Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 4

The drive back from the Iron Vipers’ clubhouse gave me far too much time to think. Emma’s words kept replaying in my head.

Sometimes people are simply kind.

It sounded nice, and it almost sounded impossible. People always wanted something. That was how my world had worked for as long as I could remember. My parents expected perfection. Charlotte expected attention, and Tyler expected me to become someone I wasn’t.

Even gifts from my parents had never really been gifts. They were rewards for behaving exactly how they wanted.

The only person who had ever given me something without expecting anything in return had been Uncle Will.

He never cared what I wore, who I spent time with, or whether I embarrassed the Lawson family name. He only cared whether I was happy and whether I remembered to tighten every bolt before starting an engine.

I smiled despite myself. He would’ve laughed at me for driving across town just to return a bag of groceries.

“You’ve always been stubborn, kiddo.” I could almost hear him saying.

“I learned from the best,” I replied.

The smile disappeared as Lawson Customs came into view.

A sleek black Mercedes sat parked outside the workshop, and my stomach sank. I knew that car.

Charlotte.

I pulled into my usual parking space and climbed out of the truck.

Charlotte stood near the office door with her designer handbag hanging from one shoulder. Her perfectly styled brunette hair didn’t seem bothered by the breeze, and her expensive cream blouse looked completely out of place against the stained ground and toolboxes. But she smiled the moment she saw me.

“There you are,” she said as I got out and locked my truck before looking at her.

“You’ve got five seconds to explain why you’re here,” I said, and she placed a hand dramatically over her chest.

“Is that any way to greet your sister?” she asked.

“I wasn’t aware we were greeting each other now,” I said.

She ignored the comment and slowly looked around the workshop.

“It’s… charming,” she said.

That one word told me everything. Charlotte had never complimented anything in her life unless she could twist it into an insult.

“It’s a workshop. It isn’t supposed to look like a luxury hotel,” I replied.

“I know. I’ve just never seen someone quite so… rustic,” she said, stepping further inside, and I laughed quietly.

“I think the word you were looking for is run-down,” I said, and she smiled sweetly.

“I would never say that,” she said.

“You wouldn’t have to,” I said.

She walked around the workshop, lightly running her fingertips across one of the benches before immediately wiping them clean with a tissue.

“I still don’t understand why you’d choose this,” she said.

“I didn’t choose it. It was left to me,” I said.

“You could have sold it,” she said.

“I could’ve,” I said.

“You still can,” she said, and I folded my arms.

“I’m not going to,” I said.

Charlotte sighed as though I were making life difficult for her personality.

“You’ve always been sentimental,” she said.

“I learned that from Uncle Will,” I said.

“You also inherited his stubbornness,” she said.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said.

She stopped beside Uncle Will’s old workbench, and his favorite wrench still hung exactly where he’d always kept it.

My chest tightened for a moment before Charlotte noticed where I was looking.

“He really did love this place,” she said.

“He did,” I said.

“It’s a shame,” she said.

“What is?” I frowned.

“That it isn’t worth much,” she said, and I almost laughed.

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