Tim shakes his head as if to say I’ve got a screw or three loose, but I’m fine now with Eden out of his gawking zone. “What do you want me to do with the beater?” Tim asks. Drop it on your head? “Cheaper to junk it than fix it,” he adds.
“Take it to Family Auto Repair.” Eden needs a new car, but she doesn’t seem the type to want a handout. I leave Tim to do his job and walk over to the passenger window. Eden rolls down the window as I approach.
I lean down. “You got important stuff in your car? I’ll get it for you.”
“Yeah. There’s a folder in there.” She grabs the door handle.
I shake my head. “I got it. You stay put. It’s cold out, remember?” I give her a wink before jogging over to her vehicle.
Tim’s got everything hooked up.
“You ready to pay?” he asks. I hand over my credit card and then scribble my name on his phone screen. After retrieving the paperwork, I return to my car.
Eden looks tired.
“Home?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah. I live above The Daily Drip.”
I ignore that. She’s coming home with me. I’m treating her to—wait. What about the brother? I make a left turn. Thankfully the wheels on this car corner like it’s on a rail.
“What’s going on?”
“I was taking you to my home,” I confess, “but then I remembered Ryan. You live with him, right?”
“Yes, but can we backtrack here? You were taking me to your home?”
I can see her head tilt out of the corner of my eye. “Yes?”
“I didn’t agree to that.”
“I have a nice home.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t, but you can’t just kidnap me because my car broke down and I foolishly called you.”
“I am glad that you called me. I wouldn’t have given you my number if I didn’t want you to call me.” I pull to a stop in front of her café. “Let’s get your brother, and we’ll all go to my house.”
“What’s wrong with my house?” She folds her arms across her chest and glares. “It might be small, but it’s clean and nice.”
“I don’t doubt it, but like you, I have a sibling I live with and I don’t want to leave her alone too long.”
Mention of my sister melts the freeze immediately. “Oh, okay. You should’ve said something in the first place.”
“I’ll remember to use my sister as an excuse for everything in the future. Eden, let’s have spaghetti tonight because my sister likes it. Eden, you need to stay over because it’s too late and my sister doesn’t want me to drive. Eden, you need to move in because my sister needs the company and she doesn’t leave the house.”
Eden laughs. “Funny, but I’ll go along with you tonight. It’s nice not to have to think about dinner. Today wasn’t a great day.”
I don’t think she’s referring just to her car breaking down, but I don’t press her. I don’t want to scare her off, so I give her a non-threatening nod. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Wait here while I go get my brother. You can help him with his homework.” She shoots out the door before I ask what the homework is. While she’s retrieving her brother, I give Violet a call.
“Baby sister, I’m bringing my future wife home. Do we have food in the house or should I order?”
“Do not call her your future wife in front of her, oh my God. This isn’t the 19th century where you can just carry off any woman and declare yourself married!” Violet chides me.
“I didn’t know that was what was going on in the 19th century. I missed out on that part during history.”
“It’s not taught in schools,” Violet sniffs. “Yes, I have food. I made a beef stew, homemade biscuits, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.”
“Great. See you in twenty.”
Eden comes down from her apartment above The Daily Drip with her lanky brother ambling behind her. He’s not done growing, and his jeans are looking a little short. Money is tight for Eden, and it’s not because her business sucks but because her old man has been robbing her blind. I wonder if I should go have a talk with him. I said I wasn’t going to interfere, but my girl is driving a dump of a car, her brother’s clothes don’t fit, and she’s run ragged at the café because she feels like she can’t hire more help.
This shit should not continue. Eden’s supporting her family just fine with her café, and it boils my balls thinking about how she must lie awake at night worried about her future and the future of her brother.
The door pops open and they climb inside. I uncurl my fingers from the steering wheel and force a smile on my face. “Glad you could make it, Ryan.”
“Eden says you can help me with calculus?”
Horror flashes across my face. “Calculus?”
Ryan groans. I add calculus tutor to my list of grievances. If not for her father, Eden would be able to swing this, too.
“Don’t worry, Ryan. Help is on the way.” I peel away from the sidewalk, determination hot on my spine. Her dad is going to shape up. Or else.
Chapter Eight Eden
“You know I’m seventeen, right? You don’t have to drag me on your date.”
“Ryan!” I hiss his name. “It’s not a date. We’re having dinner with his sister as well. Plus you need help with your school work. And to be honest, I kind of stink at calculus.”
“Math is fucking stupid,” he grumbles from the back seat. I roll my eyes.
“It’s not so stupid when it’s money,” I say back.
“You got me there.” The car falls silent again. I try not to fidget in my seat wondering if I should fill the silence or enjoy it. I may have been a little resistant to the idea of going to Miles’ house at first, but
