Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“I just…I hate that you’re alone. Because of me.” She looked down, fiddling with a puzzle piece.
Shane sighed. “I’m not alone because of you. I’m happy here. My life is here.” Which was true in a lot of ways. He thought about how much he would like to leave, but what the fuck else did he know? And he had his own shop here. His own house. His studio where he liked to blow glass. It didn’t get much better than that. “I’m not real big on the idea of settling down with someone, anyway.”
“That’s because you’ve never done it.” She gave him a sad smile. “Your father and I were so happy.”
They had been, but then she got sick and he ran away. Why focus on the past?
Shane walked over to the cabinet and grabbed her pills. He shook one of each into his hand, filled a glass of water, and brought it to her. She was good at taking them herself, but today he wasn’t taking any chances by not being responsible for it himself.
She swallowed each pill, then gave him another smile. “Thanks, Shaney. You take such good care of me.”
A sad ache settled in his chest before he bent and kissed her forehead again. “That’s what family is for, Ma.”
CHAPTER TWO
Round Table was packed.
Shane and Ryan sat at the bar, both nursing a beer. Rock music played from the speakers throughout the room. There were two bartenders behind the counter, almost every high-top round table behind them filled.
“You know I’m going to want to work on that Camaro with you,” Ryan told him and he grinned.
“Only if you’re real nice.”
“Fucker,” Ryan teased him back. “I’ll be finished with the Bailey truck tomorrow. I would have finished today, but that fucking part didn’t come in.”
“Yeah, I noticed that,” Shane replied. “We’ve had a few unexpected delays like that out of Lehrman’s recently. I need to figure out what’s going on. It screws with our schedule.”
“Can I get you boys another beer?” Trinity, one of the bartenders, asked. Shane glanced at Ryan to see if he wanted another or planned on leaving. When he nodded, as if to say, I’m down if you are, Shane looked back at her and told her yes.
Trinity was his age. She’d lived there her whole life, just like most people in Last Chance. She’d married right out of high school and had two kids, but her husband had left her a couple years back, leaving her to raise the children alone. Her ex had been a lifer in town, too—Jimmy. He’d hung out with Max and Jon—or at least had tried to. He’d been the type who wanted to fit in and would have done anything those jackasses said. Who the fuck knew where he was now? Trinity certainly didn’t.
“Did you hear the news?” she asked him as she popped the lid off his bottle before handing it over.
She smiled when she did the same for Ryan and he nodded back at her before looking away.
“What news is that?” Shane replied.
“Max is finally coming back to town.”
Shane hated the fact that his spine stiffened at her reply. He’d wondered why Maxwell hadn’t come as soon as his old man had passed away. It had been over a month. He hadn’t even made it back for the service, which had been the talk of the town since it happened. He might not have come home once since he left Last Chance but he had to return when his father and idol passed away, didn’t he? Shane couldn’t say how many times he’d heard that question posed but as the days and weeks passed, it changed to why didn’t Maxwell come back? Where’s he been all these years? What’s he doing?
Shane didn’t care for an answer to any of those questions. He was used to dealing with Jonathan; he’d given Shane a half-assed apology some years back. So they ignored each other, or grinned and pretended their past didn’t exist.
“Who’s Max?” Ryan asked. “Am I supposed to care that he’s coming back?”
“No,” Shane answered right along with Trinity’s, “Yes.”
“Used to be the town’s golden boy,” Shane continued. “His dad was Maxwell Sullivan.”
“Oh,” Ryan replied. Everyone knew who his dad was. He’d practically owned Last Chance. Now his wife did, though they hadn’t seen much of her since his passing. Looked like the prodigal son was indeed coming home to claim his throne.
“Why do you say it like that?” Trinity asked. “That was a long time ago—the way you, Maxwell, and Jonathan used to be with each other. It was dumb kid stuff. Plus, you’re not the same person you used to be.”
Did that mean if he was the same kid who didn’t socialize all that much, kept to himself, and was too small to defend himself, he wouldn’t be as accepted in town as he was? That it was okay for them to treat Shane like they had because he just hadn’t been as cool as they were? Fuck that.