Page 24 of Mustang Summer

“Did you spend all night awake wondering?”

“Yes.”

She actually believed him.“Are you so sure he rejected your offer?”

“Did you get to see it?”

She nodded.

He scrubbed his hands off on the rag.“He didn’t like my answers.Seemed to assume I was going to fix it up and sell it to the highest bidder.”

Exactly what Bill planned.Only he was going to play the bidders to squeeze out every dollar possible.

“Aren’t you?”she asked.

“No.”

When he didn’t offer any more, she walked past him into the barn.“You have more cars in the big shop?”

“The long garage, yeah.”

Why was he finicky on what it was called?He started across the yard to the rectangular building.She had to trot to catch up, glad she was back in shorts and slip-ons.Dressing up might be okay once in a while, but not when it was to go to court.

A graveled stretch ran from the barn to the shop.Must be hell in winter to move snow.Her dad manned their mediocre snowblower while she shoveled and it sucked to do a small driveway and sidewalk.

He keyed in a number on the entry door.

“Why not lock the barn?”

“We did before we caught Jesse.”

A pang of grief hit her heart.

“But,” he continued as if he’d said nothing out of the ordinary, “there’s no reason to get electronic security for the barn and it’s a pain in the ass to lock it, so I’ve been leaving it.”

He opened the door for her and as she passed, he stared at the ground.

When he was talking directly to her, he would make eye contact, but if he was casually chatting, she didn’t get his full attention.

No, that wasn’t quite right.He wasn’t oblivious to what was going on around him.It just didn’t seem like eye contact was as critical to him.

The few windows lining the building let in enough sunshine that she clearly saw three cars and two tractors parked in the place.

One of the tractors had a bucket, which answered her snow removal question.The other appeared to be a John Deere riding lawn mower.It was much fancier than the dilapidated push mower she used, but necessary for a spread like his.

“What’s your role in the Walker Five?Don’t you guys farm?”

“Yes.I’m the mechanic, too.”

She should’ve guessed it wouldn’t just be a hobby for him.

“But I help out in the fields and with the cattle when I’m needed.I grew up farming like the others, but we’ve separated our roles based on individual strengths and location.”

Imagining his strong body swinging up into a tractor and heading out to the field topped her hot guy fantasy list.Along with him swinging up on a horse.“Location?Don’t you all live here?”

Brock pointed in the general direction of the main road.“Dillon is closest to the highway, with Cash right across from him with the cattle.”He switched to point the opposite direction.“Aaron and Travis are on either side of the dead end.Most of our farmable land is close to them, so they house the biggest equipment, like the combines.”

She wandered among the vehicles.The shop’s setup left her drooling.Her dad’s heart would seize in pure envy if he saw this place.The cars were each parked in a stall and there was a stall that sat empty with a full service oil changing station.

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