Page 1 of Love in the Wild

1

GAGE

Gage snuck out of the break room and headed toward the garage. He came to Blackwater Automotive to work, not clap and eat cake.

Why did everything need a celebration? Two people get married, and they throw a party. A guy asks a woman to marry him, and half the town has to huddle up in a tiny room and squeal about it.

Gage had seen enough celebration today to last him a lifetime, but everyone else at the garage was suffering from excitement overload. Colt and Remi had gotten married earlier today. Now Dawson just proposed to Olivia, and they expected Gage to clap and share some sort of congratulations.

He didn’t know Colt and Remi at all. He liked Olivia just fine because she dropped off food at the garage a few times a week. But Dawson? Gage liked the guy about as much as he liked his kitchen sink. There were no feelings, only indifference.

Back in the garage, Gage focused on the old Chevy Malibu in front of him. The tangy smell of metal and the greasy oil on his hands grounded him to the job in front of him. He understood cars, not people. Vehicles were made up of pieces, and each piece either did its job or needed replacing. People were unpredictable and couldn’t be trusted.

There was a knock on the metal frame of the car, and Gage’s boss, Beau, appeared beside the Chevy. It was weird seeing the guy in a pressed suit. He’d never worn anything to work except the T-shirts with the shop name printed on the front pocket with jeans and work boots. Grease stains were usually swiped over most of his clothing, and holes were common on the shirts.

“Hey, man.” Beau tilted his head toward the back room where a dozen people were still jumping for joy because Dawson proposed to Beau’s sister, Olivia. “Thanks for showing up.”

This was why Gage had trouble understanding people. Why did they care if he was around when Dawson proposed to Olivia? It wasn’t as if they were friends. It wasn’t like he cared.

Gage couldn’t afford to care about anything. He had one goal in life, and that was to keep his head down and work. He worked so he could have money to pay his bills. He worked to get away from his family. He worked to stay out of jail. He worked so he didn’t have to talk to people or make friends.

Things were going great.

“You’re welcome,” Gage said as he turned his attention back to the vehicle.

“We’re going to Barn Sour in a little bit. Want to come?”

Hanging out at a backwoods bar and dancing to country music sounded a lot like torture. Gage would rather push sticks underneath his fingernails. “More celebration?”

“Yeah. It’s not my idea of fun either, but Olivia is pretty convincing.”

Gage scoffed. Olivia was nice enough, but she tried to be a mother hen a little too often. “Pushy is the word you’re looking for.”

Beau chuckled. “True, but I’d do anything for my sister.”

Gage stopped with his hand on the jack handle. Was his sister on the other side of the world or just the country? Wherever Thea was, hopefully she was far enough that she could never be found.

Five years. She’d been gone half a decade, and it was still tough not to think about her–worry about her.

Beau would go to a party for his sister. Gage had sent his away and hoped to never see her again. All to protect her, of course, but few would see it that way.

“You coming?” Beau asked.

Gage’s phone rang, and he wiped his hands on the rag in his back pocket. When he pulled his phone out, his mom’s name lit up the screen. “I need to take this.”

“Sure. Just meet us there if you want,” Beau said with a wave over his shoulder.

Gage scanned the garage as he answered the call. “Hey. Everything okay?”

“Gage, she’s back.” His mom’s voice shook on the hasty words.

A warning tingle spread over the back of his neck. There was only one girl whose return could strike that kind of fear in his mom, but he asked the question anyway. “What?”

“It’s Thea. She’s back. Gage, you have to get to her before they do.”

Dropping the rag in his hand as his feet propelled him toward the office, the entire world around Gage faded into a fog with a red tint around the edges.

Thea couldn’t be back. She’d promised she’d never come back.

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