Chapter 17 #2
I swung my car door open and slid into the seat before he could respond. Dramatic as it sounded, I left him there, gaping in the parking lot. If he knew Mark, he could find out what unit we occupied, but I didn’t want to lead him right to our door.
Two hours later, I pulled back into the apartment lot sans Mercedes, the bed of my truck loaded with $200 worth of stuff I didn’t need, a cranky toddler who’d missed her nap, and a creeping suspicion that this wasn’t over.
The next morning, my phone pinged with a text.
August: I am at the gate.
Ava: Great! I’m almost there. See you in two minutes.
He had the same faded red Ford Ranger, scratched and rusted from decades of use and sun. I jumped out of my idling Chevy with a squeal and ran straight into the biggest, most satisfying hug I’d had all year.
“August! You’re here.”
Everything about him felt familiar and welcoming, his cinnamon chewing gum, the softness of his worn Diamondbacks t-shirt–the sense of home and belonging. This is what I fought so hard for.
He leaned back and laughed. “You missed me, no?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Little liar.” His thick accent made the accusation poetic. Dark, humored eyes squinted past me to my truck. “Is she there? Baby Nina?”
“She’s not a baby anymore. She’s changed a lot.”
August’s smile faltered slightly, and he looked back at me. “Well, you are not changed at all. Es-cept, you’re looking a little eh … flaca.” Skinny.
“I’ll have you know I put on five pounds my first week in an office job.”
“Yeah?” He made a show of looking around me. “Where did it go?”
I grinned. “Shall we?” I spun the key ring around a finger before unlocking the main gate.
August waited while I locked back up and took the lead.
As we drove down the gravel road to the house, a strange chord of déjà vu vibrated through me.
Relief mingled with trepidation. I stopped my truck at the stables and shot off a quick text to Eli.
August parked next to me and followed me to the passenger door, grinning wide as a proud uncle when I unstrapped Nina’s harness and fitted her to my hip.
“Little Nina, you grow so much!” He ruffled her hair, and she reared back.
Time for a proper introduction. “Nina, this is your daddy’s best friend, August.”
Her expression could only be described as skeptical. She wouldn’t remember all the times he’d rocked her to sleep while Jason and I took sunset rides after work.
“You were very little to remember,” August said. “It’s good you’re not trusting strangers. Soon I am not gonna be a stranger, okay?” Settled, he stuck his hands on his hips and surveyed the stables. “It’s not what I expected.”
“If you think this needs work, wait until you see Hidden Meadows.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You always have big dreams.”
This was going to work. Under August’s supervision and tutelage, Bill would get a solid, trained manager. Maybe even a little facelift for the ranch. August and I could reconnect and brainstorm for Hidden Meadows. And Terry would see that I wasn’t doing it alone.
Then the lower-level side door to the house creaked open, and Eli walked out.
In his coveralls, no less, sleeves rolled, forearms on display.
Why? Was I being punished? August’s arm suddenly weighed heavily across my shoulders.
I tried to ignore it. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but my knowing friend let out a low hum, his eyes sliding toward me.
Okay, so I had a type! In my defense, I didn’t know Eli’s profession before coming here.
And who said I couldn’t be friends with a mechanic?
A sexy mechanic who approached us with a growing scowl.
I stepped aside so August could have his arm back. Eli halted a few feet in front of us.
“Eli!” I greeted a little too enthusiastically. “This is August. The friend I was telling you about.” Good grief, what was wrong with my voice? Take it down an octave. “August, this is Eli, the one looking for a ranch manager.”
Neither spoke for a good thirty seconds, and the optimistic dream from moments earlier unraveled like a thrift store sweater.
August’s attention crawled over Eli’s mechanic’s uniform. “Ava says you need me to train somebody?”
Eli sized up August in return. “Maybe. Gotta find somebody first.”
“I know a few guys might be looking for work. You want I can call them?”
“No. I’m good.”
I had to grasp this loose thread before the whole plan came undone. “What he means is that they already have a listing posted.” Eli cut a cool glance my way.
August scratched his chin, inhaled loud enough to hear, and scanned the stable again. “You’re a mechanic?”
“Why? You need someone to work on your truck?”
He flashed his playful smile. “No.”
The air around us solidified like Jello.
“You sure? I worked on Roxy.” Eli ticked his chin to my Chevy.
“Roxy,” August repeated, his eyes moving to my profile.
Surely there had to be a sinkhole somewhere on this massive lot to fall into. Eli crossed his arms over his chest. A trail of sweat dripped from his temple to his jaw. August lifted his chin defiantly. I’d never seen a Western, but I could hear the quintessential whistle of a standoff.
Great. They hate each other!
Voices drew my eye to the visible edge of the front deck of the main house. Luke leaned over the railing while Marley tugged on the back of his shirt.
“Hey Eli,” Luke called. “Marley wants to know who the hot Latino Popstar is?” I guess he was feeling better.
“Shut up! I did not say that!” She punched his shoulder.
For the first time since I’d met him, Luke grinned. “Hot. Latino. Popstar,” he repeated.
“I will kill you!” Marley screamed, locking him in a chokehold and dragging him out of sight. He laughed through their entire, abrupt exit.
Nina tugged on my earring. “Mama, what’s a tino pa-star?”
Eli frowned. August laughed. I still sought that sinkhole.
“I cannot sing,” August admitted.
“It’s true,” I rushed to agree. “He’s like a yowling cat.”
Eli didn’t look impressed. “I gotta get back to work. I’ll bring Luke down tomorrow morning. Seven a.m. See how you do.” Then he stormed off without a backward glance.
This was going to be harder than I thought.
August leaned in. “You don’t need to frown for him. You want somebody, you can have me.”
“What?” Was I frowning? “No, I’m just disappointed that he wasn’t more friendly. He isn’t usually like that.”
August shook his head.
“What?”
“Amor …” he exhaled as if I exhausted him. “You used to be so smart. Maybe I cannot marry you no more.”
I shoved an elbow into his side. “It’s just been a long year.” I still didn’t feel out of the brambles, but in the past few days, at least I could manage them.
Nina wiggled in my hold. I set her down, and she ran off to greet Chuck. We watched her tease the old gelding with a weed.
“Do you have somewhere to stay?” I asked.
“If I say no, you will offer me something?” He flashed a devilish grin, displaying straight, bright teeth. The two front ones were just a little too big, giving him a certain boyish charm that matched the beauty mark on his cheekbone.
“I have nowhere for you to sleep. But I’ll cover your hotel while you’re here.”
“Helping you? Or helping your friend?”
“A friend.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Your friend who works with cars?”
“Yup.” Don’t look guilty. Don’t look guilty.
“Well, I stay with a friend, also. And she cooks better than you.” He shrugged like facts were facts, and I could do nothing about it. “And she says I am always her favorite.”
“Augustino Alejo. Are you trying to make me jealous?”
His playful smile got to me every time. Not romantically, but in a caretaking I-want-to-find-the-perfect-woman-for-you way. “Why? Are you jealous?”
“It’s your sister, isn’t it?”
“Shh. Don’t tell nobody. I have to keep my image.”
“What image?”
“A hot Latino popstar, ?qué no?”
I laughed. God, I missed him. It was so easy being around August. The more I climbed out of my shell, the more I regretted fortifying it to begin with.
“Okay, Mr. Popstar. Let me introduce you to the horses.”