A Restored Man (40 page)

Now that all the service tickets were completed, Ty worked with Cole to revert the shop to its regular setup. "It's quiet here without your crew," Ty said, returning the picture frame to the wall. After spending two months with Cole's crew, he could clearly see how Cole had worked so closely with his teams for so many years. They were an interesting bunch individually, but collectively, they were extraordinary. They effortlessly worked on schedule and still managed to joke and tease each other while doing so. It was comfortable, inviting, and open. The crew left the prior week and he already missed their presence at the shop.

Cole nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly.

Ty casually looked over his shoulder, watching Cole as he hung the banner on the opposite wall with a somber expression. "Are you staying in touch with them this time?"

Cole sighed. "I need to be careful with that while I'm still on probation. I don't want to tie them to me and cause a problem for them." He glanced over to Ty with a forced grin. "I need to behave for little while longer."

Ty returned the smile but knew Cole was struggling with something other than his crew's departure. He walked over to Cole and propped himself up on the bench table in the corner. "Something else is bothering you," he said, hoping to coax Cole into a conversation.

Cole finished hanging the last corner of the banner and turned to face Ty. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet along the floor. "I don't like losing people. I have a hard time dealing with it."

Ty crossed his arms and leaned back, resting his head against the wall. "You didn't lose them. They're still there. You're just taking a time-out."

Cole looked up with a lopsided grin. "I've dealt with plenty of time-outs in my life." He walked over to the bench table where Ty sat and hopped up to sit next to him, crossing his legs and leaning back against the wall. "Having the crew here for two months then leaving…I don't know…it left a hole there again. I hate it. I don't know, it's like reopening a wound or something. Reminds me of losing my brother. And I'm having a hard time trying to get over the guilt. Hard to explain."

Ty looked at Cole intently. It was obvious he was preoccupied with more than his usual million thoughts. "Why guilt?"

Cole shrugged. "I've lived with the guilt that my brother died because of me. Because I was the reason he joined the service. He wanted to be the guy I looked up to, he wanted to be my hero. Because of that, I always saw myself as the reason he died." He looked down and fidgeted with his boot laces.

Ty straightened and leaned forward. "How can you see that as your fault?"

Cole turned to him with a sad smile. "The same way you see it as your fault that your parents died that night." He looked down again and tugged on his pant leg, absently busying his hands. "We want to blame someone and it's always easier to blame ourselves. My brother's death is no more my fault than your parents' deaths is yours. I know that now. It's taken me some time to fight through the arguments in my head about it. It's still hard, but…at least…I can see that now."

Ty tried to gather his thoughts. "It's not the same."

"What's not?"

Ty shifted his focus forward at the picture he had just rehung on the wall. The image suddenly blurred beyond recognition with the thoughts cluttering his mind. "Your brother chose to join the service on his own. It's nothing you did. My parents were at one of my shows. They wouldn't have died if they hadn't been there."

Cole reached over and placed a comforting hand on Ty's knee. "That doesn't mean it was your fault."

"They were there because of me."

Cole reached up and caressed Ty's cheek. "One thing I know for sure. Neither my brother nor your parents would want us to live each day miserable with guilt. I see that now and it's what is getting me through this. I know my brother would kick my ass and yell at me." He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "It's easier said than done, but you need to take things one day at a time."

Ty looked over and stared at Cole. How people thought Cole was flaky or less than brilliant was beyond him. He was all too familiar with the pain of guilt and could clearly see it etched in Cole's expression as well. "I can't really talk about this with anyone…Aidan, the doctors. No one."

Cole stroked his thumb along Ty's skin. "Neither can I. Julian talks me through a few things but I'd rather be able to talk to you about this. But not if it's going to put you back in that black hole you've been working to dig yourself out of."

Ty squeezed Cole's hand and leaned his head back again. The tight twist in his chest felt looser than it usually did. One thing kept nagging him about what Cole had said and rang truer than any argument he had had in his head about that night. His parents wouldn't want him to live each day miserable with guilt. He remembered winning the plaque for the best customized car design at the show.

A plaque he still kept stashed in the box since that night.

One day at a time.
He could do this, and with Cole by his side, he had the best support system anyone could offer. He jumped off the bench table and pulled Cole to join him. "C'mon, I need you to help me do something."

Cole let Ty lead him to a stack of boxes in the corner of the customization bay. He read each label and discarded boxes to the side until he found the one he sought. He took a deep breath and carried the box over to the work bench.

"What's that?" Cole asked, his curiosity obviously piqued.

Ty cut open the box and removed the packing paper inside, withdrawing the elegant wooden plaque with the engravings. "It's the plaque I won that night."

"You want to hang it up?" Cole asked.

Ty took a deep breath. It would be tough to see the plaque up each day in the shop, knowing it would be a constant reminder. He grazed the wooden edges with his thumb and his vision blurred. Rather than the images of the mangled car from the night of the accident coming to mind, he suddenly saw his parents' smiling faces from that night, and felt the warmth of their embrace envelop him when the winner was announced.

Cole took the plaque from his hand and carefully set it on the bench. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Ty. "I'll go grab the stuff to hang it." He walked away and quickly returned with the supplies. "Where do you want it?"

Ty sniffled and pointed to a spot on the wall. The perfect spot that he would see each day while at the shop.

Cole quickly opened the hole in the concrete wall and prepared the setting. When he finished, he walked back over to Ty with a hint of a smile. "You do the honors."

