Page 22 of Unsaid Things

“I never heard you object when you worked here all through high school.”

Lance’s mouth dropped open. Leave it to his dad to only focus on the shop and ignore everything else. “I wasn’t exactly given a choice. You informed me that I would be working here after football season ended my freshman year. And it’s not like it was a big change from before that. All three of us were here as much as at home since we were old enough to know to stay out of the way. Gabby could probably do the diagnostic on the transmission here, and God knows that Marissa would happily take over running the shop when you’re ready to retire. Not that that’s likely to happen any time soon. You’ll probably work until you drop dead in the middle of the garage.”

His dad shook his head. “Of course I teach all my kids their way around a car. Even the girls need to know the basics like how to change a flat, jump a car, or change their oil. That’s not rocket science. It doesn’t mean Marissa should take over the shop.”

“What? Why not? She knows more about cars than me. And she’s the one who always wanted to be here. Why do you think she works in the office? Doesn’t she help when you guys are short-handed?”

“Marissa doesn’t need to get her hands dirty that often.”

“Does she ever complain?”

His dad eyed him in silence for a moment. “Sometimes she gets irritated about the paperwork, but I remind her that paperwork keeps a business going.”

“Yeah. Which makes her think that you trust her with your business, that maybe someday you’ll hand it over to her now that I’m not going to take it over.”

“Now hold on—“

“Dad. I’m not going to come back and take over the shop. Even if I were to move back here—which is a big if, because Abby’s not going to leave her mom behind—even if I did come back, I’d work at a marketing firm. My own or someone else’s. I’m not interested in fixing cars for ten hours a day for the rest of my life. I don’t want the shop. Marissa does.”

“I always planned to work with my son. That’s been my plan since you were a baby.”

Lance let out a sigh. “So because Marissa’s a girl, she can’t hack it? Are you serious?” He shook his head. “Plans change, Dad. You need to learn to adapt and quit taking out your anger at me on everyone else. Marissa deserves to run the shop, and if she wants to work on cars more, you need to let her. She helps Peter after you go home more often than not.” His dad opened his mouth, but Lance held up a hand to hold him off. “Not because Peter needs the help, but because Marissa wants to. She loves cars like you do. Why can’t you see that?”

His dad was silent, working on the car. Lance waited, almost turning away to get to work, but his dad’s quiet words stopped him. “I do see it. It’s just hard. For me. She’s always been my princess, and she loves to get her hair and nails done and wear fashionable clothes. I’m glad she knows her way around a car, but I never wanted her to be a grease monkey.”

“It’s not always up to you.”

He nodded, looking up. “If anyone’s proved that, it’s you. You’ve always been headstrong, doing what you want, what you think is right.” He straightened up, wiping off his hands with a rag. “So you’re leaving tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” Lance stuck his hands in his pockets. “I can’t let her do this all by herself. Even if she thinks she wants to. She’s strong and independent, but I know she’ll feel better if I’m there.”

His dad cocked an eyebrow. “Pretty sure of yourself, huh?”

Lance flashed a grin. “Yup. With her? Definitely. She always pushes everyone away when she’s stressed. It’s reflexive for her after being abandoned by her dad and brother and having to take care of her mom. I get it. But she also needs to know that I’m there for her. Otherwise I’m just as bad as everyone else.”

His dad scratched his head, his blue eyes analyzing. “That’s quite a mess she has for a family. You sure you’re up for that?”

Lance shrugged and swallowed, trying to seem dismissive. “I don’t have much choice. I love her. And that’s the baggage she carries.” Truth was, sometimes he didn’t know if he was enough to overcome everything. But he had to try. He wasn’t willing to give up, and she hadn’t told him she was done. He hoped that over time she’d see he wouldn’t leave and stop trying to push him away when things got hard.

“You’ve said a few times that you love her.”

“I do. I’m going to marry her.”

Both steel gray eyebrows winged up at that. “Are you now? When’s the big day? Do I get an invite, or are you too mad at me?”

Lance chuckled and shook his head. “I haven’t proposed yet. I was going to do it tomorrow morning. Now,” he looked away, inhaling a deep breath, “now I don’t know when I’m going to do it.” He ran a hand through his hair, scratching the nape of his neck and shaking his head. “It depends on what’s going on with her brother, I think. I’ll have to get back and figure it out.”

His dad nodded. “Yeah. Let me know how it goes. And you better tell your mother you’re planning to propose. She’ll skin you alive if you pop the question and she doesn’t know ahead of time.”

“Okay. I’d planned on surprising everyone Christmas morning, but since that can’t happen now, I’ll be sure to tell mom before I leave.”

“Good.” His dad tossed him a rag. “Now get to work on that transmission. We’ve wasted enough time.”

Lance smiled to himself as he walked to the car, pulling it into the open bay. Some of the tension in his shoulders released, glad to have cleared the air with his dad. Now, he just needed to get through until he got back to Abby tomorrow. It had only been a couple hours, and he missed her already. He just hoped that things with her brother weren’t as much of a clusterfuck as he feared.

---