Page 8 of A Simple Regret

Fuck.

Seeing her was like a kick to the balls. Painful. Stole my breath. Reminding me exactly of what kind of damage she can truly affect on me.

“You all right?” Randy asks, his eyes dropping from the wrench on the concrete floor to me.

“Yep. Just peachy.”

He snorts and shakes his head. “Clearly. Anything I can help with?”

I look back down at the truck I’m working on and shake my head. “Naw, this stubborn girl is just giving me fits.”

“Fords do that,” Randy responds, just as I would expect him to. He’s a Chevy guy, and even though he works on most makes and models, he loves to give me shit when it comes to the Fords.

“Yeah,” I reply, absently, returning my attention to what I was working on.

“Something tells me this little hissy fit wasn’t related to the truck.”

I glance over my shoulder and narrow my eyes. “What do you know about it?”

He shrugs his big, beefy shoulders and grins. “These walls can talk, my boy. They’ve seen a lot.”

What the hell is this guy talking about?

He chuckles his deep, smoker’s laugh, slowly walking toward me with the wrench. “All I’m saying is a lot has happened within these walls over the years, and rumor has it, a certain pretty girl who used to stop by here a lot has moved back to town.” He extends his hand.

Taking the tool, I bend over and get back to work on the air filter housing. “You got nothing better to do than indulge in the latest gossip?”

“Nope.” He laughs. “Mary might have mentioned something about Adam Holm’s daughter moving back to town after she left with his ex-wife. Though you have no stake in the game, I found that piece of intel interesting.”

“No stake, as you mentioned,” I say, finally loosening the housing so I can replace the air filter inside.

“Also might have heard you have a new neighbor.”

I sigh, realizing he’s not going to let this go. “You’ve heard an awful lot for a guy who doesn’t hear so well.”

He chuckles and grins from ear to ear. “My hearing’s fine. It’s just selective.”

Now it’s my turn to laugh.

“You okay?”

I sigh, returning my attention to him so I can get this conversation over with and back to the truck once and for all. “I’m okay. It was a shock to find her moving in next door, but it is what it is. It’s not like we’ll be seeing each other a lot though. I work long hours and she’s got a family, so it’s not like we’ll be running into each other in the driveway all the time.”

At least I hope we won’t be…

He grins a crooked smile and shakes his head. “I think that’s going to be harder than you think, my friend, but I admire your optimism.”

“Are we done with the girl talk now? I need to get back to work before that tire rotation gets here. My boss is a real hard-ass, and he won’t like it if I’m running behind.”

Randy laughs. “Yeah, yeah. I’m headed out to check the token machine. Someone stopped by and said someone tried shoving nickels in the coin slot again.”

I wave him off and get back to work.

My mind, however, is far from the task at hand.

It’s right back to a time when all felt right with the world.

A time when it was just Maren and me.