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Lori cringed. “So did Helen, so don’t say anything to Juan to get his hopes up, just in case it doesn’t work out.”
“Yikes. Awk-ward! But enough about them…back to you.”
Lori smiled. “All right. Quinn came by to ask me out. I thought you’d talked to him and I told him in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t going to use him for sex. Needless to say, he was intrigued with my outburst.”
“I guess!”
“So, you know…it developed from there.”
Molly’s face scrunched up. “I can’t get details. Damn it, I wish you were sleeping with someone besides my brother.”
“Sorry. There’s nothing to be done about it.”
“Fine. So what happened at your shop last night?”
Groaning, Lori swirled the liquid in her glass before taking a generous gulp. “Somebody trashed it. Busted out lights and rammed into the bay doors. One of them will have to be replaced.”
“How much will that cost?”
“Too much. The guy’s coming out tomorrow to take a look, but I checked online. Whatever it will be, I can’t afford it.”
Molly cursed under her breath. “Well, what the heck? Who would do that to you?”
Apparently Ben had said nothing about what he suspected, so she kept her mouth shut and shrugged. “Whoever it is, I doubt we’ll find them, and I doubt even more they’d be the type of people who can afford to pay damages, so I’m screwed.”
She was staring down at the scarred wood of the bar, thinking she should tell Ben about James Webster, when she realized that Molly was uncharacteristically silent. When she looked up, her friend studied her face and then glanced down to the drink in Lori’s hand. “What?” Lori pressed.
“Nothing. I’m just trying to decide if you’re tipsy enough to broach the subject.”
She straightened and frowned. “What subject?”
“The subject of you moving. Why don’t you sell, Lori?”
Her mood plummeted. “Not you, too.”
“Oh, I’m not the only one who thinks you need to move on? I wonder why. Maybe it’s because you’re stuck.”
Lori set her jaw. “I like Tumble Creek. It’s a great place.Youcame back here.”
“It is a great place. I know you love it. So do I. But you had dreams once upon a time. Goals that had nothing to do with Tumble Creek. You were going to Europe, weren’t you? You planned to travel the world. I remember, because in high school it sounded kind of scary to me.”
“Plans change,” Lori muttered. “Life goes on.”
Molly crossed her arms and eyed her intently. “Oh, really? Is your life going on? Because it looks like you’re standing in place. Sell the damn garage, sell your dad’s land and get the hell out of Dodge.”
“I can’t get rid of the garage.”
“Why not?”
She didn’t want to talk about this, damn it. Talking didn’t do any good, it only made the truth more inescapable. But Molly didn’t look as though she would budge on the issue. Fine. “It’s not that simple, all right? The damn garage isn’t worth that much, and once I need to sell it, it’s worth even less. The old dump out back is probably a fucking Superfund site, because I’m pretty sure there was no oil recycling program when my grandfather opened this place. They certainly didn’t bother sending the old tires away. Anyone who bought it would want it cleaned up first, because the grandfather clause ends once it’s sold. Shit, it would probably cost me money to get out of here!”
Molly blinked. “Oh. I didn’t know.”
“And I can sell my dad’s land, but with all the damn bills, it won’t bring in enough to make much of a difference, so what’s the point of getting rid of something that made him so happy?”
Lori felt a warm hand close around hers and realized she’d closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Molly whispered.
