by Terri Osburn
“You must be Caleb,” he said, extending a hand to the man crowding her. “I’m Spencer Boyd. I believe you met my fiancée yesterday.”
Oh, no. Lorelei must have told Spencer that Snow’s husband had shown up out of nowhere.
“Yes, this is Caleb,” she said, as the men shook hands. “Can we step over here for a minute?” A crowd had gathered around the cashier area, and Snow didn’t want anyone overhearing if Spencer brought up the marriage part. She directed the two men to a space near the back of the house, not far from the tow truck that held the old pickup.
Once they’d found a secluded spot, she said, “What exactly did Lorelei tell you?”
Spencer rubbed his chin. “She mentioned the Vegas wedding part, but left the rest to speculation.” One side of his mouth curled up. “You know how Lorelei is. I’d be prepared for a lot of questions later today.”
Caleb remained silent, presumably still pouting about their earlier argument.
“I’ll deal with Lorelei, but Caleb and I would like to keep the husband and wife part to ourselves for now. We’d prefer the locals think we’ve been having a long-distance relationship and now we’re doing a trial run on the in-person thing.”
“We’re engaged,” Caleb said.
Snow shot her husband a dirty look. “Fine,” she agreed. “We’re engaged.”
“Might want to get a ring,” Spencer interjected.
“What?” Snow said.
Spencer nodded toward her ring finger. “This town is both nosy and suspicious. If you want them to believe your story, I’d get a ring.”
She had a ring, of course, but it was a wedding band. They’d meant to add an engagement ring, but never found the time in the two months before Snow left town. The truth was, Caleb had tried several times to drag her to a jewelry store, but Snow always found a reason to put him off. She knew he’d want the biggest and most expensive one, and she wasn’t ready to put that kind of a rock on her hand.
“She’ll have one,” Caleb said. “Thanks for the tip.”
“No problem.” Turning to Snow, Spencer said, “Sorry about the fireplace thing.”
“You bought the mantel?” Her opponent had been in the front of the crowd, too far ahead for Snow to see from the back.
With an apologetic smile, he said, “It’s the only reason I’m here. We’re creating a seating area in the lobby of the Ruby, and that piece is exactly what we need.”
Snow couldn’t complain about that. “I was worried whoever bought it would turn it into kindling,” she said.
“The Ruby?” Caleb asked.
“A group of locals is working to restore the old movie theater in town,” Snow explained. “Spencer and Lorelei are on the committee handling the renovations.”
Caleb lost some of his pout. “I’d be interested in hearing more about the project.”
“We’re always happy to have a new volunteer,” Spencer said. “The next meeting is Friday night at Lancelot’s Restaurant. We’re rolling out the next phase of the plans, so any input will be welcome.”
Snow didn’t like the idea of Caleb inserting himself into the community. This was a temporary stay. He wasn’t supposed to make friends or join committees.
“I don’t know if we can make it,” Snow said.
“We’ll be there,” Caleb spoke over her.
As the pair stared each other down, Spencer said, “I’d better head in for the mantel. You two have a good day. And Snow, don’t be afraid to tell Lor to mind her own business.”
Before she could respond, Spencer melted into the crowd. “Why did you say that?” she asked Caleb. “You don’t know anything about restoration.”
“Yes,” he said. “I do. Did you say the store opens at noon?”
Thrown off by the change of subject, Snow hesitated before answering. “What? Yes. Noon.” She looked at the time on her phone. “Crap. That gives us less than an hour. And I forgot to ask Spencer if he’d haul the dresser over to the store.”
“We can get it.”
Snow shot Caleb a puzzled look. “What are we going to do? Strap the thing to the roll bars?”
“I’ll take you to the store, then rent a truck in town and come back for the dresser.”
“That’s crazy. Spencer can get it. He’s picked items up for me before,” Snow said. “He won’t mind.”
Caleb gave her a hard look. “I mind.”
She took a deep breath and prayed for patience. “I appreciate that you want to do this, but you’ve already been a big help today. As you said, I never would have bought that painting without you.” She looked around for a mission to send him on. “Why don’t you check out the truck while I get the painting, and I’ll meet you at the Jeep.” She used a tone reserved for encouraging toddlers to eat their brussels sprouts. “I won’t be long, I promise.”
Before he could argue, Snow hustled along the front of the porch and charged into the house looking for Spencer. She found him in the parlor wrapping the mantel in bubble wrap.
“There you are,” she said. “I forgot to ask you something outside.”
Spencer taped down a piece of packing material. “What do you need?”
“I bought a dresser, and I’m hoping you can bring it to the store for me.”
“I can do that,” he said. “I’ll get Coop to help me load it up as soon as I’m done here. Do you have the receipt?”
“Oh,” Snow said, figuring out which sheet in her hand went with the furniture. “Here you go.”
Shoving the slip in his back pocket, he said, “It’ll be there this afternoon.”
“Thanks.” Snow hesitated before moving on to get the painting. “This is going to seem . . . odd,” she said, “but I don’t want Caleb getting too involved with things here in town. He probably won’t be around for long, so there’s no point, really.”
