Page 52 of Stuck with my Mechanic Daddies

Lila hummed. “Hmmm, thatisodd. But maybe it’s just, I don’t know, one of those small-town things. Everyone knows everyone here.”

I shot her a look. “That's not comforting.”

She grinned. “I wasn’t trying to be.”

I sighed, stretching my legs out. “Something’s off, Lila. First, my uncle’s finances don’t make sense, then there's the whole Hank Lawson situation, and now a key to my basement shows up at the Grady boys' garage?”

“You think there's a connection?”

I chewed on my lip. “I don’t know. But my gut says yes.”

Lila tapped her nails against her cup, watching me closely. “So what's your next move?”

I let out a slow breath. “I don’t know.”

She snorted. “That's not like you, is it?”

I blinked at her. “What do you mean?”

Lila tilted her head. “You seem like the kind of woman who always has a plan. Who always knows what to do next. And now you're just floating.”

She wasn’t wrong. That was exactly how I felt untethered, uncertain, stuck between two lives that didn’t quite fit anymore.

“I guess I am,” I admitted.

She leaned back against the bench, crossing one leg over the other. “Well, floating’s not a bad thing, you know. Sometimes you need to drift a little before you figure out where you're supposed to land.”

I exhaled sharply. “That sounds poetic, but it also sounds like a good way to crash and burn.”

Lila laughed. “Maybe. But if you're already questioning everything, do you really want to go back to a life that doesn’t feel right?”

I opened my mouth, but no answer came. Because I didn’t know.

And that was the scariest part.

Biscuit came bounding over, his little legs moving at lightning speed, and jumped onto my lap, wiggling excitedly.

Lila smirked. “Even Biscuit thinks you should stay.”

I huffed out a laugh, rubbing behind his ears. “I bet Biscuit thinks I should just hand-feed him treats all day.”

She shrugged. “Hey, maybe that's the life lesson here. Forget marketing—stay in Medford and run a dog bakery.”

I snorted. “Now that's insane.”

Lila grinned. “Okay, so what about Page Turners?”

I didn’t have a response for that either.

Because deep down, I knew she had a point.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Owen

The garage was quiet.Too quiet.

I was wiping down a socket wrench when Mason walked in, looking pissed, and tossed something onto the workbench.

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