“No, I’ll tell you where we’re eatin’ in a little bit. For now, you just focus on the surprise.”
I sat up straighter in my seat. “Is the surprise at your apartment?”
He chuckled. “You’re just gonna have to wait and find out.” He turned on the radio after that, more likely to keep me quiet. Jed tended to prefer the silence while I preferred to fill it.
I hummed softly to a country song, staring at the man next to me.
I loved him. I was as sure of that fact as I was sure that Miss Mildred would butt into everyone’s business. He’d put himself in a precarious position for me and I wouldn’t let him pay for it. “I won’t let them arrest you.”
He turned to me with narrowed eyes. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“The body in the basement. Digging up Pearce Manchester. Everything…” My heart raced just thinkin’ about it. “I’ll protect you, Jed. I won’t let you pay for what I’ve done.”
He reached over and curled his hand around mine. “Neely Kate, stop.”
“But Jed—”
His hand tightened. “Do you remember what I told you in Ardmore? I fix things and I’m damn good at it. Trust me, Neely Kate. Neither one of us is goin’ to jail.”
I nodded, even if I didn’t quite believe it, but for now I’d let it go. I didn’t want to ruin the night he had planned.
Ten minutes later, he pulled up in front of a building with three garage doors on County Road 75, just outside of city limits. The sign out front was covered with a tarp.
“Wait for me,” Jed said as he got out.
The dark sedan pulled in behind us as Jed walked over to the driver’s side and said something to the driver. The two men in the front seat gave curt nods before Jed came back to our car and opened my door.
How much did hiring two men cost? More guilt heaped onto my overflowing pile.
Shake it off, Neely Kate. You can roll around in the guilt tomorrow. Tonight, I was going to revel in every bit of what Jed had planned.
“What are we doin’ here?” I asked.
He grinned as he took my hand and tugged me out of the car. “I want to show you something.”
“Are we supposed to be here? Can we get arrested for trespassin’?”
He stopped and examined me with worried eyes. “You must really be spooked to ask me that. The Neely Kate I know would go inside as big as she pleased.”
“That Neely Kate doesn’t have a sadistic sister stalkin’ her, a dead body in her basement, and a Dallas crime ring tryin’ to kidnap her.”
He reached for my cheek and cupped it lightly, searching my eyes. “I should have never left you. If he’d gotten you…” His face paled. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothin’ to be sorry for,” I insisted, trying my best to shake it off. “And I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”
“He almost got you.”
“Granny says almost only counts in horseshoes and rocket launchers.”
A slow grin lit up his eyes. “I think it’s hand grenades.”
I shook my head. “Nope. That’s not what she says.”
His grin spread, and he leaned down to give me a gentle kiss. “If anything happened to you, I…” He didn’t finish his thought, but the expression on his face made it clear how devastated he would be. “Time for your surprise.”
With our hands linked, he walked up to the door of the building and opened it.
I was surprised to find it unlocked. “Do you know who owns this place?”
“It just so happens I do. After you.” He led me inside and shut the door behind us.
The lights were on in a small waiting room. There was a counter directly across from the door as well as a cash register, but it was the sign on the wall that left me speechless.
Carlisle Rivers Auto Shop
I turned to him, my mouth hanging open. “What…?”
The door behind the counter opened, and Witt walked out with an ear-to-ear smile. “Surprise.”
I shook my head. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Can’t you read?” Witt teased. “Jed and I are co-owners of this place.”
“This is your business?” I asked Jed, slightly irritated. “Why on earth would you keep it a secret? I thought you were opening another strip club.”
“Why would you think I was openin’ a strip club?” he asked in disbelief.
“Because…” I shook my head. Then smacked his chest. “Never mind.” Tears sprang to my eyes.
“I thought you’d be happy.”
I swiped a tear from my cheek. “I am happy.”
Witt leaned over the counter and clapped a hand on Jed’s shoulder. “I know, dude. Who can figure out women?”
I pointed my finger in my cousin’s face. “Watch it!”
He laughed. “We haven’t even gotten to the good part. Better get some tissues.” Then Witt went back where he came from, leaving the door open behind him.
“This is really your business?” I asked as I took several steps deeper into the room, spinning around to take it in. Everything looked new and fresh, from the crisply painted beige walls to the metal chairs with red leather padded seats.
“Yeah, I wanted to do something respectable.” He paused. “For you.”
Heat filled my chest and I turned back to stare at him. “Oh, Jed… I don’t want you changin’ your life for me.”
“Don’t you get it, Neely Kate? You make me want more. You make me not want to settle. You make me think I can have the life I always dreamed.”
A lump filled my throat, so my voice sounded strained. “What did you always dream of havin’, Jed Carlisle?”
“A family. A wife. A home.”
My tears flowed down my cheeks. “You’re thirty-three years old. You could have had those things before now.”
He shook his head and came toward me, stopping when we were less than a foot apart. “I could have, but I would have been settlin’. I realized I’d been waitin’ for you.”