Taking a break from the wrapping, Spencer said, “Does Caleb know he won’t be around for long?”
“Well,” she hemmed, “he and I don’t quite agree on the length of his stay.”
“Right.” Spencer unrolled another strip of wrap. “That doesn’t look like a guy who’s leaving town anytime soon. At least not without taking his wife with him.”
Snow surveyed the area for potential eavesdroppers. “Shh . . .” she said. “I told you, I don’t want anyone to know we’re married.”
“Sorry,” Spencer apologized. “But if the guy wants to help out with the Ruby, I’m not going to turn him away.”
Was every man trying to make her life more difficult?
“Fine,” Snow snapped. “I’ll see you at the store this afternoon.”
As she reached the entrance to the dining room, Spencer called, “Snow?” She turned with a huff as he said, “That guy isn’t giving you up without a fight. Good luck getting rid of him.”
Feeling more fragile than she had in months, Snow said, “Ignore the possessive act. Caleb doesn’t love me.”
“You could have fooled me,” Spencer replied.
Chapter 7
Considering her low opinion of him, Caleb was starting to wonder if he would ever win Snow back. And since when did having money make you an automatic asshole? Their relationship had been all but perfect until she disappeared, or so he’d thought. Clearly he’d been wrong. Something happened during those two months in Baton Rouge, and he was going to have to figure out what if this was ever going to work.
In addition to getting to know her, he’d have to either read Snow’s mind or coax the truth out of her, neither of which he had any inkling how to do.
So he focused on something he could understand, which was the prize in front of him. As he eyed the pickup that should be his, he tried to be a good sport. He couldn’t have started on the truck until this situation with Snow was resolved and they were back in Louisiana. And he doubted Uncle Frazier would wai
t for him. Then again, he could probably park it somewhere locally until they were ready to go home. Maybe the old woman who owned the house would let him rent one of the garage stalls. There likely wasn’t anything in there, anyway.
All of this was giving Caleb an idea. Snow hadn’t wanted him to deprive this Cooper person of the truck by outbidding him. But that didn’t mean Caleb couldn’t buy the truck from him outright, especially if the guy got significantly more than he paid for it.
“Hey there,” Caleb called to the man with half his body tucked into the engine area of the old pickup. “She’s a beauty.”
The new owner’s head popped up to look down at Caleb. “Not yet she isn’t, but she will be.” The man’s green eyes glittered with glee at his new toy. Caleb knew that look meant trouble. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Still. Everyone had a price. That was Jackson McGraw’s number one lesson in life.
“It’s going to take some serious cash to get her into shape.” Caleb used the back tire of the hauler to join his adversary on the flatbed. A glimpse through the passenger window revealed tears in the bench seat, but the emblem was intact on the large steering wheel, and the dash looked good.
“Time and money,” the stranger said, wiping his hands on a stained rag he’d pulled from his back pocket. “I think I can handle it.” The man had Caleb by a couple of inches in height, but they were roughly the same size otherwise. Though the grease stains under his opponent’s nails said Snow wasn’t exaggerating about Cooper’s love of cars.
Caleb was dealing with a true gearhead. The situation grew bleaker by the moment.
Cutting to the chase, Caleb said, “I could take her off your hands right now. Save you the hassle.”
Closing the hood, Cooper said, “I appreciate the offer, but no thanks.” In a surprise move, he then extended his hand. “Cooper Ridgeway. I own the garage in town, and I admire a man who knows a prize when he sees it. Not everyone would recognize the potential in a piece like this.”
Accepting the handshake, Caleb conceded the battle. “It was worth a shot,” he said. “I’m Caleb McGraw, and I’m really pissed right now that I let this baby get away.”
“You a friend of Snow’s?” Cooper asked.
“I am,” Caleb answered, resenting the lie he was about to tell. “She’s my fiancée.”
Cooper’s brows shot up. “Fiancée? That’s news.”
“I’m sure it will be.” No one had approached them since they’d arrived at the auction, but Caleb had caught the curious looks. “I got in last night. It’s been a long-distance thing.”
“Congrats,” Cooper said. “So you restore cars?”
“Not for a while,” Caleb answered, happy to be back on safe ground. “Bought my ’85 Jeep seven years ago and brought her back to life. My uncle is the real enthusiast. I’ve helped him with a ’55 Bel Air and a ’67 Stingray.”
“Nice. You should come by the garage sometime. I’ve got a ’62 Thunderbird hardtop that’ll make your mouth water.”
Caleb nodded. “I’d love to see it.”
Cooper jumped off the hauler, and Caleb followed suit. Cooper asked, “You looking for a job?”
Getting a job hadn’t occurred to him, but punching a time clock might win him some points with Snow. “Are you hiring?”
Cooper shook his head. “Afraid not, but Lowry Construction is looking for help if you have experience.”
He’d swung a hammer once or twice in his life, but construction in November didn’t sound appealing. “So I look like a construction guy?” Caleb asked, curious about the assumption.
The amiable mechanic didn’t seem fazed. “You look like a guy wanting work, and construction is about all you’ll find around here. Unless you want to drive a county or two over and apply at a factory.”
