Page 52 of Make My Heart Malt

I step out of the way, and Lach jiggles the crank, but nothing happens. “Something must be broken.”

“What do you want to do? I mean, we can fix it, right? Maybe?”

He shakes his head. “Don’t look at me. I’m better at breaking things than fixing them.”

I wrack my brain, trying to think of who I could ask. Trey’s half brother, Ledger, is a mechanic, so he must be good with his hands. He could possibly fix it. Two phone calls and ten minutes later, I’m disconnecting the call.

“Ledger says we can drop it off at the shop and he’ll check it out, but he makes no promises.” Frankly, that’s all I have, so I’ll take it. I pay Jack two-hundred dollars and we finish loading it into the bed of Lach’s truck.

During the ride home, I stare out the window, imagining Garrett’s face when he sees it. He’s going to freak out.

“I can’t believe you paid two hundred dollars for something that doesn’t even work.”

“It’s the sentimental value, and that’s worth way more than two hundred dollars.”

“Sentiment is for suckers.”

I bark out a laugh. “You’re such an asshole. I know Garrett will like this.”

He glances over at me. “What’s going on with you two, anyway?”

I suck my lower lip into my mouth and shrug a shoulder. “We’re rekindling our friendship?” Aside from the friendship, everything else is up in the air. “Right now, we’re taking it day by day. Seeing what happens. Garrett and his brother, Tony, had been a part of my life for so many years, and then we all went our separate ways. It’s nice having everyone back together again.”

“Including the sex.”

Heat creeps up my neck. “Then there’s that.”

“Either way, you deserve all the happiness.”

“Thanks. What about you? When are you going to find your happiness?” I shift to face Lach. “Or have you been holding out on me?” In the several years I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him with a steady girlfriend.

“My happiness is being single.”

“Just wait. Your turn is coming. You’re going to meet a woman who sweeps you off your feet.”

“It’s like the movieScream. ‘But wait, there’s more!’ Because it fits with the whole relationship idea. They come back for one last scare before trying to kill you. That’s what relationships do. They kill you.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”

He shakes his head. “We all can’t find baseball players to sweep us off our feet.”

After our laughter dissipates, only the rumbling of the tires on the road fills the cab and I stare out the passenger side window at the dark sky.

Lach breaks the silence. “By the way, you also owe me fifty-one cents.”

I smile and shake my head. “Yeah, you’re definitely an asshole.”

TWENTY-FOUR

IT’S COMPLICATED

Dessa

Ledger calls to tell me the penny machine is working. Immediately, I race over to his garage with a roll of quarters to test it out.

Upon entering his shop, Ledger and Jay are off to the side, huddled around the penny machine. Ledger’s signature man bun holds his dark hair in place and tattoos peek out from beneath the sleeve of his navy work shirt. Olivia certainly lucked out with him. The clacking of my boots on the cement draws their attention.

“It should be in working order,” Ledger says. “Jay’s been making pennies all morning.”

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