Ty walked over to the wall with the plaque in hand, reached up, and hung the award in its new spot. He inhaled a shaky breath and tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. His parents were so proud of him that night and he had let the accident steal that memory from him. He looked up at the plaque, and a tiny glimmer of hope forced its way through the darkness of that night. He closed his eyes when strong arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"One day at a time," Cole said, resting his head against Ty's back.

Ty clasped Cole's arms around him and took a deep breath to ease the tightness in his chest. He opened his eyes and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth when he clearly saw a vision of his parents smiling down at him with their genuinely proud expression.

One day a time
.

He could do this. And with Cole by his side, he didn't doubt it for a moment.

Ty's hand swept across the drawing paper, adding another curve to the fender of the project. Each line he sketched awakened another curve in the exterior beauty and each sharp angle accentuated elegance. He'd missed this. Sure, he had accepted Drayton's rig project, but that was his friend pushing a project on him. This…
this
was his choice and he finally felt another piece falling into place. Knowing he could create something with a simple stroke of his pen always amazed him. In the last couple of weeks, he'd finally taken on a small handful of customization projects and had been eager to start.

As soon as the initial sketch was created for their first project, Cole immediately jumped in, helping him with shaping the metal and creating the fiberglass moldings. He smiled, remembering how Cole bounced on the balls of his feet as he had that first week at the shop with him. It was something new, something different, and Cole's excitement was just as intoxicating as the thrill of finishing the new sketch.

Cole
. It seemed as if every word he said and every action had one goal—to make Ty love him that much more. Even though Cole hadn't said the words after Ty had blurted them out almost six weeks ago, things were stronger between them. Aside from the always present banter and laughter that echoed in the shop, they spoke openly and made some progress with Ty's survivor's guilt and Cole's guilt of losing his oldest brother. And Ty…the image of the mangled car was no longer the first image that came to mind when he thought of that day. For him, that was a huge feat in itself.

He held up the edge of the large sheet and inspected his work. He took a deep breath and smiled as his pulse spiked. Finally, that last change was exactly what had been missing. Now, looking at the revision, there wasn't a single detail he wanted to change. And that was how he knew he had another winner. He felt lighter. Happy. Almost as happy as he was knowing Cole's term would be over soon and he would be moving in with Ty. The thought of having Cole with him all day brought a wistful smile to his face.

He grabbed the radio from his desk when it chirped. "Go ahead, Stacie."

"Sir, you have a…visitor here to see you."

Ty's jaw clenched. He recognized Stacie's tone.
Robert
. "I'll be there in a minute." He knew this sense of peace he'd had for weeks wouldn't last long with this dark cloud hovering over him.

He stood and exited his drawing room, another change he had completed in the last few weeks. Since he no longer slept in his office, he had asked Cole and Jeff to help him clean out and reorganize his design workroom. He wasn't sure which of the two jumped in faster to help. As soon as the projects were commissioned, his space was ready for him to zone out and design, with a new desk chair as a gift from Jeff.

He walked out of his office and spotted Jeff hurriedly walking toward him.

"I was coming to get you to give you a heads up. Robert's here," Jeff said with a worried expression, turning to walk alongside Ty.

Ty nodded. "Stacie radioed me. I'm going to see him now."

"You don't need to play his game anymore. All the service tickets are done, he can't hold that over your head anymore."

"I know. But he can still try and screw over Drayton. So I don't want to show our hand until I know what he wants to do." Ty looked over and saw Robert standing by Stacie. He jabbed his finger in the air at her as she stood stock-still, arms crossed, staring at him without flinching. He needed to give her a raise.

"If you need me, I'll be there. Don't let that asshole—"

Ty looked over to the older man and smiled. "I'm not letting that asshole get to me." With all the shop tickets done, Robert couldn't challenge his reputation. And with Drayton's prototype finished weeks in advance and a formal announcement scheduled for next month, there wasn't much that could be done to interfere with the new line.

Jeff nodded and walked over to his crew in the mechanic bay but positioned himself where he had a clear view of where Robert stood. No doubt the man was ready to jump in.

Ty walked over to where they stood and crossed his arms. "Robert," he said in an icy tone.

Robert rounded on him. His lips were tight in a thin line and his nostrils flared. "I've already heard through the grapevine the prototype is ready. You need to make a decision now."

"My answer is no."

Robert's eyes narrowed and his chest heaved. "You don't have a choice," he said through gritted teeth.

"There's always a choice."

Robert walked up to him and invaded his space, jabbing his finger at Ty's chest. "Not in your case."

Ty pushed away Robert's finger and casually tucked his hands in his back pockets. "Don't be so dramatic. I've been in the business long enough where my clients know my level of integrity. So you either walk out of my shop on your own or I'll have it done for you."

Robert cackled.

God, he hated that laugh. "Get out."

Robert grabbed one of the tool chests and pushed it into the wall, causing the tools to crash against the floor.

Ty turned to Stacie. "Call the police." She quickly nodded and sprinted away.

No way was he letting this son of a bitch win this fight.

* * * * *

Cole stopped working the moment he heard the sound of metal crashing. His heart started pounding frantically against his chest. Something wasn't right. He pulled off his sanding mask and gloves and headed toward the source of the noise at a dead run.

There stood Mr. Asshole with a crazed look on his face, staring up at Ty. The techs had stopped what they were doing and were inching closer, curious at the display.