6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

JET

I had screwed up. Last night had not gone well. The second Annie had stormed off, I should have followed, but some stupid part of me had thought to give her space. She just needed a minute.

Fuck had I been wrong.

The tension between her and Nic was intense, which made no sense since they'd just met. And okay, yeah, my cousin was doing a good job of being a dick to her while Annie had had a rough couple of weeks, but Annie wasn't holding any punches either. She'd barely said a word to me last night on the way home, and I knew she was pissed that Nic had come.

I sighed, not knowing what exactly to do, and kept my hands busy going through inventory in the back of my dad's shop. It had gotten behind with the last few shipments while we'd been away since the crew here was left shorthanded. I think it was the longest break my dad had ever taken from the shop, at least that I could remember. But it had been necessary .

I pulled a few parts from another box and set them on the shelf, debating. I honestly couldn't even remember the last time Annie had been pissed at me, and I knew I needed to go see her and talk to her. But I couldn't leave my dad in a bind here either.

Pulling out my phone, I sent her a text.

Me: I was an idiot last night. I want to make it up to you. As soon as I get off today.

It was an entire twenty minutes before my screen lit up with her reply.

Annie: I just…needed you. Just you.

Tightness in my chest eased, though my middle turned with an edge of guilt. I'd known that. She'd tried to tell me. But I'd invited Nic, anyway. It was just hard not to after what happened that first day in Greece…

The tension in the room was thick and heavy, like I'd wiped out on a wave and couldn't breathe beneath the surface, the waters choppy and tumbling around me. There was so much in this room that was unspoken. So much that needed to be said, told, and explained. The mystery of my family's history in Greece had plagued me for a while now, and I was finally here, getting a glimpse at the life my parents and uncle had left behind.

Grandma Aggie lay on the right side of a timeworn, wrought-iron bed. Over her frail form was an old, hand-sewn quilt covered in intricately detailed, geometric patterns that were once obviously bright, vivid colors but were now faded and worn thin, just like the complexion of the woman it covered.

Even the wildflowers on the small table beside the bed were beginning to wilt, as if to match the person they'd been placed there for. I wondered if the rest of my family noticed .

My dad and uncle sat next to the bed near my grandmother's head in aged, mismatched chairs that had been brought in from the dining area.

Mom stood at the foot of the bed behind my brother and sister, a reassuring hand resting at each of their backs, while Nic and I stood at the bedside behind our dads. Our grandfather brooded in the back corner of the room, staring at the floor with an agonizing expression, his shoulders permanently hunched from age. The anomaly in the room. You could feel his anger swirling with his torment.

Ignoring him, we all listened to the ragged, shallow breathing of my grandmother as she looked up, studying us, smiling amidst her obvious discomfort. Her ocean blue eyes, a matching shade to mine, moved from face to face around her bed.

She started with her sons, staring into the concerned, dark brown eyes on the two very similar faces, an expression of happiness and love covering the deep lines of her face.

After several long minutes, she turned to look sadly at my mom, who only maintained eye contact for a few short seconds before looking down.

Grandma Aggie's gaze didn't linger. She just moved on to admire the faces of her youngest grandchildren, love and adoration in her eyes even with their discomfort, the two of them unsure how to react to the woman they'd just met. But when it was my turn, I met her kind stare with curiosity and compassion. It was hard to explain, but I felt like I understood her, even though we'd never exchanged a single word. We didn't need to. Her bright, free-loving spirit shone through even the dingiest of belongings .

She was like me in a lot of ways. I could feel it. She was simple and content just to be surrounded by what she loved most, who she loved most. Annie crossed my mind at that moment, and I wished she could be here with me, to experience this place where my family was from, to meet them with me. Would my grandmother have enjoyed meeting the girl I planned to marry?

I smiled at her and received an even wider one in return, a glimpse of her former brilliance shining through before she moved her gaze on to Nic, the same loving expression she'd given the rest of us adorning her face before she looked around at us all. Her faded smile of exuberance was in place once again before she breathed out in an almost inaudible, proud whisper, "They're beautiful."

She struggled just for those two words, but I wasn't sure if it was because the sickness made it hard for her to speak or if it was the effort of translation. I'd kind of assumed my grandparents would be able to speak English easily since my parents could with such fluency, but now, I wasn't so sure. Any words I'd heard my grandfather mutter since we've arrived were in Greek.

"Thank you." Mom looked up, meeting her mother-in-law's gaze again.

My eyes traveled around the small bedroom, the space cozy with its warm, yellow walls, light stone floors, and several glass-paned windows opened wide to let in the soft light and breeze from the ocean. The weather wasn't particularly warm or chilly, just comfortable.

I couldn't imagine those windows were closed very often, even though a slightly putrid aroma filled the space. It would happen to any room where someone this sick spent most of their time, but still, the walls were warm like the sun, and the curtains fluttering lightly in the breeze were a soft blue to match the Grecian sky.

