by Kim Law
“What’s the deal?” Nick asked, looking around. “The house bugged?”
“No, but the kids are girls, they like to talk. And there’s a vent into their room in the kitchen. If they want to, they can hear everything being said in there.”
Nick stared, his jaw slack. “So they know I bombed with Joanie?”
“Oh yeah. But they probably already knew that. I am, however, making it so they don’t know everything else we’re about to say.”
He supposed that was something. “So what’s the deal with her?” he asked.
“Her mom walked when she was thirteen,” Cody started. “Joanie came home, on her birthday no less, and the woman had cleaned out her stuff. Just gone. It apparently wasn’t the first time she went with some guy. But unlike the other occasions, this time she didn’t come back. Or contact them again, as far as I know.”
“Ouch. But that can’t be a secret. Not in this town.” Surely Cody wasn’t sharing with him something that hadn’t been public knowledge for twenty years.
“Sure, everyone knows. But they don’t talk about it anymore. I’m not going to be the cause of them bringing it back up. It can be brutal when the past gets roused up. Everyone thinks they know every little detail—whether the ‘facts’ are based in reality or not—and they’re more than happy to share them with anyone who’ll listen.”
Thinking about Joanie and her issues with her mother made him think about his own mother. She had never left, but he’d often wished she would. In reality, when he’d turned eighteen, he’d been the one to leave her. Only, that hadn’t turned out so well, either.
He looked at Cody. “Anything else?”
Cody lifted a shoulder, along with one corner of his mouth. “There’s apparently a Bigbee Curse.”
“A what?” Nick couldn’t believe his brother had said that.
“A Bigbee Curse. Bigbee women have bad luck with men. Her mother dated a string of losers, her grandfather walked after thirty-three years of marriage. Apparently it goes back a few generations.”
“Let me guess. Joanie believes in this curse?”
Cody smiled, the action tight and unanimated. “If she doesn’t get close, she doesn’t get hurt.”
“You do know how ridiculous this sounds?”
“I’m just spreading the story, man. And to make it better—”
“Better than the Bigbee Curse?”
Cody smirked. “Shut up, wiseass, or this will be the last thing I ever tell you.”
Nick made a motion of snapping his mouth closed.
“To make it better, Joanie’s birthday is in a few weeks. She’ll be the same age her mother was when she fell for the last guy who pulled her out of here. So getting close to you? Right now?” Cody shook his head. “Don’t see it happening.”
Which stupidly felt like a challenge.
“Seems a man would be smart to steer clear,” Nick said.
“That would be the safe bet.”
Nick was tired of playing it safe.
“Thanks for the info.” He clapped his brother on the shoulder, unsure how he was going to proceed. The smart thing would be to forget Joanie existed, other than for a job.
Then he pictured her standing in her doorway last night, wanting him to kiss her as badly as he’d wanted to do the same, and he worried it was already too late.
He turned to head back to the kitchen. “Let’s eat.”
“Hold up.”
When Nick glanced back, Cody held a business card between two fingers.
“I got it from a buddy who came into the office this morning.” Cody was one of the two local veterinarians, both working out of the same clinic. He could have gotten a card from anyone in town.
“What is it?”
“The name of a PI. I think it’s time.”
Nick went motionless while his blood slammed through his body. Cody was ready to find their other brother? They’d agreed last month to put it on hold for a while, both wanting to get used to each other first before bringing another into the mix. Nick reached out for the card, reading the name on it. The guy was out of Knoxville.
He looked at Cody. “You’re sure?”
Cody nodded. “It’s time. Let’s go find another brother.”
Nick couldn’t help but smile. Yes, he very much wanted to go find another brother. He let out a laugh.
“Yes,” he agreed. “Let’s do.”
Late-season snowflakes dusted GiGi’s yard as Joanie turned into the drive Sunday after church, making her wish for a heavy snow. It had been a couple of years since they’d had a really good one, and they always reminded her of times long past. Before her mother had left. But more importantly, before Pepaw had left.
She still didn’t understand what had happened to make him leave.
One day he’d been around all the time, playing games with her in the afternoons, and the next he’d been gone. As sudden as that.
Pepaw had been the one to stay home with her after school due to the fact he’d lost an arm in Korea. He had his military benefits, and GiGi and her mother had jobs.
Though he’d been a bit of a curmudgeon at times, it had been a plan that worked. Until her mother ran off with a man, or quit her job because the guy she was currently dating “didn’t care for it.”
Which made Joanie wonder briefly who her father was. Had he been just another deadbeat in a long line of them? She’d always assumed so since she’d never gotten an answer out of her mother.
Not knowing was for the best. She didn’t need to know the kind of loser she came from on that side of her family. She’d had enough motivation to be who she was by watching her mother’s escapades over the years.
Enough reminiscing. She had a house to empty out.
She turned off her car and opened the door, shocked by the burst of wind hitting her in the face, and silently grateful it wasn’t a Thursday when she’d need to be wearing a go-go outfit. Equally thankful she’d run home after church and changed from her dress into jeans and a sweatshirt.
