Chapter 33
Logan
Fifteen minutes earlier
Today just hasn’t been my day. Seriously, sometimes I wonder how in the hell my employees manage to do a damned thing right when Rick can’t remember any of his shit when he leaves the shop.
Julianne’s words stay with me as I head back into the garage to grab a chamois to wipe down the Olds 442 one more time before Banner gets here. That’s when I see Rick’s wallet sticking out from the top of his toolbox, which he also forgot to close and lock up in his haste to leave.
I don’t blame him for being in a hurry. Both he and Jock have busted their asses working on this car and the other repair jobs we’ve had come in.
I owe Holly one hell of a thank-you for talking this place up to Boone, because this is going to change everything. Just goes to show that life really does revolve around who you know.
I could get pissed at that reality, or I can accept it. I choose the second. I may never be on Banner’s financial level, what with her inheritance, but at least I’m not some hick who looks like he’s just with her as a sugar mama. My pride wouldn’t allow it.
With the chamois and wallet in hand, I check the time. She said a few minutes, but I’ve learned that in Banner speak, that could be an hour. Might as well fire up the old girl and put her through her paces.
There’s nothing quite like the rumble of a big-block engine, and when I turn the key, I’m anticipating the vibrations that will roll through my body. Instead, all I get is a click.
Fuck. My stomach sinks.
I pull the hood release, hop out of the car, and go around to check. It only takes a few minutes before I realize what the problem is. Battery is still disconnected. I hook it back up and shut the hood.
Do not fuck with me, world. This needs to be perfect.
I hold my breath the second time I turn the key.
Thank God.
The rumble of the big block rolls through my body, and a sense of accomplishment comes along with it.
I did this.
After I shift into gear, I press down on the accelerator and let her roll out of the garage. Adrenaline dumps into my veins, and I decide to say fuck it about putting the door down. I’ll be back quick, and the nosy people of Gold Haven are enough of a security system for me.
I keep the growl of the exhaust low until I’m a quarter mile away from the Four Corners where the speed limit changes from thirty-five to fifty-five. Then I open her up.
My laugh is lost in the snarl of the engine as the speedometer climbs. I can’t wait to do this with Banner in the seat beside me.
Life is fucking good.
* * *
It took longer than I thought to drop off Rick’s wallet at the bowling alley. Every single person who was there for the Thursday-night bowling league came out to admire Boone Thrasher’s new beauty of a car.
If I had to make a bet, I’d say that more than one guy went back inside and started searching for his own project. They might not be able to afford my prices for the entire thing, but I think I just started a muscle-car revolution.
I’m extra careful in the gravel parking lot as I pull out, not wanting to chip the pristine paint job. It takes all the restraint I have not to do a burn out once I’m on pavement. Knowing that Boone is gonna want to tear up his own tires is the only thing that keeps me from it.
I shift into a lower gear at the sound of sirens up ahead as I close in on downtown. It’s not an uncommon occurrence, given the sheer number of old folks having heart-attack scares. But as I get closer, the wail is louder and louder.
Fuck, I hope it’s not Mrs.—
My thought cuts off when my gaze locks on flames climbing into the darkening sky just beyond the tree line.
My shop.
Banner.
Fuck.
No longer concerned about the tires, I floor it, and the engine roars as the car speeds toward a barricade blocking off the Four Corners intersection ahead. An inferno engulfs the painted cinder-block walls of my shop, leaving nothing visible but evil orange flames and thick black smoke.
Banner.
No!
I can’t fucking lose her.
I remember the day I got the call that my ma was dead. I shed tears because that’s what you do when you lose your last remaining family member. But this is nothing like that, even though it hurt like hell to know Ma killed herself with that needle in her vein.
Pain claws through me.
This is all my fault. I’m the only reason Banner’s here, the reason she’s at my shop. The reason she’s still in Gold Haven. Fuck, I don’t deserve anything as perfect as her in my life, because I can’t keep it that way.
Cars have stopped everywhere, turning the road into a parking lot, and there’s no way I can get through. Fury and rage have me whip the wheel to the left and cut down a side street, determined to get around them.
My heart thunders in my chest, keeping tempo with the rumble of the engine. Sweat coats my palms as I grip the steering wheel tighter.
I offer everything I own—and even things I don’t—to every higher power in existence if there’s some way she can be safe.
Blinding, instinctive fear grips my chest like a vise and crushes the breath from my lungs as I tear into the parking lot behind the pharmacy and the post office, where a crowd is gathered behind.
Up ahead, around the corner of the building, Banner’s rental is parked.
No. Fuck. No.
My body shakes in my seat as I slam on the brakes without a care for the car, and yank open the door to run toward the blaze. To run toward her.
My feet hit the pavement, and I sprint.
“Logan? Oh my God!”
It’s Julianne’s voice, not the one I desperately want to hear. My gaze locks on her—and the woman next to her.
“Banner!”