He kissed me again, this time more boldly. I wrapped my hands around his neck as he pulled me flush against his body, and I wondered how I could be so happy when my life was going to pot around me. But then I thought about what he’d said he wanted. A wife. A home. A family.
I pulled out of his reach. “You know I can’t have babies, Jed. I can’t give you all the things you want.”
“What are you talkin’ about?” he asked, staring at me with so much love in his eyes it took my breath away. “You’re my family, Neely Kate. You’re my home. We can adopt if we want kids. Or we’ll get a surrogate. Or maybe we won’t have any at all. But I know how much you love babies, and I aim to give you one someday, if that’s what you want. I promise.”
I burst into tears.
“Why are you cryin’?” Jed asked in a worried tone.
“You’ve made me so happy.”
“Hey!” Witt called out from the partially open door to the back. “Come see the rest of the place so I can go meet Barb Nelson.”
“I thought you made that part up,” I said, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.
“I was improvisin’, and you better not tell Granny, or I’ll tell her you threw out that racoon jerky she gave you last Christmas.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Let’s see the rest of it.”
I didn’t know the first thing about mechanic garages, but they both seemed eager to show me, so I eagerly followed.
Jed took my hand, lacing our fingers together, then led me around the counter and through the door into a three-bay garage. A car I didn’t recognize was parked inside.
“Do you have a customer already?”
“Yeah,” Jed said as he led me to a newer dark gray four-door sedan. “What do you think?”
“About having a customer?” I asked. “That’s amazing. You haven’t even opened yet.”
“You’re the customer,” Jed said. “It’s yours.”
I glanced up at him. “What are you talkin’ about?�
��
“I bought this car, and Witt and I got it running.”
I propped a hand on my hip. “Why wasn’t it runnin’ before?”
“Someone lifted the engine block and wheels,” Witt said with a grin. “We replaced ’em.”
Jed beamed. “We rebuilt it. I was pretty rusty on car repair, and the newer cars are a lot different than the ones I used to work on as a kid, but it’s comin’ back.”
“You two are really running this together?” I asked in awe.
“I hope you can deal with me having dirty fingernails every night,” Jed teased.
A wave of bitter disappointment washed through me, stealing my joy. Ronnie had come home every night with grease under his fingernails, and look how that turned out. But just as quickly, I pushed that thought right out of my head. Ronnie and I had been playing house. We hadn’t truly been in love. I knew I’d never loved him like I should have, and he couldn’t have loved me much to bail after finding out about my past.
“Hey.” Jed rested a hand on my upper arm. “If it bothers you so much, I can find something else.”
I shuddered in horror. “That’s ridiculous, Jed. Don’t say that. I love that you’ve figured out something that makes you happy. I would never let you change that on my account.”
“But something’s wrong.”
“Ronnie,” Witt said. “He was a mechanic. I didn’t even think about it.”
Jed’s eyes slowly widened. “Neely Kate… I never even considered…”
I reached up on my tiptoes and gave him a tender kiss. “Stop. I love your garage, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that you and Witt are doin’ this together. Ronnie doesn’t deserve one more thought in my head. When do you officially open?”
Witt shrugged. “We planned on Monday, but that doesn’t seem like a great idea with Kate on the loose.”
I gave him the side-eye. “Y’all better open, because if you don’t, then we’re letting her win. We’re not lettin’ that woman steal our joy.”
At least not yet. But in the back of my mind, I was working on a plan to protect the people I loved and keep them from getting dragged down with me.
They didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then Jed asked, “Aren’t you gonna sit in your new car?”
“I can’t accept that car.”
“Why the hell not?” Witt spat out.
“I’m not takin’ charity. And takin’ this car without payin’ for it is exactly that. Charity.”
“Oh, for the love of God!” Witt groaned. “How is it that you and I were the only two Rivers kids to get an abundance of pride?”
I gave him a wry grin. He had a point. Our other cousins were pretty much worthless.
“It’s not charity,” Jed said in frustration. “If anything, it’s selfishness on my part because it’s for my own damn peace of mind. I won’t have to worry about you so much, wonderin’ if you’re broke down on the side of the highway. And besides, it was a practice car. I did most of the work while Witt supervised.”
I put my hand on my hip and leveled my gaze. “So you’re sayin’ you’re really doin’ this for you.”
His brow rose in challenge. “Pretty much.”
“It just doesn’t seem right.” I broke our gaze and eyed the car with a bit of longing. I’d never had such a beautiful car and couldn’t help wanting to keep it, despite my protests. “It’s too big of a gift, Jed.”
“Then maybe we can work out a loan or some way for you to pay me off.” He quickly added, “Like you can work at the counter on Saturdays. We can figure out something.”
“Just take the damn car, Neely Kate,” Witt grumbled. “You’re ruining the gift.”
Witt was right. He and Jed had been so proud of doing this for me, and I was being stubborn. “Can I look inside?”
Jed grinned and opened the driver’s door. I sat in the leather driver’s seat and ran my hand along the top of the leather steering wheel. “So this is where you’ve been disappearing to for the past couple of weeks.”
“It was one of the reasons.”
