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“I haven’t had to face this—” he waved his hand in the air “—feeling in a long time.”
“What feeling is that?” Bass asked.
Worthlessness.
But Huck bit his tongue. He’d been so caught off guard by how Sydney had so easily discarding him that he hadn’t known how to function for months afterward. His whole world hadn’t fallen away; it had ridden out of town to someone better.
It was his own issue, not Autumn’s, but there was no way to explain the horror he’d felt that the morning when he’d realized he’d lost something that he’d fallen asleep wanting to hang on to. No matter how briefly.
“Never mind.” He took a bite of his breakfast and Bass just stared at him.
“You know, feeling shit sucks sometimes,” he said. The attorney would know after going through his own ordeal with Penny. “But my advice would be to just try not to be an ass.”
“I’m not.”
“You kind of are,” Penny chimed in. She set a plate of food and coffee down in front of Bass, then turned her attention back to Huck. “Jenna said that Autumn is going through a rough time. I guess she lost her auto shop. I don’t know the details, but just this morning she was talking about looking for a new job. Maybe try not to kick a girl when she’s trying to pull herself back up.”
Shit. A heavy weight settled in Huck’s chest. The thought of Autumn struggling didn’t sit great with him.
Sure, they were still new to each other, but he cared. There was something special about that woman. Something that he gathered she didn’t let people see often. And he’d just come in pissed off because he was dealing with his own mess. He hadn’t even thought about whether she had her own problems.
The truth remained that, yes, he wanted another night with her. And yes, he wanted to eradicate this feeling of loss. He just didn’t know how to do both other than to stick to his plan to have her again and be the one to leave. Not because he was trying to be an ass, but because this throbbing pain that pulsed in his gut was growing.
Ironically, the only time it was manageable was when he was with her. And the time it was at its worst was when she disappeared. Just his luck that the one woman who could cure his pain was also the one who could make it worse than ever.
But none of that seemed to matter right now. All he cared about was slaking the hunger she’d woken in him. A hunger it seemed only she could satisfy.
Fine. He’d deal with potential pain later. Right now, he just needed some relief.
But if he wanted her to agree to anything else, he’d have to first find a way to win her over. Show her he was more than the enemy.
An idea came to him. He just hoped it would work.
Chapter Seven
Autumn walked into the small mechanic shop at the end of Main Street. It was an old fashioned garage building painted blue, with a big red sign that read Auto Shop. Go figure. The place looked to have been opened in the fifties. Which wasn’t a bad thing. It had an old world charm. While just a little worn around the edges, it was still a gem.
The large roll-up doors were open, and two cars were inside: a Honda that looked ready for a routine oil change and inspection, and on the other side—
“Holy shit,” Autumn whispered.
“Holy shit is right, kiddo,” an older man said. He walked up behind her and wiped his hands on a rag, then stuffed it in his back pocket. He looked to have had the same uniform since 1955, though he couldn’t be more than sixty himself. Blue pants matched a blue and white pinstripe shirt with “Pete” embroidered on the left side.
“Is that a Dual Giha?” she asked.
“1957,” Pete said proudly. The car was mostly just a rusted body, but the thing was rare, even in its current poor state. “Still got the original engine.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s amazing.”
“Well, I can see we’re going to get along just fine,” he said.
She faced him. Pete had called her an hour ago and asked her to come to his shop. She’d been shocked to say the least. And she had no idea how this older gentleman had gotten her number to begin with.
“Can I ask why you called?”
“Word around town is you’re a fine mechanic. Could use some help around here if you’re interested.”
She stood up straighter and looked at him like he was crazy. It couldn’t be that easy. She’d been warned about gossip in this town, but this was nuts.
