Until I stepped through the front door of the autobody shop one morning and heard shouting. The smile immediately faded from my lips, and a frown tugged sharply at my eyebrows when I realized this wasn’t regular shop talk or banter.
The argument was angry and cutting, the voices emanating from my dad’s office. The rest of the shop was quiet, no sign of Luis or any of the other mechanics, and when I turned to look around, I saw theClosedsign still up on the front door.
My stomach dropped as I hurried in that direction, seeing Avery and Dad facing off through the window. Dad was standing behind his desk, red-faced with his hands clenched at his sides.
Avery stood opposite him, just as angry as he jerked a finger toward Dad. “You can’t keep doing this!”
“I built this place.”
“And now you’re running it into the ground,” Avery snapped, venom in his tone as he glared at Dad. “It’s time.”
Dad slammed a hand against the desk. “I said, I’m fine.”
Well, that part isn’t true.I might not know what they were arguing about, but Dad absolutely wasnotfine.
He’d been on a new medication and it wasn’t agreeing with him, making him feel unwell and snappy at times. Clearly, he wasn’t having a good day and it looked like Avery was putting his foot down.
“You’re not fine, Dad.”
“I am!” My father’s expression darkened. “I didn’t ask for your help, Avery.”
“That’s the fucking problem,” my brother roared, a vein throbbing in his neck as he shook his head. “If you had just asked for help, none of this would be happening.”
I felt my heart skip a few beats. Dad’s mood swings, obvious frustration, and exhaustion had been bad this week. The diagnosis and the medication were difficult enough. The adjustment after seemed even worse.
Whatever was going on, Avery shouldn’t have been talking to him that way. Finally convincing my feet to move through the shock, I gave a sharp rap on the office door and then opened it. “Hey, what’s going on in here?”
Neither man looked at me, both of them too busy glaring murder at the other to pay much attention to anything else. I stepped into the room and shut the door firmly behind me. “Avery?”
“Retire, Dad,” my brother insisted, his voice dangerously low. “Now. Let me take over and?—”
Dad’s eyes finally snapped to me. “He thinks I’m useless.”
I frowned. “No one said that.”
“I heard what he said,” Dad spat, then spun back to Avery and pointed at his chest. “You want the shop so bad? Take it.”
Avery scrubbed both hands over his face. “Dad?—”
“No. I’ve heard enough.” A harsh, bitter laugh shot out of him. He grabbed his jacket, turned toward the door, and stormed off.
The front door slammed hard enough that I felt the crack of it right to the center of my soul. I winced, then turned to face my brother and crossed my arms. “What thefuckare you doing? You know he’s been struggling with the new meds. The doctor said to be patient.”
Avery stared at the floor, his jaw tight and his body shaking slightly, which was odd.Very odd, actually.“Patience isn’t going to fix this, Raquel.”
“Fix what?” I asked, but my voice was quieter now, my anger and annoyance fast melting into fear. “What happened?”
Avery exhaled before he moved around the desk to lower himself into Dad’s chair. When he finally looked up at me, I realized he was ashen, looking ten years older. He blew out a heavy breath and focused on me, and my heart started hammering as I recognized the look in his eyes. It was genuine fear. True, deep-seated terror.
“I got a phone call from the bank this morning,” he said. “Dad lost about fifty grand in an investment scheme.”
Every nerve in my body misfired, the words not registering at all for a few long seconds. “What? No, that can’t be right. He doesn’t even have that much money to lose.”
“The shop does,” Avery said slowly. “Or at least, it did. It doesn’t have it anymore.”
“Nooo,” I drew out the word. “No. It just can’t… He wouldn’t…”
Since I honestly didn’t know what to say, I trailed off, my head shaking as I stumbled to the nearest chair and collapsed into it. “When did it happen?”