The dresser against the wall to my right had a light blonde finish and was covered in more than a dozen frames holding pictures of my dad and uncle spanning throughout various stages of their youth. I'd seen so few of my dad, of either of my parents when they were younger, that I couldn't help but stare.

In some, they were playing in lush, green foliage with magnificent rocks, boulders, and skylines for backdrops. Others showed them out on stretches of light, golden sand, the clear, blue water of the sea brightening the scene. There was even one of Dad with Uncle Dimitris, their arms slung over each other's shoulders on my uncle's wedding day, and Aunt Sophie grinned widely in my uncle's arms in the next photo. She looked so happy. Gorgeous. And in that moment I truly regretted that I never got to meet her, a car accident taking her life just a few years ago.

An unexpected chill raced down my spine, and I held in the shudder. It was the last of the photos before things had gone wrong, and there was a not-so-light coating of dust draped across the display of memories now, like no one had bothered to keep up the care once my grandmother no longer could.

"Helen," Grandma Aggie whispered, drawing my attention back. She gave Mom the same sad expression she had tried to convey before, and this time, when Mom didn't look away, she whispered something that I couldn't quite make out.

At first, I thought the words were just too mumbled to understand, but when Mom responded in clear Greek, and her voice strained like it might break, I realized then that my grandmother hadn't used English that time.

Tears formed in both women's eyes, but no sooner had they begun to appear than a short, angry rush of Greek broke through the peaceful silence from behind us.

Mom, Dad, and Uncle Dimitris all stiffened while Grandma Aggie looked past them to emit a slight, pleading whisper, "Alex…" He took one look at her before dropping his angered gaze to the floor once again.

The rest of us watched on, confused, but before I could ask what just happened, Mom was speaking again, her expression beseeching my grandmother's understanding as her voice dripped with remorse. "I'm sorry, Agatha."

She then stepped back from the bed. "I think we'll step out for some air," she said to Dad before gently pulling my younger brother and sister with her from the room. Grandma Aggie just stared after them with a pained expression and then looked back at her sons, her voice sounding like she was begging and apologizing at the same time, but the words were still in Greek, so I couldn't understand. The same pained look still there in her eyes and her tears starting to form.

Dad reached over and ran a soothing hand across the mixture of gray and black hair along her head while both he and my uncle quietly whispered reassuring words.

Whatever they said seemed to ease her distress, though, because her pleas stopped, and some of the sorrow eased in her eyes, her sons still speaking softly to her to help her relax.

Nic and I just stood awkwardly at the bedside, watching the crucial and intimate conversation our dads were holding with their dying mom. Our gazes met, and Nic motioned with a slight tilt of the head towards the door. I nodded, and we both took a step back, but before we could leave, Grandma Aggie's soft voice cried out in a ragged breath, "Wait!"

We all instantly froze, her desperation ringing clearly through the single word. I stepped up to her bedside again, realizing her effort to speak in English meant that she wanted us to understand, and thankfully, Nic followed.

Grandma Aggie looked around at the four of us, her eyes stopping on Nic and I. "Should know," she said a little more quietly but with just as much urgency. "Family."

Dad and Uncle Dimitris shared a surprised look, while Nic and I looked back at one another, confused. Grandpa Alex made a growling sound at the back of the room as he scowled, but again, we ignored him.

"Please." Grandma Aggie's voice was ragged as she began to beg. Her eyes moved to her sons. "Family…should be…together." She spoke slowly as she searched for the right words, but they were clear, even though her voice was worn.

She stared at us until Uncle Dimitris finally nodded his head, and then she looked back at Nic and I again. "Together," she breathed out a determined whisper.

I nodded and gave her a slight smile to show her I understood, and she smiled back, the tension in her expression finally melting away. I looked at Nic then, an unspoken agreement passing between us.

I sucked in a deep breath, the memory itself draining. That was only a few short days before Grandma Aggie passed and the aftermath of the funeral and my grandfather's anger commenced. But I'd meant it, that promise. I wasn't sure if it was completely why Nic had decided to come to Texas with us. He had a career and a life in England, but I wasn't passing up the opportunity to try to get to know him. Not when it had meant so much to my grandmother on her deathbed.

I need to explain it to Annie . She and Nic had gotten off to a bad start, but maybe if she knew everything, she'd be willing to give him a second chance.

"Hey, Baby T. Your dad needs you up front." Rodrigo opened the door to tell me.

"Yeah. Sure." I shook my head to clear it and headed to the front part of the building. "You needed me?" I asked as I pushed through the door.

Dad glanced over his shoulder and beamed. "Hey. Sure do. I'd like you to meet the new hire, Ruby. She's going to be helping us out around here for the next few months while she finishes up her certification." He shifted to the side away from his office door, revealing a tall brunette with tight, low cut jeans, an ACDC t-shirt, and sneakers. Her hair was tied back in a long ponytail, and deep brown eyes blinked back at me with a bright smile.

"Hey." She stuck her hand out.

"Uh, hi." I shook it before dropping my hand back down, and her smile dipped. "I'm sorry. That came out weird. I just didn't realize we were hiring. Nice to meet you."

