‘Wait, he did what?’
‘I’m telling you, Lacey,’ I nodded at my sister, keeping my eyes on the road. ‘He said it. To my face.’
Lacey made a gobsmacked expression, like she’d just lost her phone in the ocean.
‘Your face?!’
‘My face,’ I repeated, nodding vigorously. It was becoming harder to see the road through the tears.
‘What a monster,’ Lacey slowly shook her head.
‘A monster,’ I agreed, alternating my hands on the wheel and dabbing at my cheeks.
‘Well, you don’t need him anyway.’
‘Never did.’
‘He was holding you back.’
‘Dead weight.’
‘Who cares if he was the best car mechanic near me.’
‘What?’ I turned to look at her, frowning.
‘Who cares if he gave me a decent rate even before he knew I was your sister and let me borrow his car for a weekend once because he wasn’t able to fix mine as quickly as he said he would,’ Lacey nodded. ‘Doesn’t matter. He said that to you? To your face?’
I didn’t reply, my frown turned to the road.
We sat in silence for a few kilometres, staring out our respective windows. Finally, I couldn’t contain it any longer.
‘So when you said… when you said he gave you a decent rate…’
‘Yep, super decent. The monster,’ she quickly added.
‘Yeah, right, sure,’ I shook my head. ‘But that was before he knew who you were?’
‘Yepperino.’
‘And how decent was it?’
‘Was what?’
‘The rate,’ I clenched my grip on the steering wheel.
Lacey frowned like she was trying to remember.
‘Uh… pretty good, I think. Can’t remember any specifics, but it was—’
‘And did he ask you to get a private car air conditioning service near Frankston?’
Lacey’s frown deepened.
‘Uh… could be ringing a bell? Let me check my—’
I wrenched the car to the side of the road with a shriek, slamming on the brakes just before we hit a tree.
‘You’re the broken-air-conditioner girl trying to steal my boyfriend?’
‘I can explain!’ Lacey stammered, trying to unlock the doors.