Grabbing the tape dispenser and broken-down boxes from the backseat in one hand, she scooped up the deli-prepared, uncooked pizza from her passenger side with the other. Nick might have already eaten lunch, but this way she could at least feel she’d paid him back for dinner.
Especially since Friday night hadn’t been a date.
She thought back—for about the millionth time—to the two of them standing on her front porch.
He wasn’t her type. He would want more than she would ever give.
Yet the fact remained, she’d wanted to kiss him.
She had to fix that notion today. There was too much to get done together over the coming weeks. Whatever this attraction was between them, it had to end. Now.
She headed up the sidewalk, noticing the handful of early daffodils sprouting, and found herself surprised that Nick hadn’t poked his head out the front door. Surely he’d heard her car turn in. She glanced back at the driveway. Yep. Big, giant red truck, sitting right there. Though she wasn’t sure how she hadn’t paid attention to it when she’d pulled up. Too busy thinking about the past, she supposed.
When she got to the door and Nick still hadn’t shown, she pursed her lips, trying to decide what to do next. It didn’t feel right to just walk in. He was living there now. Plus, she didn’t have a free hand to open the door with anyway. What was he doing that he hadn’t heard her?
Or maybe he had, and he was playing nonchalant. Just as she intended to do.
Irritation had her kicking the door several times with the toe of her sneaker. The aluminum of the screen door rattled on its hinges, and finally she heard life from inside the house. Heavy footsteps headed her way.
It was about time.
The door swung open, and Joanie’s mouth dropped open.
The goggles on Nick’s face, along with the bits of dust and dirt covering his hair and the rest of his face, would have been funny, if not for the way his dark eyes stared out at her through the thin l
ayer of dust. And the way his gray T-shirt was plastered to his chest.
He was drenched with sweat, looking like a crazed person, and she was suddenly ready to toss the idea of keeping it friendly, and help him with a shower instead.
She held up the hand with the pizza riding on her palm. “I owed you food.”
He blinked, glanced at the pizza in her hand, then stepped back and let her in.
“I’m sorry,” she started, passing by him and ignoring the dirt clinging to his extra-wide shoulders. Looked like demolition had started. She headed to the kitchen. “I should have called and let you know I’d be coming by today. I thought I’d empty out the kitchen cabinets so they’d be ready to rip out when you got to them.”
When she turned after unloading her hands, he’d removed the goggles and had the bottom of his shirt lifted, wiping off his face. His abs looked delicious. Her mouth went dry.
“No problem,” he finally said. He dropped his shirt, but her memory hadn’t forgotten the show. “But you didn’t owe me food.”
She reached out for the knob on the oven and turned it on, then forced herself to quit gawking at his torso. “I told you I’d bring food next time.”
“Or something,” he said.
“What?” She couldn’t stop herself from peeking back at him, wishing he needed to wipe off his face again.
“You said you’d bring dinner, or something, next time.” Was his voice deeper than usual? Or maybe it was just scratchy. Kind of like an animal’s low growl. “I was wondering what the something might be.”
Brown eyes, now free of goggles and dust, swept over her as if implying the something he wanted had nothing to do with the pizza she’d brought. She glanced down the hall, momentarily letting a very naughty thought run through her head. The pizza would take twenty minutes to cook.
As if using it as a shield, she picked up the box and held it out in front of her. “I brought pizza.”
He gave her a quick smile. “So I see.”
“Are you hungry?” She faced the stove, forcing her breathing to be calm and steady, and tried to wipe the memory of his ripped abs from her mind. She was going for nonchalant, she reminded herself. Calm. Cool.
He was just a man. A man with a cat.
Who’d put rocking chairs on GiGi’s porch.
She pulled in a deep breath, feeling her insides calm. That last thought had done the trick. He was a nester, looking to settle down, and she would not fall victim to a man. She was there for pizza and to work. Only.
And maybe to clear up any misunderstandings left from Friday night.
Nick stepped to her side and pulled down a glass as she stooped and put the pizza in the still-heating oven. He poured himself lemonade from a pitcher in the fridge, then after downing half the glass, rested his hips against the counter and eyed her.
“Yes,” he stated matter-of-factly, and she realized he was replying to her question. “I’m starving, actually. I hadn’t realized it was already going on one.”
She glanced at his sweaty T-shirt. “You’ve been working a while, then?”
“Since sunrise. Though I did run into town for donuts after the diner opened.” He reached for another glass. “Want some lemonade?”
“We can’t kiss, Nick,” she blurted out, wanting to jab a finger in her eye over the way she’d brought it up.
He slowly pulled his arm back down, an empty glass in his hand. “So… no to lemonade?”
“No to kissing,” she reiterated.
“I got that.” He tilted the pitcher and poured her a glassful. He handed her the glass and she turned it up, furious with herself for letting him make her nervous. She felt just like her mother had always acted around men. Swooning and silly.
And it pissed her off.
Once she’d finished off the tart drink, she set the glass in the sink, ignored the pointed stare Nick was leveling at her, and bent over to assemble and tape up a box.
“I figured emptying out the cabinets would be a good place to start,” she rattled. “You go on back to whatever you were working on. I’ll be fine in here.”
