“Did you tell him about the 65 BMW R60?”
“I did. It’s not his thing. He collects Indians.”
“And you told him it’s not currently running.”
“No, I did not. I can get the Scout going.”
“Crud.” Treasure rested her knuckles against her hip.
“You don’t want to sell it because Morton had a connection to that bike, but you gotta remember the BMWs. He loved those more. He would want you to take care of yourself before hanging onto it. You’re not riding it, Treasure. And Joe will give it a good home.”
Hearing Denny talk about her dad and the motorcycles softened Treasure’s resolve slightly. It was true her dad loved his Beamers. It was the reason he kept giving them to her. He couldn’t let them go. The Indian Sport Scout happened to be one of his daily riders right before he passed away. But Denny was right. She needed to move on and let the Indian go to a new owner.
A huge sigh left her lungs deflated. “Set it up. You want to ride with me to go fetch it from my garage?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t call me some old lady name.” She spun on her boot heel so he wouldn’t see the sadness in her eyes.
“No problem, darlin’.”
“That’s better,” she grumbled.
“Hey, it could be worse.”
“How so?” she asked, and started cleaning up her mess on the shop floor.
“I’m getting booted out of my place.”
“I can relate,” she said dryly. She wondered if she could afford the raise in her rent or if she’d be searching for a new apartment as well as a job. The status of her employment had not been determined, either. The head of human resources was apparently still on vacation and no decision would be made until the woman returned. “What’s going on at your dad’s?”
“Pop decided he’s moving to Tucson to be near my sister. He wants me and my stuff out before he sells the house. Says it’ll never sell with all my junk cluttering up the place.”
“Can you buy it from him?”
“I doubt it. I don’t have a down payment and he needs the money to set himself up in Arizona.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry. We’re two sorry peas in a wilted pod.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll figure something out. We should go get a drink. I’ll buy you a beer or a glass of wine. You look like the kind of lady who sips buttery white wine or some other frou-frou girly drink.”
“Har har,” she said. “You should know me better than that, you big lug. Wine is fine for romantic dinners and frilly nonsense, but, right now, I need beer to wash down the oil and dust.”
Denny’s grin peeked through his burly beard. “That’s my girl,” he said.
Treasure rolled her eyes and grabbed a helmet. “Too bad your dad’s bar is closed. I loved the deck overlooking the lake. Sounds like the perfect spot right now.” She thought of something. “Hey, why don’t you move into the bar? Isn’t there a basement or somewhere you can store your tools and parts?”
“I considered the idea. City zoning will never let me build motorcycles right in the middle of town. They’re trying to fancy it up downtown. It’s one of the reasons Dad closed up. He needed to upgrade a few things and come up to code. With the emphysema and his age slowin’ him down, he didn’t have it in him.”
Denny started the Harley and Treasure climbed on the back. He drove them to the Mountain Spoon and they ate burgers and French fries and drank boring mass produced commercialized beer. The beer wasn’t her favorite, but it was cold and bubbly and hit the spot. After wishing for a craft brew, an idea struck her.
“Would your dad sell the bar?”
“I’m not sure. He wants me or my sis to take over, but we don’t have the cash or time to fix it up,” Denny said as he finished his fries.
“I may know an interested buyer.”
“Huh? Well, I’ll ask Pop and see what he says.”
“Keep me updated.” Treasure needed to call Bodie.
* * *
“I have a place for you,” she said cryptically after Bodie answered the phone.
“Is it private?”
“No. But there might be a secluded corner somewhere in the building.”
“Private or public, I’m all in. I’ll meet you anywhere.”
“You should come with me.”
“I was thinking the exact same thing.” His baritone timbre hummed through the line and caressed her ear.
Treasure crossed her legs and swallowed hard. Why did every conversation with Bodie always allude to sex? Oh, right, because it’s what she thought about ninety-nine times out of a hundred. “Come see a building with me. It’s perfect for a brewpub.”
“I can’t wait. You may have to tolerate my brothers, though.”
“I don’t mind.”
“You say that now, but you haven’t met them yet,” Bodie said.
“If they’re as cute as you, I’ll probably like it.”
“Not funny, Treasure,” Bodie said dryly.
She laughed as she pictured three of Bodie in one place. It would be testosterone overload and she’d soak it up.
“I don’t care for the sound of your laugh.”
“We’re just friends, right?” she teased, but she still didn’t know where they stood. “I can be friends with more than one guy at a time.”
“You’re an evil temptress.”
“Yeah, I am. It runs in the family.” Unfortunately, the last part was true. Her mother had supposedly seduced her father, gotten pregnant, had Treasure, and disappeared when she couldn’t handle the responsibility of caring for a baby. Her father had accidentally let the story slip out a time or two when he was drunk. She had affairs on Morton as well. Although Treasure didn’t cheat on her boyfriends, she had avoided them or blown off quite a few to get them to leave her alone. “I’m teasing, Bodie. You’ve ruined me. I can’t even look at another guy, you hunk of male perfection.”
