Page 46 of Forgotten Romance

Ford rolls his eyes and stalks back toward his garage, with me following after him. No sudden movements and no smug jokes, and I should be fine.

There’s a small group gathered around one of the workstations in the back, where Taylor is clearing tools and parts off a bench.

“Hey, hey, we’re not on break,” Ford calls, but his tone tells me he knows he’s lost them.

“… always wanted one of these,” one of the men is saying.

“When do you need this done by?” Taylor asks me.

“Ideally? Before Christmas. I sort of have a plan for it.”

“Hmm …” They study the booklet, gaze darting from the instructions to the container of pieces. “And they’re all in here?”

“Yeah, uh, plus two other … things. It all got smashed and mixed up together.”

“That’s going to make it harder.”

“I know.”

A voice comes from behind me. “This is interesting.”

“Argh.” I startle at Orson popping up to look over my shoulder. “Where did you come from?”

“Lunch break. Normally I catch Ford fucking around at this time, but he’s not usually joined by the whole garage.”

I sigh and point to Taylor. “I broke Davey’s most prized LEGO set, so I wanted to sneakily fix it for him. Only, it’s all in pieces, and there are other sets mixed in with it.”

Orson pulls a face. “Looks like lunch is canceled, babe.”

“What?” Ford’s face falls. “Did I get dumped twice for LEGO?”

“Technically, you dumped me,” I point out.

Orson waves a hand. “At any rate, this is important. True love is at stake.” Orson holds his hand out for the instructions and studies them for a second. “I think we’re safe to get rid of all the red, pink, and yellow pieces. Then, we’ll need to work off the list of included parts to figure out what else we need.” He claps Ford’s shoulder. “It’s almost like building a motor. You’ll be great at this.”

“But … but …” He holds his hands up again. “My fingers. They’re too big.”

“In that case, I guess you won’t mind picking up lunch? Some sandwiches will do.”

Ford throws me an unimpressed look but doesn’t argue.

Half of the guys standing around jump into sorting through the pieces with Taylor while Orson pulls me back from the group.

“I heard camping was rough.”

“You could say that.”

“Oh, we did. Many times, and I have the texts to prove it.”

I gnaw on my lip, wanting to defend myself, but it really wasn’t my best moment.

“Now that’s done with, I assume you have another plan. Maybe involving all this?”

“The thing is …” I stuff my hands in my pockets and scuff my boot on the cement floor. “I’m already feeling lost.”

“About?”

“Whether I should even be doing this.”

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