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“In the bedroom, sweetie.”
I stood in the doorway of his room. He shoved his feet into his slippers, signaling that he was in for the night.
“Remember when you said I could buy a car with some of the leftover money?”
“Yes, of course. Did you find one?”
“I stopped by the auto body shop on my way home. There was a car for sale, so I asked about it. I test drove it and everything. I just need the cash.”
“It’s in the safe. How much is it?”
“Eight.”
“It runs well?”
“Yep.” I punched the numbers on the keypad of the safe in his closet.
“Do you want me to take a look at it before you buy it?”
“No, thanks,” I murmured as I counted the money and stuffed it into an envelope.
“I’m ordering Chinese for dinner. Do you want your usual?”
“No. I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
“Okay.” He sounded disappointed, but I pretended not to notice.
I sealed the envelope and walked to the door.
“Char?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
I paused to look at him long enough to feel the guilt gnaw at me. “Love you, too, Dad.” I closed the door and trotted back downstairs.
Tanner didn’t look up from his phone as I swung myself into his car. Though I was only gone for a few minutes, his whole demeanor had changed. I could actually feel it inside the car. Something was off.
I held out the envelope of cash. “You can count it, make sure it’s all there.”
He nodded as he took it, though his focus remained glued to his phone. Who was he talking to?
It was silent and awkward on the ride back to his shop. I didn’t stall the car once, but Tanner didn’t cheer for me. His hand didn’t guide mine on the shifter. He sat beside me, stiff and cold. What was worse, I felt disappointed.
Back inside the shop, I signed paperwork for the car in continued silence. What happened during the time I’d gone in to my apartment? Maybe Mallory was right—maybe he wasn’t stable if this is how quickly his mood could change.
When I finished signing each page, I slid the papers across the counter to Tanner. I remained where I stood, waiting for some sort of response from him.
“We’re done here. You can go. I have a lot of shit to do.”
My jaw nearly hit the floor.
He turned around to face the filing cabinet behind him, shoving my paperwork inside a folder.
I walked toward the door, wanting to run in embarrassment, but I turned back around and took a breath. “What happened to the nice guy who taught me how to drive a stick ten minutes ago?”
He pinned me with a look over his shoulder, his irises now twice as dark. “I never said I was a nice guy.”