The thing about joking around all the time is, it’s almost impossible for people to tell when you’re being serious. Treasure was serious when she said he ruined her for other men. She purposely kept her tone flirty and sarcastic because she didn’t know how to tell him in any other way. When she tried to be serious, she clammed up, got frustrated with herself, and her words came across as moody and emotional.
“That’s better,” he said.
Now, it was her turn to guess whether or not he was joking. Did he care if she dated other men? He never asked if she was seeing anyone. They seemed to avoid the subject at all costs. Or, had it not come up?
“See you later, then,” she said with an insinuating purr. “I’ll come to you next time.”
A silent pause hovered in the line and she waited for another comeback. Instead, she heard the click of the line disconnecting.
* * *
Denny hitched his motorcycle trailer to Bodie’s Jeep and they made the round-trip journey to Treasure’s apartment and back in seven hours. While in Reno, Treasure loaded the Indian Sport Scout, her everyday driver, the BMW GS, and two other motorcycles.
Her bathroom looked like it’d been hit with an Uzi. And her talk with the building manager, Mr. Han, had been about as pleasant as being slapped in the face with a baseball bat. While repairing the ceiling and walls, the construction workers found suspicious looking mold. After having it tested, they found out the mold was toxic. Her entire apartment building had to be tested and treated. Treasure blinked lamely at Mr. Han, shut her mouth, and started packing the Jeep with everything she owned. Denny helped her pack and load the bikes while telling her jokes about cockroaches and bed bug infestations. Even though he tried to keep the situation light, Treasure’s mood continued to plummet. There still had been no decision made regarding the status of her job, and now she didn’t know when she would ever sleep in her apartment again. Life kept kicking her in the backside and it was starting to leave a scar.
The moon shone high in the sky by the time they were back in the mount
ains. Denny let her borrow the trailer and left it parked in the driveway before saying goodnight. His motorcycle rumbled away as Treasure flipped the lights on inside her father’s apartment.
Not able to sleep even though she was bone-tired, she opened her laptop and checked her mail. Two different buyers left messages wanting to purchase parts. That was encouraging, especially, since she only listed a few pieces in one of the online forums. Once her store was up and running, she could make decent cash and be cleaning out the garages.
Treasure rose from the couch and went to get a beer from the fridge. The beer made her think about Bodie, so she sent him a text. I have good news.
It was the middle of the night and she didn’t expect an answer. Treasure sipped the beer and waited, but he didn’t text back. He hadn’t worked nights for months. Bodie was likely asleep.
She typed another message and hit send. Floyd’s willing to sell the tavern. Meet me tomorrow and I’ll give you a private tour.
The conversation and company she wanted from Bodie would have to wait, again.
Ten
TREASURE PARKED beside Bodie’s truck, put the kickstand down, and slid off the bike. Taking her time, she removed her helmet and hung it on the handlebar, then busied herself looking inside one of the hard bags. From his vantage point, Bodie watched his brother, Shane, give Treasure the complete FBI treatment — a Full Body Inspection. The acronym hadn’t been used, or even thought of, since he was a tween, maybe younger. The fact that his brother brought forth such strong feelings of jealousy and old memories made him cringe. His middle school days were full of torment and teasing from his older brothers. The tween years had fortunately passed quickly, and it hadn’t taken Bodie long to grow taller than Shane and equal to Rob’s height. After maturing some, they became the Everett force. It had been good for all three of them.
He couldn’t blame Shane for checking Treasure out. She was goddamned hot in her ripped jeans and snug tank top. Her leather boots were laced high and she’d ridden into the lot on her BMW. The bike alone was worth staring at.
As he stood in the parking lot, the day grew hotter and the sunshine sparkled across the lake. The bar had a great location along the main street in Granite Lake. Having Treasure show him and his brothers a building for their new business was icing on a sweet cake. Any time he spent with her was time worth savoring. One woman should not have had this strong of an affect on him, and yet she did. She didn’t even have to speak to cause a stirring inside him. He found it strange that the years he’d seen her in uniform never had this much power over him, but he hadn’t seen what lay beneath until last Christmas. Not only what was beneath the uniform, but the private side of her. The aspects of her personality she didn’t bring to work. He never fantasized about what a relationship would be like. Now that he had a taste of her, she was all he thought about.
His brother wouldn’t do anything other than look, but even so, Bodie walked up to Treasure and stood possessively in her personal space. She arched a brow at him, either questioning or suggesting, he couldn’t tell. A steadying quiet breath filled his lungs as his mind imagined what the suggestive end of that arched brow might entail.
“You look good in the daylight,” he said loud enough for Shane to overhear.
Her other brow rose to mirror the first.
“No Vanessa today?” she asked with a wariness he didn’t care for.
“No.” He shook his head. “She’s gone.”
“Gone for real?”
“Yeah. I don’t hang out with my ex.”
“Good to know,” she said.
Rob and Shane sauntered over before he could explain about Vanessa’s visit with his mother.
Everyone shook hands and Shane didn’t embarrass himself for once — not yet, anyway.
“I see handsome runs in the family,” Treasure said, taking in the three of them with appraising eyes.
“There’s four Everett hooligans if you include our dad. Bodie looks just like him,” Shane said.
Bodie knew his brother couldn’t hold back some asinine comment for long. He shook his head and told his brother to shut it.
