Page 42 of Stirring Up Love
Sick of arguing with her, he said, “Whatever.”
“I don’t like to be indebted,” she added, and his molars connected with a clack.
“It’s five dollars.” He ground the words out through gritted teeth.
“It adds up.”
“Yeah, well, not everyone has the luxury to be so high and mighty about debt.”
“Oh my gosh, is this about my family business again?” She slammed some bills down on the counter. Finn bit down on his reply, snatching his items and backing out the dirty glass door.
Twilight was falling, bathing the gas pumps in gloom. Fitting. Too quickly, she got her change and stalked after him across the empty parking lot.
“Because I’ve told you, Finn, my life isn’t some rose-colored whatever you think it is!”
“Okay.” He yanked on the passenger door. Locked.
“Okay?” She faced him over the dusty canopy of the convertible, barren desert stretching out behind her.
“Whatever you say.” He jostled the handle again for good measure.
“No.” She tried her door, yanking on it. “You don’t get to be like that. You’re the one who begged me to come along on this trip.”
“And I’m regretting it.” He crossed his arms, and the Doritos bag crunched against his chest. Great. Now he’d be eating orange dust. Salty orange dust. And he’d forgotten a drink.
“Because I paid for your snacks?”
“No.”Yes. Maybe.
Bickering about pocket change brought his focus back to the $200,000 deal hanging in the balance of this cross-country drive. With an inherited restaurant, she was set. This was all a game to her, but with his future on the line, everything carried weight, the tonnage so heavy his shoulders sagged.
She tried her door again. “Keys?”
“You have them.” Too late, he realized, nope—he did. He dug them out of his pocket and sent them sliding across the fabric canopy toward her.
“Careful!” She grabbed them, then unlocked the doors and disappeared inside.
Rolling his eyes heavenward, he had no choice but to follow. She jammed the keys into the ignition, hard. “You can pay for dinner. We’ll be even. Happy now?”
“Would you leave it? I told you, it’s nothing.” It wasn’t nothing, but he couldn’t put into words the big feelings she set off in him, like the fuse to a firecracker. A slow burn. An explosion.
“I really wanna hear what your problem with me is.” She let go of the steering wheel and turned toward him, eyes blazing. “It seems like you’ve got it out for me because you think I’m somehow spoiled?”
“Ever think that might be because you’re turning your nose up at two hundred thousand dollars?”
“Ever think I might have a good reason?” At his silence, she cranked the keys. “But go ahead, assume it’s because I’m flush with cash or whatever the hell it is you think.”
“Jeez, it’s not the money.” Not really. How could he put into words how much it hurt to see someone so oblivious to their good fortune? “It’s about you having this ...” He sucked in a breath. “Okay, yes, this rosy view of the world. Like there’s no place in your life for messiness or imperfection or struggle.”
He stopped himself before he said more. She’d been handed a restaurant gift wrapped, so she could leave $200,000 on the table with zero qualms. She had a family who loved her, so of course she’d never considered offering one to kids who didn’t.
“Hold up. You think my life is perfect?” She huffed out a scoff. “Is this because of what I said about adoption? Because I tried to tell you ...”
He fumbled for the door handle. Staying would expose wounds he’d worked hard to heal in front of a woman who’d always wanted him gone.
She growled, a small sound in the back of her throat, and he could feel her eyes on his profile, her frustration as palpable as the stuffy air in the car. “You have this whole view of me that I’m a heartless jerk. And whatever, maybe I am. But I only said people who adopt are heroes because I was raised by them.”
His fingers slid off the door handle, numb. Hergrandpa’srestaurant ...
