“We just brought it home today,” I continued. “We haven’t even had a chance to enjoy it ourselves.”
“So?”
“So, you’re not borrowing it.”
He laughed as if I couldn’t possibly be serious.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
He shifted his attention to Timothy.
“You’re serious?”
Timothy shifted uneasily beside me, and my excitement began slipping away. Around Jake, he always struggled to say no.
“It’s one night,” my husband said. “It’ll be okay, Elle.”
“It’s our first night with it, Tim. I wanted us to take a long drive and get ice cream or something. I wanted it to be…special.”
Jake spread his hands.
“I’ll be careful, guys. You can have your date or whatever tomorrow.”
“You don’t take care of your own car, Jake,” I replied sharply.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“It’s mine.”
I looked straight at him.
“That’s exactly my point.”
His smile tightened.
“What do you think I’m going to do? Drive it through a wall?”
“No. I think you’ll treat it like something you didn’t spend three years planning to buy.”
“Elle,” Timothy said quietly.
I recognized that tone immediately.
Whenever Jake created tension, Timothy expected me to smooth everything over.
“What?”
“Don’t make this into a whole thing.”
“I said no. Jake is the one refusing to hear it.”
Jake sighed dramatically.
“We’re family.”
“That doesn’t make my car yours.”
Timothy rubbed the back of his neck.
“We borrowed each other’s stuff in college.”
“That was almost 20 years ago. You should’ve both grown up since then.”
“He just wants to arrive in something nice,” Timothy said.
“Then he can clean his own car.”
I looked at my husband, waiting for him to tell Jake the conversation was over.
Instead, he gave me the same tired, pleading expression he always wore when he wanted me to give in.
I knew exactly what it meant.
Jake would keep pushing until Donna and Craig became involved, and somehow I would end up looking unreasonable.
“Please,” Timothy said. “Do this for me.”
I held his gaze.
“You want me to hand over our new car because you can’t tell him no.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“It’s completely fair.”
Jake stepped closer.
“I’ll bring it back in the morning. Nobody else will drive it. No one will eat inside.”
I should have kept the keys.
Instead, Timothy looked so relieved that I ignored my instincts.
“Fine.”
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