“I’d like to meet your dad. Is he coming to see the bar with us?”
“Unfortunately, he can’t join us today,” Rob said.
“Don’t worry. You’ll meet him soon enough,” Shane said.
“Tell us more about the building. Bodie mentioned the owner might be willing to sell,” Rob said.
They started across the gravel parking lot, all eyes trained on the shabby and rough exterior of Floyd’s Tavern.
“Denny should be here in a minute. His father’s not in the best of health, so Floyd won’t be coming. Let’s go inside.” Treasure held up a set of keys.
“The building looks run down,” Shane said.
“It’s a perfect location.” Bodie observed the waterfront property, the large deck off the back, and the mature trees bordering the lot.
“It’s my favorite place in Granite Lake. Or it used to be.” Treasure stood in front of the delivery door and inserted a key into the lock. She continued to tell Bodie and his brothers about Floyd, his current health problems, and the lack of upkeep on the building over the last few years.
They entered the basement and storage room beneath the bar, and Shane instantly commented on how it had a lot of space for the beer tanks and room to store the grains and hops as well.
“It needs a lot of work, though,” Rob said.
“Like every other building we’re considering,” Bodie said.
The group inspected the basement and Treasure led them upstairs. Only a few dirty windows allowed daylight to filter in, but Bodie could see how much work the place needed. Even with the necessary remodel, he could tell Rob and Shane were interested. Ideas were flowing freely between them. As they finished looking around, a red bearded Viking appeared from the stairwell.
“Hey, you decided to show up after all,” Treasure teased.
She introduced them to Denny. He held out a large calloused hand and Bodie shook it, his grip firm and strong.
“Sorry the old man didn’t come with me. He’s having a rough day.”
“Oh?” Treasure asked. “What’s going on?”
“He’s feeling under the weather. His lungs make breathing harder on him when he has a cold.”
“I can check on him later,” Treasure offered.
“He’s been askin’ after you, but he doesn’t want you to catch the crud.”
“I’m around sick people more than I’m not, Denny.”
Denny winked at Treasure. “True enough,” he agreed.
Denny gave Bodie and his brothers a few details about the building. The information didn’t vary much from what Treasure said. Bodie was surprised how at ease he felt with Treasure’s friend almost immediately.
“We’d like some hard numbers if your father is ready to sell the building,” Rob got straight to the point.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Denny said as they strolled outside. “Treasure knows how to get a hold of you, I suspect.”
“She knows how to get a hold of Bodie any time of the day, or night,” Shane said.
Bodie heard the suggestion in his brother’s tone and threw him a warning glare. This was business and Shane needed to turn down the Shane-ness. They’d only just met Denny and although the biker came across as easy going, he didn’t want Shane to offend by being crude.
“My pop’s set on getting out of the mountains before summer is over. He may consider a reasonable offer. He’ll do anything for Treasure. He always had a soft spot for our girl here.”
Treasure’s face turned a pale shade of rose. She brushed back her wavy mess of sun-kissed locks. Bodie thought the wilder her hair, the better. When she rode the motorcycle the wind seemed to enhance her natural gorgeous looks.
“Denny?” Treasure said.
The burly guy met Treasure’s gaze and lifted his bearded chin.
“You’ve got something on your nose.�
� She brushed a knuckle down her own as if showing him how to remove it.
Denny did, and then stared at his clean hand.
“There’s nothin’ there,” he said.
“It’s brown. I see it.”
“Shut up. I ain’t sticking my nose anywhere near your backside. My dad would do anything for you. More for you than for me, missy.”
“Well, the same goes for you and my dad,” she said.
Treasure turned to me and explained, “My dad should’ve adopted Denny. They were closer than we were. Floyd pitied me since my dad wanted a son.”
“Don’t listen to her. Pop didn’t feel sorry for you,” Denny said to Treasure. “He’s always loved you like his own.”
“Whatever.” Treasure shrugged and ducked her head.
She never liked being singled out.
“If you guys want me to go butter up the old man, I will, but I doubt I’ll need to resort to those tactics. Floyd wants decent, hardworking people to care about his bar like he did.”
“We have a couple more locations to see today,” Rob said.
“It might be best to wait to talk to Floyd until after we make a decision,” Bodie said.
“This building is the perfect square footage. We could brew on location. The customers like to see how the beer is made. The lakeside deck is even better than being near the ski slope in Redwood Valley.”
“Except winter is long and summers are pretty short when we could actually use the deck,” Rob added.
“Let’s not keep Denny any longer. We can weigh the pros and cons as we drive,” Bodie said.
They locked up the tavern and stood in the parking lot, exchanging contact information.
“Hey, I just thought of something,” Treasure said to Bodie.
“What is it?”
“Why don’t you come over to the shop and pick up your Jeep. I’m not using it anymore. Picking it up while you’re in town is much easier than making the drive to Reno.”
“Is your car fixed?” Bodie asked. He hadn’t given the Jeep any thought at all. In his mind, Treasure did him a favor by taking care of it. He could leave it at his parents’, but it would just be sitting around.
Chasing Treasure: Granite Lake Romance Page 9