Chapter 2
Ripley
“You gotta be fucking kidding me!”
I paced the oil-stained cement floors of Murdock Automotive. I was half dressed for my brother’s wedding. There was one lone mechanic on duty since the rest of them were going to be guests at my brother’s wedding.
It was a whole damn town affair.
Sullivan Murdock, the town golden boy, was getting married.
All of my brothers were falling like dominos to be truthful.
My mother, Anna, wouldn’t be happy until every one of us was locked down and married, but at least she’d be off my back for a little while.
Sully was about to link up to Nora, and my younger brother, Cameron had done a surprise quickie wedding just a few weeks ago during Thanksgiving of all days.
I knew for a fact that the rest of my brothers were itching to do the same.
Not me.
That was a hell no.
And the least of my problems at that moment.
“Yeah, Rip. I ran in for a coffee and I came out to a goddamn boot on my front tire.” Steve, my tow truck driver on for that night, was on the phone.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I didn’t know they made boots that fucking big,” I muttered.
“There was a note with it.”
I sighed. Of course there was.
“It’s from the mayor.”
“Mother fu—” I cut myself off when I saw my brother peek out from the large bay we were using to get dressed. The girls had taken over my folk’s house for getting ready. Handily, my shop was closer to the pavilion anyway, it was a win-win.
I pitched my voice lower. “There’s not much we can do about it tonight. The whole fucking town will be at my brother’s wedding.”
“Well, since there’s no tow truck until tomorrow, does that mean I get to come now?” Steve’s tone was hopeful.
I sighed. “Yeah. If you can find a way there, you got it.”
“Hot damn. Tawny is going to crap her pants if I can take her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Looks like you’re gonna be the hero of the night. Go on and get out of there. Where is the tow truck stranded?”
“On Hope near Church Pizza and the café.”
“Great.” At least I could get a pie when I had to beg the mayor to get the boot off. “All right, take off. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Cool. Thanks, Rip.”
We hung up and I shoved my phone in my pocket. I waved to Sully. “Be right there.”
He frowned and came out in his tux pants and untucked dress shirt. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
Sully dipped his hands into his pockets. “That face doesn’t say nothing.”
I blew out a breath. “So, you know how I’ve made it my mission in life to tow the mayor’s car when she illegally parks all over the place?”
Sully’s brows snapped together. “No. Are you shitting me?”
“I didn’t do it today.”
Sully blew out a relieved sigh.
“But she booted my tow truck anyway.”
Sully covered his mouth, but I could see the laughter in his dark eyes.
“Don’t say it.”
He shook his head. “Not saying a word.”
“Just go back in there and get ready. I’m just going to set up the off-duty message for the phones.” Not the best night to have no tow truck on duty, but that was probably the point for the mayor. I had to hope for the best since everyone and their damn sister were going to be at this wedding.
Touché, Mayor Finley. Touché.
I put my hand on the receiver of my landline phone and it rang. “Shit.” I picked up. “Murdock Automotive.”
“Thank God. I need a tow.” The voice on the other end of the line was husky and a little desperate.
“Uh, that’s going to be a problem.”
“Do not tell me that. Please, do not say that.”
The desperation took on an edge. “I’m sorry, miss, but my tow truck is in use.” A lie, but only a white one. It sure as fuck was in use. Bolted to Hope Street.
“This can’t be happening.” I heard something on the other end of the line that sounded suspiciously like a pounding hand on the wheel or dash.
“Who is this?”
“Mercy Hart.”
“Well, hello, Mercy.”
There was a pause. “Rip?”
“Sure is.”
“God, please is there anything you can do?”
“Honey, I’d love to, but.”
“Don’t honey me, you jackass. I need your help. I have your brother’s cake in my van.”
My stomach flipped. “Fuck.”
Sully stopped at the doorway. “What’s up?”
I could not screw up my brother’s wedding because the mayor and I were in this stupid head-to-head combat. “Nothing. Go on and get ready.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, Sully. I got this. Go on.”
“Sully? He’s there?” Her perpetually husky voice went up an octave. “Oh, God. Don’t tell him. Please? Shit, shit, shit.”
“Calm down, Mercy. Where are you?”
“I’m on Valley Road. My engine just freaking died.”
“Not the battery?” A jump I could handle with my car.
“No. At least I don’t think so.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s freaking New Year’s Eve—there’s not another tow truck for miles that will be available.”
“Where’s yours?”
“Too far away.”
“God. I can’t screw this up, Ripley.”
The sound of tears in Mercy’s voice hollowed me out. Hell. She wasn’t the kind of woman to cry. I’d dealt with dramatic tears for a whole lot of years being the only tow truck in town. Some real, some definitely performative—Mercy would rather cut off her tongue than cry.
“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” I looked around the garage. My smaller backup tow truck was up on the lift getting new tires, so that wasn’t going to work. My work—and all the Murdock trucks— were full of tools and too dirty to put a damn cake in it.
I spotted my Caddy in the corner with the cover on it.
“I’ve got an idea. How big is the cake?”
“Dude, it’s feeding three hundred people, how big do you think it is?”
I blew out a breath. I’d have to make it work. Thankfully my Caddy was old and built like a tank with plenty of space. “Okay, I’m on my way.”
I hurried over to the room where all my brothers were in varying levels of dress. “Hey, you guys go ahead. I have to go deal with something.”
