Chapter forty-four
A BETRAYAL
In his garage, Jesse slipped on gloves. He picked up a sander, bent down over an old car he was restoring and glided the sander over the body to remove the paint. Derek pulled out the bumper and threw it roughly on the ground, narrowly missing his toolbox.
“Hey, careful. If you knock over the toolbox, you’ll be the one getting all those nails.” His old Ford Mustang would be a work of art once they finished restoring it, but it had a long way to go.
“Sorry. Butterfingers.” Derek gripped a wrench and removed a nut from the wheel. He clenched his teeth, overexerting himself and almost dropped the wrench. His consistent sighs and breathlessness were distracting him. His mind was not on the job.
Jesse continued to sand, thinking it was about time Derek told th
