Page 12 of Queen's Ransom

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what that’s supposed to mean.” He tilted his wobbly topknot toward the training room on the other side of the garage wall. “I know what I walked in on last night.”

She snatched the wrench from him and got to work on the headlamp closest to where she stood. “Fucking PI.”

Chris leaned a hip against the opposite fender. “Come on, Cee, spill.”

She peeked through her lashes at her smirking brother, then lowered her gaze back to her task, feigning casual disinterest even as the fluttering started again in her stomach. “Nothing to tell,” she said. “I’ve been legally single for less than a month, and if we’re counting the years Dex and I dated, for the first time since high school. I’m not in a hurry to start anything. I’m focusing on the kids and the shop.” That was her mantra, and she was sticking to it.

Chris, however, wasn’t letting the idea go, seemingly intent on blowing her mantra to smithereens. “You’re allowed to have a life too,” he said. “You’re allowed to move on.”

“Like you did?” The words were out before she could stop them, and she regretted them immediately. “Shit, Chris, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fair.” He pushed off the fender and began working on the opposite headlamp. “I didn’t. For way too fucking long. I almost missed my chance because I was clinging to the past instead of reaching for the future.”

She moved to lay a hand on his arm, then stopped herself short. The gloves weren’t for keeping grease off her hands; that battle had been lost long ago. “I’m happy for you,” she said with a smile, infusing it with all the warmth she normally would a hug. “And I’m happy to have you home again.”

“Thank you. I’m happy too.” He finished with the headlamp and moved to the taillights while she reattached the ECU. “And I don’t mean to pressure you,” he continued. “I just want the same happiness for you.”

“With Helena?”

“She’s one of the best people I know.”

Celia poked her head out from under the hood to make sure it was still her brother back there.

“Snark notwithstanding,” he added.

Now that was more like him. She chuckled as she finished reinstalling the ECU and closed the hood.

“Whether there’s something there or not,” Chris said, “she could use a friend, and I think you could too.”

He wasn’t wrong about that either. Her domestic violence counselor and support group had helped her recognize all the ways Dex had abused her, not just the one time with his fists, or the other instances of flying objects, but also the years of emotional manipulation, like isolating her from friends. She’d lost touch with classmates, despite living in the same town as many, and had avoided interacting with the school parents, not wanting to expose them to Dex for fear of what he might say or do to them or in front of the kids. She needed to start putting herself out there again, but she couldn’t snap her fingers and wipe away a decade and a half of learned behavior.

Helena, though, was safe in that regard. She knew all about Celia’s history and seemed more than capable of accepting and handling it. She was helping Celia handle it too.

“I think friends is a good place to start,” she conceded.

“I’ll take it,” Chris said with a victorious smile.

Then an amused one as Mia’s shout rang from upstairs. “Mom! Come retrieve your evil spawn. He’s talking over the Bake Off judges.”

Celia wondered if her children bickered more lately because Marco was now officially a teen or because Chris was home and they were mimicking what they saw. Though Celia liked to think it was more banter than bicker between her and Chris these days. Case in point… “Are you sure Hawes is going to want to marry you after this weekend?”

Her brother’s smile grew wider and he waggled his brows. “We get to run away to the condo at night.”

“Lucky you.” She retrieved the nose badge off the workbench. “As nice as this house is, I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow’s outing.”

“Mom!” came another, more desperate shout.

“Go on.” Chris closed the trunk and met her at the hood of the car. “I’ll finish putting this back together and get it back where it belongs.”

“Thank you for the advice.” She handed him the nose badge. “And thank you for including me in this as much as you can.”

“I know what it feels like to have no control.” He flipped the metal piece over in his hand. “And Helena was right, you’re a better mechanic than me.”

“She said that?”

“I was giving her shit for bringing the Duc to you.” He shot her a smirk over his shoulder. “After I tuned it up last week.”

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