“Joanie.” Nick’s voice was steady and solid. She ignored him.
The sound of the tape ripping from the roll as she bound up the bottom flaps broke the silence.
When she still didn’t pay attention to Nick, he reached out and stopped her by putting his hand over hers, and then pulling her up and around until she stood facing him, feeling like a fool. He had done nothing to her, yet she was running around, acting as if he’d tried to get her naked on her front porch.
He hadn’t even leaned in for the kiss.
She’d just known he wanted one.
Because she’d wanted it, too.
“Nick,” she whispered. “I’m serious.”
“I can see that.”
“We’re just working together. I don’t…” She lifted a hand in the space between them, then let it flutter back to her side. “I don’t do this… really. It’s just best not to.”
Nick wanted to ask if the problem was because she worried she’d fall victim to the Bigbee Curse—which was a ridiculous load of crap—or if it had something specifically to do with him, but figured the best thing was to drop it. If she didn’t want anything to do with him in that way, he wouldn’t push the issue.
No matter how much he suspected she was lying to herself.
There were reasons she didn’t get close, just as there were reasons he tread carefully with dating, as well. He could respect that.
He’d been let down one too many times in the past himself. He still wanted the kind of love that lasted forever, but he was cautious about going for it. He just hoped time didn’t completely pass him by before he found it.
“How about I take a quick shower while the pizza is cooking,” he suggested. “Then I’ll help you out in here? I’m tired of smashing things anyway.”
He’d spent the morning ripping down the back porch, rejoicing in the use of his muscles and the time spent clearing his head. Joanie was intoxicating. He didn’t know what it was about her, but he’d thought about her nonstop since he’d arrived in town.
That needed to stop.
Of course, it hadn’t helped, her showing up on his doorstep, looking cute and perky in her skinny jeans and oversize Nashville Predators sweatshirt. He’d wanted to peel the sweatshirt off her so he could once again see her curves.
“You don’t have to help,” she pointed out. “I can do it.”
“It’ll go faster this way.” And it wasn’t simply that he wanted to be in the same room as her. Surely. “Then I can spend tomorrow morning playing caveman in this kitchen.”
Swinging a sledgehammer was rejuvenating. He was anxious to take out these cabinets. They might have a seventies kind of “charm,” but that wouldn’t go far in getting this house sold.
“You given any more thought to my suggestions?” he asked.
“To taking your money?”
He angled his head at her. “How about becoming temporary business partners?”
Gray eyes met his and his chest swelled as if he were that caveman and had just dragged a dead animal in to feed his woman.
“I like that,” she said. She nodded, then dropped her gaze once more to his stomach. His muscles clenched involuntarily when the tip of her tongue peeked between her teeth. A man could get used to a woman looking at him like that.
He needed to get out of there before she realized how much he was enjoying it. “So…” he started. “Yes? Business partners?”
“Yes,” she breathed out the word. She seemed to realize she’d been staring at him and looked away, picking up the metal box that she’d pulled from the top shelf of the cabinets Friday night. He’d left it on the counter for her. “The bank is closed tomorrow for Presidents’ Day, but I’ll go by Tuesday. If I can still get the amount they promised me, I’ll let you handle the rest.”
A rush of excitement shot through him, giving him the urge to pick her up and swing her arou
nd in a circle. Likely, she wouldn’t appreciate the act. Blood surged low in his body, and he knew that every part of him would appreciate it.
“Sounds like a plan,” he muttered. “I’ll be back in ten.”
He headed to the bedroom before he did anything stupid. Like kiss her sweet face.
Chapter Five
Joanie was at the fold-up desk in the living room when she heard the bedroom door open and Nick’s feet hit the bare hallway. She held her breath, imagining what he’d look like right after a shower.
Damp hair, no shirt, jeans riding low.
Her fingers curled against the papers that were wedged into the open drawer as she thought about what it would be like to take her time and roam over all that muscle.
Nick stepped around the corner and she almost moaned.
She let out a breath instead. At least his hair was damp. Everything else was covered up. His shirt was even buttoned up to his throat. Why not at least a tight T-shirt?
She looked back to the papers beneath her hand and uncoiled her fist. He was behaving and not taunting her by letting her see his recently sweaty flesh.
Which she did appreciate.
Even if the view wasn’t quite as nice.
“What are you doing?” he asked, heading in her direction. His long legs made fast work of the distance.
The smell of sausage and mushrooms was beginning to permeate the air, and as she glanced up at him, she watched him draw a deep breath in through his nose, and could see that he enjoyed the scent, same as her.
“I’m trying to find a key to open this box.” She had the box she’d pulled out Friday night on the desk in front of her, and had gone through every drawer she could think of, looking for a matching key.
“I have a cutter in the truck. I can cut it open for you.”
She shot him a look. “There’s no need to damage it. I just wanted to see what was inside.”
Without having to ask GiGi for the key.
When Joanie had first seen the box shoved away on the shelf, she’d had an instant memory of GiGi treating the small blue-and-black metal container special. It had actually surprised her to find it here. GiGi had taken several things with her to the nursing home when they’d checked her in, and given how she’d protected this box over the years, Joanie had expected it to be with her.