Chapter 8
SUTTON
“Walk me through this again.” Sly rubs his beard and sighs, sounding more like a curmudgeonly old man instead of the twenty-something he is.
I let out a long groan. It’s partly from exhaustion after making the long drive from Wyoming to New Mexico, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks, and in part realizing how this sounds out loud.
Instead of going to bed when I got into town, like a sane person, I did the opposite.
I stayed up all night fixing the brakes myself.
Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I replaced the rusted out muffler.
Then I changed the oil, put in new spark plugs and that just about got me to where I am now, explaining why Kelsey’s car is up on a lift in our family’s garage.
“OK.” I palm my face and shake my head. “I know how this sounds. I probably should have thought this through more, but she needed help.”
He looks at me, but instead of annoyance I see the shit-eating grin I’m more accustomed to.
“So you just took her car and drove it two states away?”
I shoot him a glare, but he’s right, I didn’t give her much of a choice. I talked to TJ after I left and he said Grace saw her leaving with my car. “I mean, yeah? But I left her my Porsche.”
He shakes his head and chuckles with that deep, rumbly laugh that reminds me of our dad.
“God, you’re an idiot. Two years and you’re still hung up on her.”
I give him a hard punch to the shoulder. “Better than ten years, and at least I’m still trying.”
His eyes shoot up to mine and I brace for him to strike back. Fuck, that was harsh. I should have not have said that. I see that look of anger and regret in his eyes and watch his jaw tense. Instead of hitting me back though, he takes a deep breath and nods before turning back to the car.
“Right.” He grabs a shop towel and hands it to me. I relax and let my guard down. “Well, you know the whole point of you being here was to help us catch up on work, not add more and get us further behind.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Is there anything left to fix, or can we take it down, get some breakfast, and work on a paying customer’s car?” He looks at her car for a moment before huffing a laugh.
“What is it now?”
“I still can’t believe you drove this piece of shit here and worked on it all night. You know you could have woken me up. I would’ve helped so you could get at least a few hours of sleep.”
Yeah, it definitely sounds crazier the more I hear it. Honestly, I still don’t care. Spending ten hours in her car, which smells just like her, was probably the closest I’ve felt to her in years.
I grab his shoulder and give it a light squeeze. “Thanks. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me pull in last night.”
Sly lives in the apartment above the garage and I was worried her incredibly loud brakes would wake him up when I got here. Growing up, he was always a heavy sleeper, and I guess that hasn’t changed. I just don’t know how she drove around like that not realizing something was wrong.
“Just work on your hero complex, OK? You’re setting the bar too high for the rest of us.”
I cock a brow at him and he gives me the same expression right back.
“You know exactly what I mean. You have a raging hero complex. You’re killing yourself coming here all the time to help out. You’re helping Slade in Seattle. You literally stole this girl’s car and gave her the keys to yours. What’s your next crusade?”
I furrow my brow at him, but stay silent. He’s right and he fucking knows it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop any time soon.
He smirks at me and raises a finger. “Oh, and one more thing.”
I tilt my head to the side, waiting for him to say something. Instead I suck in a breath when I feel the sharp pain of a backhanded slap to my balls. I grab my groin in both hands, nearly doubling over.
He leans down and whispers into my ear.
“Mention her again and next time, that’ll be my fist.”
“Noted,” I say, barely managing to find the air in my lungs to form the word.
He laughs and pats me on the back. “Good. Now, let’s go to the diner.”
I nod and he extends a hand toward me. I grab it and pull as hard as I can.
The move catches him off balance and he tumbles to the floor in front of me.
For a second, I worry that I might have hurt him—an instinct that is still hard to shake after his accident years ago—but that thought is short lived when he bursts out laughing.
“Fine. Just remember you’re still my little brother.” I toss him a wink before walking out of the garage.
“Why are you both so dirty?” Sisi asks from across the booth in the diner.
I’m sure we both look ridiculous with me covered in grease from working all night and Sly from being yanked down onto the floor at the garage.
Then again, Sterling Springs is a largely blue collar town with farmers, local craftsman, and a few stray miners.
It wouldn’t be the first time two grimy men have come into the old diner on Silver Street for breakfast.
I look to Sly sitting next to me and he gives me a little smirk. Instead of saying anything, he just shrugs and takes a bite of his breakfast sandwich.
