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While her father checked Edith’s innards, Joy wandered around his shop It sasoline These scents had been like perfuirl Her brothers cae often, but it was only on rare occasions that Joy was allowed in her father’s do Joy’s eye A door slammed, and she watched in shocked disbelief as Ted Griffin nonchalantly walked into her father’s shop

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking past hi his fancy girlfriend to her father’s shop infuriated her Blythe was sure to wrinkle her nose at the very thing Joy loved about this old shop She waited, but apparently Blythe wasn’t with him

"As I recall, you were the one who mentioned that your father’s a ive hi her oords had never appealed to Joy She suspected they tasted a good deal like crow "Of course I don’t object," she said, stepping down fro Dad’s shop"

Her father straightened, closed Edith’s hood, and wiped his hand clean on the pink cotton rag He studied Ted briefly and then looked to his daughter "You know this younga half-flopping motion with her hand "Ted, my father, Ray Palmer"

"Hello, Mr Palmer," Ted said, and stepped forward to offer his hand

The twoany problerin teased the corners of Ted’s ood side in light of what happened to rateful if you had the tiht when Edith pulled her little trick" Ray chuckled and stuffed the pink rag into the hip pocket of his gray-striped coveralls "I always said it’s never a good idea to turn your back on a frustrated woman"

"Daddy"

"Sorry, sweetheart, but it’s true"

Joy noticed that Ted was doing an inadequate job of hiding a smile

"Pull your car in here and I’ll be finished with her in a jiffy" He walked over to the large garage doors and raised them so Ted could ease his car into the slot next to Joy’s infamous Edith

Her father directed Ted into the spot and then suggested, "Help yourself to the coffee This shouldn’t take more than fifteenher father’s penchant for strong coffee

"It’s fresh," Ray insisted "I "

"Thanks anyway," Ted ed to say around a smile

"If you tant to make yourselves useful," her father said as he raised the hood to Ted’s car

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Lunch," Ray told the to hold me until dinner, will you?" The question was directed to the"

Ted followed her out of the garage They walked side by side for about half a block "You don’t need to come," she said stiffly After all, she was perfectly capable of walking two blocks without an escort, especially him

"I want to come"

"Why?" she asked, and briefly closed her eyes Clearly he was looking for ways to make her ether "Yes I want to knohy you’re here"

"You knohy"

"Okay, so I told you about ? Did it have to be while I was here, too?"

"Yes," heto a fault "I followed you here"

He couldn’t have shocked her more had he confessed to a crime "You did what? That’s crazy!"

"I had to talk to you"

"About what?"

Ted’s shoulders coht"

"Why?" Joy asked in a s out with ed to another woman? That’s what I tried to explain You don’t need to come to me with a list of excuses I don’t need any explanations"

"Maybe I do," Ted said, his voice hard and loud "I want to knohy I can’t stop thinking about you What is it you do to me?" he demanded "Because whatever it is, stop, because I don’t like it I had a perfectly wonderful life until your lunatic car--"

"Don’t you dare talk about Edith that way!"