“Go ,” Rio roared.
I jumped back, startled, then hurried to the driver’s door to get in before I remembered Tory had gotten in the driver’s seat. Keeping my head down, I went over to the passenger side and quickly got inside.
“Oops,” Tory said as I closed the door. “Guess I got the wrong Jeep.”
“D-d-don’t sp-sp-speak. Not n-n-n-now. Jus-jus-just don’t talk to me,” I said as calmly as I could, but the stuttering was still there. My heart was pounding in my chest. I wasn’t sure I could control my words when I felt like this.
“Whatever,” Tory replied. “You’re so damn dramatic.”
I turned my head to see Cullen staring at me, wide-eyed. He looked so scared. For him, I would keep my mouth shut. It was all I could do.
Chapter Two
It was almost an hour before I was due for my shift, but I hadn’t slept last night, worrying about Rio’s Jeep. The only option that I could come up with was to set up monthly payments for the damage. I was hoping I could get extra shifts, and that money could go directly to Rio.
Tory wasn’t awake when I left, but she had promised that she would go job-hunting today.
Getting to work early so I could talk to Rio about this had been weighing on me since I’d come up with the idea at four this morning. Tory and I shared the fifteen-year-old Buick that had belonged to our aunt before she died. Some mornings, it didn’t want to start, but with a little extra work, we could normally get it going.
Tory had been able to walk to her last two jobs from our apartment. The farmers market was five miles from our place, and I could walk it if I absolutely had to, but it would be easier if Tory found a job in town close enough she could walk to.
Parking the Buick in the back of the lot with the other staff members, I made my way to the back entrance. I didn’t see Rio’s Jeep here, but then I doubted he would drive it. He was always here early for deliveries. I hoped he would be today. I couldn’t make what Tory had done right, but I could at least pay him back.
The cooler fall air that had finally arrived in the South wasn’t even enough to make me smile this morning, and I loved this time of year. My stomach was in knots, and I replayed exactly what I was going to say to Rio as I walked across the parking lot. I had almost reached the entrance when Rio emerged from the back, carrying a crate of sweet potatoes.
His eyes immediately locked on me, and he turned to a younger guy I had seen working in the back, unloading trucks, and shoved the crate into his hands. Jeremiah nodded at whatever he’d said and then turned to go back inside. When Rio’s gaze swung back to me, I was thankful he was alone.
“Don’t say anything yet,” he said, his glare leveled on me.
Confused, I waited, unsure why he wanted me to remain silent. There was a lot I needed to say to him and hopefully ease the hateful look in his eyes. I understood why he was upset, and I didn’t blame him, but if I could just tell him my plans, then maybe we could find a way to move on from this.
Hazel, Rio’s aunt—who was a few years younger than him, but I wasn’t sure by how many—appeared behind him in the doorway. Hazel was kind and always there to help anyone who needed it. She had become the closest thing I’d made to a friend while working here at Deep South Farmers Market. Other than the interactions I’d had with Rio at least.
“Sorry, Daddy ain’t here jest yet. His arthritis is acting up this mornin’ somethin’ awful,” she said to Rio, then gave me a nod; however, her always-present smile was not there.
She was mad at me too. I couldn’t say I blamed her. What Tory had done to Rio’s Jeep was bad. I opened my mouth then to try and fix things the best way I could, but I didn’t get that far.
“That’s fine. You’re management,” Rio said to her. “I just need a witness to this.”
A witness? What did he need a witness for? He needed someone else to hear what I was going to say? If so, then I was okay with that because I intended to keep my word. I would pay him back for the damage.
“I wasn’t sure you’d show up this morning. I figured you’d just quit,” he told me matter-of-factly. “Since you didn’t do the respectable thing and quit, you’re fired.”
My stomach sank. I had feared this outcome, but I had hoped I could talk to him before this was decided. “I n-n-need this j-j-job, Rio. I’m s-s-sorry about your J-J-J-Jeep, and I am going to—”