Was the other reason buying the business? It was obvious they’d spent time freshening up the waiting room.
He leaned a forearm on the top of the door, watching me with a worried expression.
I gave him a warm smile. “I love it. Thank you. This is the best gift anyone has ever given me.”
He squatted next to me and said softly, “Then I’m happy I’m the one to give it to you.”
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Witt said as he walked toward a back door. “See you tomorrow.”
I watched him through the windshield of the car—my car—still in disbelief. When he walked out the door, I said, “I love this car, Jed, I really do, but it still seems wrong.”
He took my hand and gently held it. “Don’t you get it, Neely Kate? I need you like I’ve never needed another person in my life. I’m scared to death of losin’ you. Kate on the loose, and Hardshaw…” His voice trailed off and his face hardened. “This is one thing I can do to keep you safe—giving you a car that won’t leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. It’s one little thing that gives me peace of mind. Please take it.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m ruinin’ everything.”
I wasn’t talking about just the car, and Jed knew it. That was one of the things I loved about him. He could read through my crazy, mixed-up lines, and see the real me, ugly parts and all, and yet he was still here, holding my hand like I was a piece of china while staring up at me with greater adoration than anyone before him.
“Neely Kate, you’re not ruinin’ a thing. Neither one of us is perfect. We both have complicated pasts. It’s not gonna be easy because of that fact alone, but you’re worth it all. I’m not leavin’.” He squeezed my hand for emphasis. “I can handle hard stuff and so can you. We can do this. Together.”
I started to cry again, so he pulled me out of the car and held me close, rubbing circles on my back, and I let myself sink into him.
“It’s gonna be okay. I promise,” he whispered into my ear.
He couldn’t promise any such thing, but tonight I’d pretend that he could.
Chapter 21
After I’d cried for nearly a minute, I tipped my head back to look at him and laughed. “I must look a mess.”
His eyes filled with love. “You’re beautiful, Neely Kate. You may think you’re a mess, but I see a woman who trusts me enough to show me the parts of herself she hides from everyone else.”
I broke eye contact and pulled away, walking around the car. He was right. I’d trusted him before I realized that I was. And that’s what had dragged him into this mess. “Did you use the money from the bag for this?”
“No. That money is safely tucked away, although I plan to go through it first thing tomorrow morning to see if I can find anything Hardshaw might be looking for.”
I nodded as I rounded the front of the car.
“I’m sorry you can’t drive it right now, but with Kate…”
“Yeah, I know. It’s not safe.”
He took a step closer. “The color might be disappointing—you’re definitely a cherry red kind of woman—but that would stand out more while you and Rose are on your investigations. This way you’ll blend in more.”
“You took that into consideration while lookin’ for my car?”
“You’re a detective. You’re supposed to blend in, although that’s damn near impossible for you. You were born to shine.”
I gave him a coy grin. “You know just the right things to say to make a woman’s head swell, Jed Carlisle.”
He stared at me with a serious expression. “I only speak the truth, Neely Kate Rivers. I’ll never feed you a line.”
That was the astonishing thing about Jed. I knew he wouldn’t. “Got any more surprises in this place?”
“Nope. It’s time to move on to the next one.”
“There’s another surprise?” I asked in shock.
He ch
uckled. “Yep.” He walked over to the car, pulled the key fob out, then handed it to me. “This is yours. Don’t be forgettin’ it.”
I stared at the fob in my hand, still in disbelief that he’d given me a car—and in even greater disbelief that I’d accepted it.
When we got into his sedan, he headed west on the county road, away from Henryetta.
“Where are we goin’?” I asked in confusion.
“Your next surprise.”
This one had me truly stumped. Lately, Jed had been living in an apartment south of town, in Pickle Junction. We were driving away from where he lived. “I still need a shower, Jed. I’m not presentable for goin’ out to dinner.”
“You’ll get one.” He turned on the music again. Even though I knew what he was up to, I let it slide.
Five minutes later, he turned off the county road onto a small two-lane, poorly paved road, and the car with Jed’s security followed. After we’d driven a couple of miles with nothing but trees on either side and only an occasional house or trailer, he turned left onto a gravel road tucked between the trees.
“If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were takin’ me out to the middle of nowhere to do away with me.”
He grinned, but it was sexy and his words were full of heat. “Sunshine, I have other plans for you tonight.”
I couldn’t stop the involuntary breath I sucked in and flushed. Did that mean what I thought? But I didn’t have time to ponder it long because the gravel lane broke free of the trees, opening to a large yard with a two-story house that looked like it was built a century ago, but was still in good shape. It sported crisp white and black paint and a covered porch that ran the length of the front of the house.
“Why are we here?” I asked.
He grinned. “Come see.”
Then he opened the door to get out, so I followed him, taking note that the car with the security detail had stopped where the gravel lane cut through the trees and that another car was parked behind it.
“Don’t you worry about them,” Jed said, snagging my hand in his and leading me up to the porch.
There was a porch swing on one end, and he gave me a second to take it in before removing a key from his pocket.
In High Cotton: Neely Kate Mystery #2 Page 21