There were limits to what Caleb would do to impress his wife. Factory work, which he knew to be hard, long, and underpaid, went beyond that limit.
“I’ll keep both in mind.” He gave the truck one last shot. “You sure you won’t part with this heap?”
“If you wanted it this bad, you should have outbid me, bud,” Ridgeway said as they walked down the driveway.
“The wife didn’t want me bidding on anything that wasn’t for the store,” he said, slipping his hands into his pockets.
Cooper glanced over. “You call her ‘the wife’ already?”
Maintaining this story was going to be tougher than he realized. “It’s all a matter of paperwork, right? Once she says yes, you’re as good as hitched.”
“Not me, bro,” Cooper said, shaking his head. “I’ve got an out until the preacher says, ‘I now declare.’”
“You walking down the aisle anytime soon?” Caleb asked, assuming the mechanic’s intended would frown on his attitude.
“Heck no. I haven’t won the right girl yet.”
With a pat on his new friend’s back, Caleb said, “I suggest when you find her, you keep the ‘out’ thing to yourself.”
The pair stopped near the Jeep. “Sound advice, I’m sure.” Then Cooper spotted something over Caleb’s shoulder. “Here comes your girl, and she looks like an angry hornet hunting for a butt to sting.” As he backed away, he added, “You might want to think about an out yourself.”
Snow did look mad about something. She also looked hot as hell with the color high in her cheeks and her eyes snapping. Nope, Caleb didn’t need or want an out. But he did need to figure out how to get this woman back in his bed.
Snow was still fuming over Spencer’s comments when she met Caleb at the Jeep. He’d been talking to Cooper, who’d walked away before she was close enough to hear the conversation.
“What were you talking to Cooper about?” she asked, allowing him to take the painting and slide it into the backseat.
With a noncommittal tone, her husband said, “Nothing important. He invited me to check out his garage.”
Another invitation. What was wrong with these people? They’d made her fight for every inch of acceptance, but Caleb waltzed into town and out came the red carpet. “Why would you visit his garage if you don’t need anything fixed?”
Caleb sighed as he held the door for her. “We’re boys,” he said. “We bonded over old cars. It’s like finding the guy on the playground who has the same ball glove you do.”
This entire conversation was proof that boys never grew up. She waited for Caleb to climb into the driver’s seat before asking, “So you made a playdate?”
“We didn’t get that specific, but I’ll make sure you don’t need me before I head over.” He started the engine. “Cooper said if I’m looking for a job, I should try Lowry Construction. You heard of them?”
There was no way she’d heard him right. “Why would you be looking for a job?”
“You keep saying I don’t do anything. If you want a working husband, I’ll be a working husband.”
“But you aren’t even going to be here long enough to need a job.” What was she saying? The man had enough money to buy half the town. He didn’t need a job regardless of how long he was staying. “You’ve been here for less than twenty-four hours and you’re acting as if this is your new home.”
“My home is in Baton Rouge, but you’re here. So for now, home is here.”
The girlie part of her turned mushy upon hearing that absurd statement. Caleb was trying to charm her into lowering her guard. Con her into believing that this reunion was romantic and noble and not about filling in the hole she’d poked in his ego by daring to leave him. She wouldn’t be surprised if some of his determination stemmed from proving something to his parents. He’d married the last girl they’d pick for him, and she was ruining his little rebellion.
“Yes, I’ve heard of Lowry Construction. The owner is Lorelei’s father,” she said, refusing to address his “home is where my wife is” sentiment. “But what do yo
u know about construction?”
The Jeep was running, but Caleb didn’t put it into gear. Instead, he stared out the windshield, shaking his head in what looked like amazement. “I’ve handled a hammer enough times to help frame a house with no problem. I also like to restore old cars, and I’m interested in the preservation of old buildings, something my family has supported in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas since before I was born.”
Snow managed a surprised “Oh.”
“You said I don’t know you, but it seems to me you’ve got that backwards.”
Feeling defensive, Snow went for sarcasm. “I can’t help it that we were too busy having sex to have actual conversations.”
“Your favorite ice cream is pistachio,” he said.
“Excuse me?” What did ice cream have to do with this?
“Your favorite food in the world is your grandmother’s fried chicken, which is breaded, not battered. You have a tiny scar on your bottom lip from falling off a stool when you were two, you love the Beatles, and your favorite actor of all time is Paul Newman.”
“How do you—” she started, but Caleb was on a roll.
“You hate Birkenstocks, anchovies, and people who talk during a movie. You sometimes hate your hair, you purr when I slide my fingertips up your bare spine, and your astrological sign is Taurus, which probably explains a lot about this entire situation.”
He’d done it. Caleb had shocked her speechless. Snow didn’t even remember them talking about half of those subjects, but little snippets began to float through her mind. Quiet talks after their lovemaking. Exchanging silly stories over breakfast, usually while they were still naked. How had she forgotten so much?
“I didn’t realize—”
“I was paying attention, Snow. We were never just sex for me.”
Now who looked like the asshole? Snow didn’t know what to say, but she couldn’t keep pretending they were strangers. “We’d better go,” she said. “I need to open the store.”
“Right.” Caleb shifted into first gear. “The store.”