy you a whole new one, but I figured that’d piss you off more than just getting the one you already have fixed.
Rhiannon: You’re right.
Cain: I know. Because I know you.
I stare at the screen for a long time, Leo’s voice echoing in my head. ‘To be loved is to be known.’ But being known has always felt dangerous to me—like stepping out onto thin ice. Because once you’re seen, you can be judged. Exposed. Left.
“So, even though the lawyer who fixed your car is clearly into you, you’re still going on this date with Rebel?” Eden asks as she darts into my room and plops down on the edge of my bed.
I sigh and move to my closet, pulling out a simple, royal blue, knit dress and a pair of brown, suede knee high boots to change into.
Since last night, things have changed between Cain and I and the red dress I was originally planning on wearing no longer feels appropriate.
I don’t care about impressing Rebel. If he really wants me to model for his clothing line, it shouldn’t matter what I wear.
But beyond that, I’m starting to think about all the things he said. All the things Leo said. And wondering if maybe I’ve been wrong all along.
“It’s not a date. Rebel and I are meeting to talk about his new clothing line.”
“But what happened last night?”
I wet my lips and slip the dress on before telling her the entire story from start to finish about my Sunday night appointment that turned into an ambush by Cain, leaving out the details around me coaching him through giving me oral sex, riding his face in his bedroom, and then us fucking without a condom to spare my eighteen year old sister from thinking her big sister is acting recklessly and has lost her mind.
Her mouth falls open in shock. “Who in their right mind would create a fake identity, book a hotel room at the hotel they already live at, and then ask you to tell them about what you do unless they were smitten with you? Oh, that’s right, he isn’t in his right mind because he’s in love with you.”
I laugh. “You’re reading way too many romance novels.
The real world doesn’t work that way. He could have just asked me out on a date.
” Except he did. Sort of. And I told him no.
And this was the only way he felt he could spend time with me, while blocking whatever Rebel had planned because he was jealous.
I’m not sure if that’s romantic, or I’m just delusional, but looking at it now, I fucking love that he did it.
“And how do you feel about him?” she asks and it’s the simplicity of the question that has me struggling to answer because nothing about what Cain and I have built has been straightforward.
How do I feel about Cain? He’s smart, funny at times (but don’t tell him I said that), loves his family, hard-working, and generous. He’s the definition of a good man and every moment that I’ve spent with him has been… special.
“I like him too.”
Eden smiles as she jumps off my bed and grabs a pair of emerald-green earrings from my bedside table. I recognize them and go silent as she steps towards me, outstretching her hand.
“Well, I’ve never been great at expressing myself, but I think that’s something you should tell him. And if you want to convince this rockstar to choose you as a model for his new clothing line, you should wear these with that dress.”