"You, too." Her smile brightened again, and there was a hint of excitement dancing behind her eyes that I couldn't quite place.

"I've gotta go finish up with some paperwork. Mind showing her the ropes up front for today?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, sure. Of course." I quickly waved him off, and as soon as the office door shut, Ruby sprang forward .

"Holy shit. I am so excited to meet you. I've seen you race. That's your red Mustang outside, right? You are phenomenal for someone who just started. That Charger you beat a few weeks ago? My friends were certain you were going to get your ass kicked, but I knew. The way you've been driving the past few months, you had it in the bag. Won that bet. Enough to buy me some new rims. Oh, shit." Her eyes widened, and she stepped back. "Sorry. That was intense. Just a fan here."

I blinked, still trying to process for a moment, but I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. Because holy shit. I had a fan. And an eager one at that.

She waved a hand in front of herself. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually this much. I just got excited. Let me start again. I'm Ruby. Love cars. Serious addict. Been working on them with my uncle pretty much my whole life, and I've seen you race. You're great."

I laughed, shaking my head this time. "Thanks. And I'm Jet. It's nice to know I have a fan, but can we keep quiet about it, while others are around, at least? It's not something the rest of the shop knows about."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. I should have thought. I know the races are a discreet thing. My God, I must sound like an overexcited puppy or something. I swear I'm normal." She ran a hand down the length of her ponytail, pulling it over her shoulder, and I grinned.

"Gotcha. Now, come on. I'll show you around."

After going over things up front, I had one of the guys come up to cover and gave her a tour around the back where we worked on the cars and kept the inventory.

"So, what made you look for a job here?" I asked as we passed by a couple of cars getting oil changes .

"I, uh, need some extra cash flow. I do the waitress thing a few nights a week, and I was going to Ridgeside U last fall, but some things came up, and I couldn't swing the tuition this semester."

My brow furrowed. "Sorry to hear that."

"No. No, don't be. I've never been huge on the school scene, anyway. It was something my uncle pushed me to do. He wanted me out of Outer Ridge. To end up better than him, but this …" She opened her arms to the bustle and noise of the shop. "This is more my speed. I mean, I'm not dumb by any means, but give me a hood to stick my hands under any day over sticking my nose in a book, and I can die happy. So, when things fell through with school, I used the money I'd managed to save up to start my certification. Your dad said if it goes well here, then he'd hire me on as a mechanic full time once I'm finished." She beamed, and all I could do was nod. I got that. Just about every word of it.

"Makes sense. If it wasn't for my football scholarship, I'd be doing the mechanic thing as soon as school's out myself."

"Oh, you're still in high school?"

"Yeah. My last year. I'd be done already, but I repeated a year back in first grade. It works out, though. I'd be a year ahead of my best friends and girlfriend if I hadn't, so it saves some drama. Come on. We need to go cover the front again so Mario can get back out here."

Ruby followed me past a large truck and into the main building, and my heart jolted for a second when I saw Annie leaning against the counter talking to Mario. She was gorgeous, her skin glowing with the first hint of a sunkissed tan from her time at the beach, but even through her smile, I saw the ache behind her eyes when she met my gaze, hope and an apology resting on the surface.

I headed straight for her, rushing around the counter, loving the way she giggled when I pulled her into my arms and swept her feet off the floor.

"God, it's good to see you." I growled the words into her neck, and she hugged her arms around me tighter.

"I couldn't wait. Five o'clock felt like forever. I'm sorry I got mad."

"No, I'm sorry. Last night should have been for us. I just have so much to fill you in on from the trip. I think you'll get it when I tell you."

She looked into my eyes as I lowered her back to the floor, her gaze searching mine. "Tonight then?"

"Definitely." I pressed a slow peck to her lips, but when a throat cleared behind the counter, Annie jerked back, and her eyes widened.

"Hey. Sorry. I just wasn't sure what to do with this invoice Mario left me with." Ruby held up the slip of paper. "I'm Ruby, by the way. Just got hired today." She waved, and Annie just stared back, a million expressions crossing her face.

"Annie," she finally replied.

"Jet's girlfriend, right? He definitely seems like a keeper. Love the way he handles that Mustang of his in a race." Ruby smiled before looking back at me. "So, is there a certain place I need to file this?"

"On the clips over there on the cabinet." I pointed to a few other invoices hanging up. "When the customer comes back in, we just grab them from there."

"Cool. "

Annie sent me a curious look as Ruby turned, and I pulled her into my chest, holding her to me. "You plan to wait here until I get off? You can go hang out in the inventory room if you want."

"Um, no. I just wanted to come see you for a minute and smooth things over. I'm supposed to go meet Emma and Megan for coffee. Unless you want me to stay?" Her eyes glanced over at Ruby before looking up at me. "You seem kind of busy, though."

"A little. Go ahead and meet up with the girls, and I'll come over when I get off. The whole evening, just us."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She pecked my cheek before heading out the door.