Page 14 of Truck You

“Yeah.” I nod. “That’s what worries me. I don’t want to get taken out because some new kid isn’t experienced enough to handle his car. That would suck.”

Liam watches me closely for a beat too long. His eyes narrow and his chest heaves, almost as if he can read my thoughts. But then he sighs and shakes his head. “No one’s going to take you out. You’re too skilled a driver to let yourself get tangled up with someone that inexperienced.”

“I know.” I do my best to shrug it off like I wasn’t just contemplating my demise as a racecar driver. “Still, it’s good to mentally prepare myself for anything.”

“Sure, I get it.” He squeezes my shoulder and smiles.

“So, what did you need?” I ask, hoping to change the subject.

He looks at me for a moment as if he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. Then he shakes his head. “Oh, I asked if you talked to Warren yet.”

“I did. He was very non-committal. He doesn’t sound happy, but he also didn’t sound eager to come home either.”

A low grumble escapes from my brother’s mouth. “We could really use his help. I wish he’d come home.”

“Haveyoutried calling him?” I ask. Warren has been gone for a long time, and I suspect it has a lot to do with a disagreement he and Liam had a few years after Warren left for college. The two of them have never gotten along. Grams says it’s because they’re so close in age. Warren is less than twelve months younger than Liam.

I’m not convinced Grams is right. There’s only eleven months between Ash and me too, and we get along fine. Maybe it’s because we have different mothers.

Liam pinches his lips and shakes his head. “He doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“How do you know if you don’t call him?” I push. “Maybe if he hears from you, he’ll come home.”

Liam pins me with a glare. “I’ll probably have better luck getting Christian to help more.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, right? He’s unreliable and only wants to work on custom motorcycle builds.”

“It’s worth an ask.” He argues.

“You can ask, but you’re wasting your breath, and you know it. Christian only does what Christian wants to do.”

“Well, someone is going to have to help us out around here or else there will be no garage. We can’t keep up with the workload.”

“I told you I would help.”

“You need to focus on racing if you want to get back to where you were before. Chase has the farm. He can help us through the winter, but come spring, he needs to step back. Ash’s time is split between the garage and keeping your cars running. I can’t manage the garage and do all the work. We need help.”

“Then I’ll help!”

We’re both yelling now, and too focused on making our point rather than hearing what the other is saying. We’ve had this conversation one too many times and haven’t worked out a solution yet.

“I thought you were interviewing someone on Monday?” Ash says from beside us. I glance over my shoulder. Has he been standing there the entire time?

Liam sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I am. But there’s no guarantee he’ll take the job or that we’ll like him. Plus, I’d rather keep it in the family.”

I lean forward and squeeze Liam’s shoulder. He’s only trying to do what’s best for the family business, and we all appreciate it, but he has to stop being so stubborn about this. “Then either call Warren yourself or let me work.”

“Outside help isn’t a bad thing.” Ash chimes in. “Think of it as growth. A lot of family businesses hire outside the family. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Yeah, we’ll see.” Liam lets out a deep breath before he heads to his office. I shake my head and grab a pair of coveralls from the hook near the bathroom. Might as well get some work done, since there’s no one else around to do it.

Liam can yell at me about it later.

Chapter4

Family feuds fed by apple pies and bad attitudes.

Sophia

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