Page 93 of All In Good Time

She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about a thousand things anymore, but there was one thing that was clear to her now. As if a piece of the sun fell to her feet and lit the answer that had been hidden in the dark the entire time.

She loved him.

Ten minutes was all the confirmation she needed that his presence sent her heart into a place it had never been before. Crushes were one thing. Crushes were simple and sweet, like sugar melting on your tongue.

A first love was another. It was the rattling and shaking of all common sense. It was the constant, unrelenting ache in your chest when you looked at their face. It was every possible emotion rolled into one impossibly small ball and thrown at your head—knocking you off your feet.

Now that she knew that, it was hard to accept that she might be the only one who felt it.

“Goodnight, Derek.”

Her hand trembled as she grabbed the door handle and pushed outward, the cold air a thankful numbing sensation against her flushed skin.

“’Night, sweetheart.”

It was a habit, she was sure, but her heart still leapt at the nickname as she climbed out into the dark and shut the door before he could hear it.

He drove away, and Becca stayed to watch the taillights go down the road and disappear.

36

November 1985

Derek grunted as he lifted the last tire off the studs and set it aside. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. A routine tune-up and cleaning of his car kept his head steady on the weekends, but he needed it more during the weeklong break from school.

Staying inside that house was the opposite of his ideal vacation, but he could use the time that Mark was working the pre-holiday rush at the mall to relax. Jennifer and Mal had left a couple hours before to grab whatever else she needed to put together her Thanksgiving dinner. He’d be forced to spend the entire day inside with all of them tomorrow, so for now, he would take all the time he could get alone and make the most of it by keeping his car in pristine condition.

He’d already changed out the serpentine belt, and after checking the oil level he would rotate the tires, switch out the overdue filters, then finish up by scrubbing her down inside and out until she shined like she was supposed to. It would take hours to finish, and he planned to, because this hobby was his solace.

His stereo blasted Def Leppard and bounced off the inside of the hood as he bent in to twist the cap off the oil to peek inside, followed by the dipstick and—

“Hello?”

Derek hadn’t heard anyone approach, or noticed the little red Aries parked across the street. He stepped around the hood and found the unexpected visitor.

She was a middle-aged woman, dressed in a gray blazer and skirt, her hair tied up so high and tight her eyebrows peaked on her forehead when she saw Derek standing there in his shorts and tank top and wiping grease off his hands with a stained rag.

“Derek?”

He raised a confused brow. “Yeah?”

She smiled and held out her hand. “I missed you last time I was here. Your father said you were visiting some relatives out of town. I’m Margaret Fremont with Child Protective Services.”

Caught off guard, Derek’s brows shot up and he nearly dropped his rag. He had two seconds to react before she would notice the tension in his back or clench of his jaw.

Pasting on his most charming smile, he relaxed his stance and reached out with his cleanest hand to accept Margaret Fremont’s shake.

“Ms. Fremont, of course. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Oh, a routine checkup. Nothing serious, just protocol.” She used her free hand to point past Derek’s shoulder at the house. “Do you mind if I come in and talk to your parents?”

He shifted subconsciously, blocking her prying eyes. He knew everything looked fine—Jennifer always kept it in pristine condition inside and out to hide any blemishes that might raise concern to an outsider—but a fear that something had been missed unsettled him. He didn’t let it show on his face, though, staying mindful of even the smallest movements his eyes made. “That would be lovely, but unfortunately, neither of them are home at the moment. My dad is working and my stepmother went off to the store with my little sister.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. I don’t mind waiting for her to get back. Plus, I just need to take a quick look around the place, nothing crazy.”

Shit. He was caught in a heavy predicament. If he let her in, the overstretched rubber band around Mark would pull even tighter when he found out, but if he turned her away, it would raise eyebrows. He wasn’t sure which would be worse.

He met her eyes, trying to understand what she was hoping to find—or not find. She gave nothing away. Either she was not concerned at all, or she was as skilled at masking her true feelings as Derek was.

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