lyladonahueâ:
Rather than drag out the great debate, she figured sheâd let the food do all the talking and focus on getting it ready for the true test by heating it up and further disguising the flavor with a little salt and pepper to taste. His question caught her off guard, stopping her in her tracks because she was sure she hadnât mentioned it. Ah, Gertie. Gertie must have been the culprit. âAre you planninâ to gloat about that too? Because Iâll have you know, it was a very traumatizing experience for me and youâre lucky that Iâm alive to tell the tale of it,â she exaggerated before waving off the entire situation knowing he had enough on his plate and she didnât want to run the risk of pulling him away from something more important. âIt was in the evening on a school night, I didnât wanna trouble you for that. Besides, it all worked itself out.â
âIâm not trying to gloat, Lyla,â Nick said. How did he make her understand? He could fix her car if heâd been asked to, heâd done it for his fatherâs car and the two cars the brothers all shared, all beaten up in different ways. Nick wasnât a Heine of the mechanical Heines or anything, but heâd picked up some things from his old man. And Lyla did so much for them that the thought she felt like she couldnât call him made him feel a dull ache. âI can joke all I want Ly, but youâre not trouble, you know that, right? Itâs easy to get one of the boys to make sure Harper stays asleep and get your car taken care of. You should have called me. You can always call me.â













