Page 71 of Mechanic’s Christmas Match

The words hit Ana like a blow to the chest, and she swallowed over the lump in her throat, knowing her mother was right.

“Mami, I…” Ana began.

The bell for the downstairs door rang before she could finish.

“Door,” Theo sang out.

Ana frowned, wondering who it could be. Had one of her friends seen her mad dash home?

“I’ll get it,” her mother said quickly, hurrying past Ana and out the door before Ana could react at all.

A moment later, there were more footsteps on the stairs and her mother reappeared, dwarfed by the massive form of Rory Dunn, who followed.

“Ana,” he said. “I’m sorry to show up unannounced. I tried texting you. I just didn’t want to let this go.”

“Theo and I are going to make some hot cocoa,” her mom said. “With marshmallows.”

Theo let out a hearty cheer and scrambled up from the floor, abandoning his toys to help his grandmother with their special treat.

“Is this okay?” Rory asked Ana, still not moving from the doorway.

“Come on in,” she told him. “May I take your coat?”

“Thank you,” he said, shrugging it off.

She took it and hung it up on one of the hooks by the door, thinking how good it was to see the beautifully tailored woolen coat here among the family’s things, right where it belonged.

“I’d like to show you something,” he said, pulling a tattered notebook from his pocket and gesturing to the small table.

“Sure,” Ana said, expecting him to sit down and spread out the pages.

But he pulled out her chair first, and she couldn’t help smiling as she sat.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Normally, I wouldn’t bother you with this,” Rory said, taking a seat. “But I think you might need to see it.”

“Okay,” Ana said, wondering what could possibly be written in that notebook.

Rory took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, his eyes on hers. He must have been satisfied with whatever he saw there. She could see the instant he decided to really say what he had come here to say.

“I knew you were the one the day we met,” Rory said simply. “There’s something about you, Ana. And it’s not just your pretty face, or your shy smile. It’s the way you care about the people in your life, like your whole world revolves around their happiness.”

Ana felt her cheeks heat and she glanced over to where her mom was helping Theo measure out chocolate powder, but she was almost studiously interested in the tin of chocolate.

“I knew you were the one,” Rory continued. “But I also knew that I wasn’t ready yet. You and your mother own a business—you’re already a serious person with a good life. And I was just some goofy guy with no real prospects, crashing with my kid sister and trying to get my life together. I knew right away that you didn’t need someone like that dragging you down.”

“Rory,” Ana protested.

“No, no,” he said. “I just want to be honest right now, and that’s exactly how I felt. I wanted to be a steady man, the kind of man who could offer you and your mom the kind of support you deserve.”

Ana froze, unable to believe he was referring to her and her mom.

“So I went to school,” he continued. “And I told myself that when I finished my training and got a job, I’d ask you out the right way instead of just cornering you at parties and teasing you to make you blush.”

Ana shook her head, trying to make sense of it all.

“But by the time I started working for Beau, you had Theo with you too,” he went on. “And that changed things. So I’ve been talking with Sloane…”