Page 80 of The Fixer

“Are there any tissues in the car?” Charlie prompted.

She gave him a dismissive wave. “No, but it’s fine.”

“Do you want to keep going?”

She sniffled. “Oddly enough, I do, if you don’t mind listening.”

“Joy, Iwantto hear the rest of the story.”

A little sigh of relief left her body. “It didn’t get much better from there. The house was cramped, so I shared a bedroom with my girl cousin, who was about my age and who resented the hell out of having to give up her privacy. She and the boys mocked me constantly and called me all kinds of names. When no one was looking, they’d punch or kick me. They were cruel. If I complained to my aunt and uncle, they would either accuse me of making stuff up or tell me I got what was coming to me because I was a difficult child.

“There was this strange paradigm where when anybody from outside was around, like at church on Sundays, they acted as though I was as precious to them as their own children. As soon as it was only us again, they went right back to treating me like I wasn’t worth the dirt on their shoes. I was part of the family when it reflected well on them, yet not when it was just us. I was in this constant yo-yo of emotions, and it was so confusing. One minute I was elated because I thought they were finally accepting me, and the next I was devastated all over again. And every time it happened, the devastation grew exponentially worse.

“I kept hoping that my mother would come back, that this was temporary. But she never did. As hard as living with my mother and sister had been after my dad’s death, being at my aunt and uncle’s was ten times worse.”

“Did you see your mom and sister at Christmas? Summer break?”

She wiped the other cheek. “She sent for me twice when I was a kid. As I grew older, I visited on my own a few times, but none of the visits lasted more than a week. The shop was … it wasn’t home. It wasn’t anything like the home we had in Nebraska.”

Charlie tucked her hand under his, trapping it against his thigh. “You didn’t have a home.”

His simple words struck like an arrow to the heart. Not that they weren’t true, but she’d never thought about her past that way. No wonder she’d been adrift during those terrible years.

Tears flowed hot and wet down her cheeks, and she let them come. “No, I didn’t.” Her wavering voice gathered strength. “But you know what? Leaving was so much easier when I graduated high school. I got ajob, and I left. I was lost and angry at the world, but that anger motivated me. I wanted to show everyone how wrong they’d been about me. I went after grants and scholarships and got the ones I applied for. I learned coping skills for my ADHD and eventually got the medical help I needed. Nothing and no one held me back anymore. I studied and I worked hard, and I started making lots of money so no one could ever tell me where to go or what to do. I set one goal after another, raising the bar higher and higher, until I shattered every single one.” She let out a teary laugh. “And here I sit, in the back seat of a rental car in Doro, Colorado, spilling my guts to a man I didn’t know until two weeks ago.”

He chuckled softly. “Bet you’re as surprised as I am.” His voice turned somber. “Wanting to demolish your mother’s place makes sense to me now.”

“I suppose it does.”

Joy had never shared the details of her early childhood with anyone but her therapist. That she felt safe enough to confide in this man holding her hand was surreal and wonderful at the same time. How easy he made it. Although the sharing had started with Hailey—another person Joy hadn’t known until recently. When Joy had confided in her new friend, the cracks had begun forming in her fortress wall, and now it was nothing but rubble, leaving her exposed—yet freer.

“So now that you know the whole ugly story of why Fall River isn’t my favorite place,” she ventured into the silence, “are you sorry you’re partnering with me on the project?”

He studied her, his expression reflecting a thoughtfulness, as if he was processing and measuring his words before uttering them.

“Can I be completely honest?”

She cringed inside. “Please.” Honesty was a good thing—she liked honesty—but how much wastoomuch? She was about to find out, and she braced herself.

You can do this.

His steely eyes wandered across the car’s headliner before landing back on her. “I don’t think it’s Fall River you resent. It’s your mom and your sister, and you associate them with the town. I’m no expert, but it’s probably easier to focus anger on a place than it is against family. And for what it’s worth, I don’t blame you. You got seriously hosed.” He wagged his head back and forth. “I could say I get what you went through, but I’venever experienced anything remotely like it, so I can’t begin to fathom how brutal it must have been for the little girl you were. But I do know this: it makes the person you became even more remarkable. So, hell yeah, I’m ecstatic we’re together on this project—even if youarea royal pain in my ass.”

A little grin tugged at his lips, and she barked out a relieved laugh as hope zipped through her veins. Her lower lip wobbled, and she bit it to keep from bursting into another round of tears. Shehatedshowing any weakness, and here it was on full display.

He leaned forward, his glittering eyes boring into hers. “Let’s show Helene how badly she misjudged her talented, capable daughter. We’ll send Mary the ‘after’ pictures and show her too. Your whole goddamn family, if you want.”

She had to sit on her hands to keep from launching herself at him and throwing her arms around him. “Thank you,” she said in a strangled voice instead. With emotion closing her throat, it was the only sound she could eke out.

He released her hand, and she jerked it back into her lap, suddenly self-conscious. “I don’t know why I dumped all this on you.”

“Because I asked you to.”

“I’m so sorry. I had a fun evening, and now I’m ruining it by dwelling on old hurts that don’t even matter anymore.”And I’ve probably convinced you I’m utterly insane and that you need to run the hell away.

The parking lot lights filtering into the car cast shadows over his shifting expressions. Pleats appeared between his dark brows, no doubt put there by the self-pity party she’d decided to throw and forced him to attend.

Old resentments died a long, agonizing death, and Joy was caught in the throes that Charlie was unlucky enough to witness.

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