Page 31 of Buried Dreams

“You don’t have to do that,” I say.

“I know I don’t have to, but I am going to. Plus, you gave her the truck, figured I could do this,” he reasons. “It’s the least I could do.”

“Whatever you want to do.” I don’t want to continue this conversation because I don’t want him to ask me questions as to why I gave away a perfectly good truck when I could have sold it.

The bells ring from the waiting area. “I’ll handle it. You get out of here.” I motion with my head, and he walks to the side door. I don’t have to go to the waiting room because the person comes into the garage.

“You’re a hard man to get ahold of,” Winston states, coming to stand in front of me.

“Thought maybe you would take that as a hint that I don’t want to talk to you.” I stand taller, showing him I’m not a fucking kid anymore.

“We need your help.” He finally ends the staredown. “It’s the least you could do.”

“I thought I made it clear to you and your father, I know nothing about the drawings. Just like I told you a month ago, just like I told you two months ago. I didn’t work on them, so I can’t help you.” He doesn’t say anything. “Now, if you don’t mind.”

“You owe us,” he finally snaps with a sneer.

“I owe you fucking shit.” I take a step into him. “All fucking debts were paid.”

“I would watch yourself if I were you.” He puffs out his chest. “I would hate for another building to go down on this street.”

“You threatening me?” I ask, and he holds up his hands. “You wouldn’t be stupid enough to do that.” I take a step closer to him, and he goes back a step. “Especially not in the middle of my shop. A shop that has surveillance cameras all around it.” His eyes show the surprise right before he laughs.

“Just two friends having a chat,” he backpedals. “Take care, buddy.” He slaps my shoulder with his hand. “Let me know if you remember anything.”

He turns and walks out of the garage. “I’m not going to tell you guys again,” I inform him before he walks out. “You show up again, I’ll have to go to the sheriff. He might not believe me, but with all the phone calls you’ve been making, plus this visit, it might pique someone’s interest.” His eyes go to slits. “Take care, Winston.”

Chapter Seventeen

EVERLEIGH

I’m taking the donuts out of the oil when my phone rings from the kitchen table. Wiping my hands on the dishrag, I walk over and look down, seeing it’s Ryan calling me. “Hello.” I put the phone on speaker before going back over to the donuts.

“Hey, Everleigh,” he says, “truck is ready.”

I gasp. “It’s been a week, and it’s already ready?”

“It was a group effort.” He chuckles. “Everyone was jealous I was working on something for Ms. Maddie, so they wanted to help out.”

I stop and blink. “What?” I ask again, not sure I heard what I heard.

“Yeah, I gutted the inside and then I did the paint outside. Tony did the inside with the cabinets and everything. Eddie made sure there was ventilation going on from the top. It was really a group effort.”

“That is—” I shake my head, almost in disbelief. “I don’t know what to say.”

“The keys are ready for you to pick her up,” he adds, “or if you don’t know how to drive it, I can move it to wherever you want.”

“I’ll swing by later and pay Brock,” I say, not looking forward to seeing him. Especially after what went down by the creek. Or better yet, what didn’t go down by the creek. I asked him the loaded question, and even though he gave me the answer, it didn’t make me feel any different than I did all those years ago. Instead, I was more angry.

“Not sure what he is going to charge you, if anything. You can take that up with him.” Ryan laughs.

“Thank you so, so much. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You can buy me a coffee.” His voice is smooth, and I wait to see if I get anything from talking to him. For the past week, we’ve talked every single day, and I’ve waited to see if maybe it would pique my interest, but nothing. It was like I was talking to Oliver or Charlie. There was nothing there. It’s official, I’m broken.

“Coffee for life and maybe donuts,” I joke with him, making him laugh.

“Let me know what you decide,” he says.

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