Sully turned away from the full-length mirror, his bowtie in his hands. “More important than my wedding?”
Fuck.
“No, of course not.” I cleared my throat. “Okay, look that was Mercy Hart.”
Sully dropped the ends of his tie. “What?”
“Yeah. Her truck died on the way to delivering your cake.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. So, I’ll be right behind you guys.”
“Without your damn tow truck?” Sully laced his fingers at the back of his head. “I can’t believe this.”
“Hey, I got this. You guys get to the pavilion and I’ll get the cake there. I promise.”
Sully looked down at his watch. “We have two hours, Rip.”
“I know. Which is why you need to go to the venue and make sure everything else is handled with the rest of these idiots.”
“I’m not an idiot,” Cash muttered.
“No? Is that why you have a purple streak in your hair before the wedding?”
Cash grinned. “It was for a good cause.”
I rolled my eyes. “Losing a bet with Parker is not a good cause.”
“It was for me.” Cash waggled his blond brows that had been bleached thanks to the last bet. Having the chief of police as his best girl was not for the faint of heart.
“Kai and Cam, you guys can get Sully to the venue?”
Kai nodded. “Limo is on its way.”
Hopefully it was more reliable than Mercy’s van. “Okay. I’ll meet you there. Can you bring my suit jacket?”
Cam nodded. “Don’t worry about that. Just get the cake to the venue, man.”
I grabbed my duffel bag of backup supplies, but my space was going to be at a premium. With five brothers, there was bound to be something that went wrong at this wedding. Being the oldest Murdock meant I’d played dad more often than I’d like during their teen years but today was an important day.
I wasn’t going to let Sully have to worry about anything. He was too busy being the strong one for everyone.
I was going to make sure the wedding went off without a hitch.
I hurried out into the garage and to the Caddy. It took a few minutes to uncover her, but the deep forest color of my car gleamed in the lights of the shop. “Don’t fail me now, Baby.” I got inside and gunned the engine.
I’d souped her up over the years and the engine purred to life for me.
She was a ragtop which was going to be my saving grace.
I backed her out of the bay and gunned the engine to blast out the dust and warm up the oil.
Luckily Murdock Automotive was on the edges of town and it was a quick ten-minute ride out to her.
The road was mostly empty. It was too early for most people to be arriving to the wedding, but that would be changing soon. I came up on the brightly colored van with a few emergency lights blinking on the road.
At least she was ready for any eventuality. She didn’t need to get sideswiped with that cake in tow.
I pulled off on the shoulder behind her and got out.
She kicked her door open and hopped down.
My gut twisted at the long, lean length of her.
She’d always been a bean pole growing up but now there were some definite curves filling out her hips and.
..my mouth dried. Definitely other areas.
She was in head to toe black with a hot pink Sweet Beats logo scrawled across her chest. Her hair was tied back into a cherry red bandana that was full to bursting with whatever was going on under it.
“You’re going to bring me in that?!”
“Nice to see you too, Mercy.”
She paced away from me and shook out her hands. “God. Oh, God. I can’t believe this.”
“Let me take a quick look under the hood. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Her eyes were a little wild, but they calmed at that. “Fine. Yes, please.”
I opened the driver door and found the latch for the hood.
I propped it up and sighed. The newer vans were pretty much a computer and this one would probably have to go on it to figure out exactly what was wrong.
I poked around at the usual suspects hoping it was just a faulty connector on the battery or spark plugs.
Not that I’d be able to do much without the specific ones that worked with this brand.
“Hop in and try to start it.”
She got in and the tell-tale click made me groan. Her starter or alternator was probably fried.
“Okay, that’s good.”
“It doesn’t sound good,” she said darkly as she rubbed her hands together and met me near the front bumper.
It was unseasonably warm, but it was still in the forties. “Where the hell is your coat?”
Her husky blue eyes flashed. “Inside the cab, dad.”
I swallowed down a growl at that reply. I was older than her, but not by that damn much. “Unfortunately, you’re right, it doesn’t sound good. I won’t know exactly what’s wrong until I can run a diagnostic, but it’s not something I can fix tonight.”
“I’m so screwed.” She slid out and slammed the door.
“Why don’t we see what we’re working with food wise first?”
She tipped her head back, her hands fisted at her sides.
“Hey. We’ll figure it out.” I touched her hand. “Open up the back.”
“It’s not going to get in that car. No way in hell.” But her fingers loosened under mine.
I grinned. “Just you wait.”
She sighed. “All right.” She unlocked the back doors to show a massive black box that reminded me of a guitar case with the amount of band stickers decorating every inch. It was strapped in with a series of custom locks. Beside it was a shelving unit with big sheets of cake, similarly locked down.
I stood beside her with my hands on my hips. “What’s in the case?”
“My damn masterpiece.”
I laughed.
“Well, genius, let’s do some troubleshooting.” I jogged over to my Caddie and got in, unlocking the ragtop. I rolled it back and tucked it into the opening behind the massive backseat.
She crept closer to me, looking from me to the truck and back. “I didn’t think I’d ever get in the backseat of one of your cars. Guess it’s your lucky day.”
My chest tightened at the thought, but I grinned at her. “More like your lucky day, Hart.”
“I’ll reserve judgement until you get me to the venue.”
“Oh, I’ll get you there.”
Getting the cake there in one piece might be the real trick.