Chapter 1

“Damn it.” Emma stared at the plume of steam snaking up through her hood and popped the lever before slamming her car door. She’d been doing so well today. Not one curse word, not even under her breath. Not after her heart-to-heart with her boss to talk about the importance of making sure kids showed up on the first day of school. Not even after waiting for a roomful of parents to attend the back-to-school open house only to be greeted by three. Out of twenty-six.

Hard to convince parents their kids shouldn’t miss school when the parents weren’t interested. They didn’t care if funding got cut or if she lost her job. She knew she was being unfair to parents whose lives were every bit as hectic as hers, but things were tough.

She’d managed to keep her frustration in check through all of that. But this, her car, might drive her over the edge, especially since Nicky had assured her he’d fixed the hose. As she levered the hood up to assess the problem, she prayed she wouldn’t have to kill her brother for taking her money and lying to her. She paced and waited for the engine compartment to cool so she could test her theory. The sight didn’t make her day any better.

“Goddamn fudge monkey.” The halfway-improvised curse did nothing for her. No, this was definitely one of those situations where she shouldn’t feel guilty about using all five of her daily allotted...