I follow his lead for two reasons. First, our sister is a horrible meddler and if she knew that I had Kelsey’s car here, I would never hear the end of it.
The other is that she’s already stressed enough with her upcoming wedding while still running the motel.
We don’t need to add to it and make her worry about the garage too.
“No clue what you’re talking about,” I say dryly before taking a spoonful of my deliciously sugary breakfast cereal.
She looks at the bowl in front of me and rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe they keep that junk food here for you. You’ve worked in some of the best restaurants in the world and that’s what you pick for breakfast?”
On the surface, she’s one hundred percent right on both counts.
If my Gloria’s patrons saw me eating this every morning, they might question my culinary credentials.
I’ve had a notorious sweet tooth ever since I was a little kid.
We’ve been coming our whole lives because our grandparents knew the old owners.
It’s also only a couple blocks from the garage and across the street from the motel.
That’s why they kept cereal here for us.
Despite new ownership taking over a few months ago, they’ve kept it on the menu.
Clearly I’m not the only one ordering it but I’m probably the oldest based on the look I got this morning.
“I like what I like,” I reply before crunching another spoonful in my mouth.
“Whatever.” She sighs and props her elbows up on the table, resting her chin in her palms. “So, how’s Slade?”
Her concern for our oldest brother catches me off-guard. I thought if anything, we’d be talking about her wedding or things in Sterling Springs.
“Wound so tight you could use him as a diving board.”
Sly snorts a laugh. “So the same as always.”
I laugh halfheartedly. “Yeah. Something like that.”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I wonder if I’m doing the right thing by hiding some of the truth from them.
Part of me wants to say that he’s burning himself out and nearly taking me down with him, but I don’t want either of them to worry.
It might be too late for that because when I look at my sister, I can see the concern in her eyes.
She looks like she wants to say something, but her attention is pulled away when her phone buzzes on the table.
“Ooo, is that Jared?” Sly asks. We both make kissy faces, taunting our younger sister. Neither of us know her fiancé that well, but he seems decent enough. Maybe a bit boring compared to our sister who seems to always be taking on a new project to pour her creativity into, but she seems happy.
She glares at us and mouths no before giving us the middle finger.
I clutch my chest and feign shock. “There are children in this fine establishment, Sisi. Mind your words.”
That happens to be the exact moment the new owner comes by to top off my coffee. She shakes her head at me, probably thinking that my childish bowl of cereal is fitting right about now.
Sly snickers. “I think you mean hands, not words.”
I look back to my sister, but instantly see that she’s no longer amused by our stupid antics. Her face is ghostly white as she nods and ends the call, clutching her phone to her chest.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She blinks a couple times before I realize there’s a tear starting to run down her cheek.
“Sisi, what’s wrong?” This time it’s Sly asking.
“That was the wedding planner. Our caterer just cancelled.”
“What do you mean they cancelled?” My voice is harsher than I mean for it to be, but I’m angry on her behalf.
She palms her face. “I don’t know, I sort of blacked out. How are we going to find someone else, the wedding is less than two months away?”
I can tell by her cracking voice that now isn’t the time to push. That can be handled another time. Right now, she needs help.
“I’ll do it.” The words come out of me so calmly and confidently that I almost surprise myself.
She looks up at me and I see the hope in her soft blue eyes that instantly remind me of our mom.
“Are you serious? There’s no way you can fit it into your schedule.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I feel Sly’s gaze on me.
When she first picked a date for her wedding, Slade and I knew there was no way we’d be able to commit to catering since we had just started planning the Seattle restaurant.
Fast forward, Slade has kept the Seattle project on such a tight schedule and I think we can manage this. So much for just getting to be a guest.
I reach across the table and hold out my hand. She wipes away a tear and grabs my hand. “Are you sure? I know how busy you guys are.”
I nod. “Yes, I can handle it.”
She gets up from her side of the booth and comes around, bending down to hug me.
“You’re my freaking hero, Sutton.”
Behind me I hear Sly muttering just loud enough for me to hear. “Told you. Hero complex.”
OK, maybe I do have a hero complex and I guess I found my next crusade.
I keep one arm wrapped around my sister, but loosen my other to throw an elbow behind me. I hear Sly groan when it lands squarely in his ribs.
Sisi lets out a laugh. “You two are idiots.”