Page 23 of Give Me a Shot

He was looking at her car again, but he turned bright red, and his eyes got big.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but I hope you weren’t uncomfortable because of what you did,” she said in a rush. Herknuckles were aching again. She probably should have loosened her grip on her purse, but she was too nervous. He shook his head but still didn’t look at her.

“Just…a lot of people,” he said, scratching at his beard.

“Okay,” she said. She left it at that because she’d said too much already.

He cleared his throat and tipped his head back toward the shop. At the desk, Beverly had her sign an estimate that made her eyes swim a little. Then Jess sat down to order an Uber. It arrived much more quickly than she expected, and as she was walking through the parking lot to meet it, she saw Mo leaning over the engine again, shaking his head. As she got into the car, she remembered what David had said, that Mo was going to be busy all day. She hoped he wasn’t starting on her car right away.

Nah, he’s got so many employees. I’m sure someone else can handle it.

Chapter Seven

Mo

Rachid, the second Sarda son, was visiting their parents for a week, so Mo drove out the next day. He took his time so he could think without thinking, without forcing it. Allow his eyes to half-focus and go to his parents’ house on autopilot, enjoying the quiet hum of the wheels on the highway, the low growl of the engine. Normally, he would have benefited from the drive. It would have helped him to get away from the discomfort of that embarrassing moment in his shop. But the anxiety about driving Jess to the meeting the next day had anchored tension in his body.

Sheer madness.

He didn’t know what had come over him, what he’d been thinking when he offered to bring her into yet another one of his safe spaces. Particularly one that he adored for its quiet.

Well, she needs a ride. She doesn’t need to waste money on Ubers when we’re both going to the same place.

But it would be an hour. An hour total, there and back, and they would have to talk. Even if they turned on the radio, there would still be the pressure to talk. Mo swallowed hard, trying to push down the lump that had formed in his throat. She might be understanding about it, if he got all twisted up and couldn’t talk. She’d already shown him enough understanding, demonstrated that she could see what made him different from other people, for him to make her the gift he planned on giving her the next day.

Fingers crossed, she’ll be understanding enough to not find my surprise gift weird.

Taking the exit for Grosse Pointe Farms, he followed his habitual detour to the florist to pick up a bouquet like he always did for his mom. As always, the garage door was open when he pulled into the driveway.

“Mo! There you are,” his mom said when he walked into the kitchen from the garage. “My firstborn never fails to brighten my day.” She went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek as she accepted the flowers.

“Hi, Mom,” he said. “What’s all this?” he asked, gesturing to the kitchen island covered in stapled printouts.

“Your dad and I are trying to decide where to go on vacation,” she said, returning to him after putting the flowers in a vase.

Mo looked closer and saw that each small set was a destination with accommodation and itinerary options.

“Mom, you’ve planned multiple vacations down to the last detail but haven’t actually booked anything?”

“Not yet,” she said, looking at the options, tapping her chin.

“Um, you couldn’t have done this in multiple tabs on a browser?”

She looked up at him.

“Mo,” she said flatly. “Staring at a screen all day is one of the occupational hazards of forensic accounting. Sometimes I need paper.”

He nodded. Made sense.

She returned to her study of the printouts.

“Rachid and Khalil are in the study. ESPN highlights or some such.”

“Okay,” he said. He kissed her on the head and went down the hall.

—

As usual, Mo heard Khalil before he saw him. If it had been anyone else, that character trait would have gotten on Mo’s last nerve. But with Khalil, it just made Mo roll his eyes.

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