Page 68 of Mustang Summer

“I designed it with various levels.From elementary to adult.”

So no half-dressed farm girls.She wiped that idea out.

“And I’d like a W in it, for Walker.What’s your email?I can send you some ideas.”

She rattled it off and he nodded.Either he was ghosting her, or he was smart enough to remember every detail of this conversation.Again, she suspected the latter.

“What do you charge?”he asked.

“Oh,” she hurriedly shut down her computer, “I can’t charge you.”

“Yes, you can.If it makes you feel better, then buy the game when I release it.”

She grinned.“Deal.As for pricing, since I’m new and playing around, I only charge twenty an hour and a logo like yours will take two or three hours.Let’s say three max.”

“Great.I’ll pay you forty an hour and take your time.”

He smiled when her eyes went wide.Dude had a secret weapon: a dimple.With it, he transformed from geeky hot farmer to devastatingly handsome farmer.

It endeared her more to him than anything.Cash was the panty-dropper, and he disliked her.Dillon was the responsible one with the all-American jock look.Brock was the strong, silent cousin.Travis was the brains behind the operation.She just had to chat with Aaron to find out what he was like and she’d almost feel like part of the group.

Part of the group… What would her brother think?

Chapter14

Josie drove into town, dust flying up behind her, on her way to visit Jesse.Brock was quiet in the passenger seat, thumbing through his phone where he kept notes for refurbishing his cars.The weather was dreary like her emotions.Overcast and gray, the clouds didn’t seem to know when they wanted to unleash their massive amounts of moisture.

How long would she lose her brother for?She’d lost him months ago, but being in jail in Moore made it easier to connect with him than perhaps anywhere else.

She approached the highway into town and glanced to her right where a row of trees blocked the fields from the wind.She looked back to the road, then back to the trees.Was that a vehicle or just a piece of farm equipment?

Squinting, she tried to make out some definition.It wasn’t a tractor, or a sprayer like she’d seen Dillon hooking up.A pickup.The green color made her think of the old beater like the one Gage drove when he wasn’t using his classic Chevelle.

She passed it and discreetly used her rearview mirrors to get a better look.No luck.

An ominous feeling ate a pit in her stomach.Coming back from Detroit Lakes with the Shelby, she’d seen another pickup that’d made her think of Gage’s truck.

Coincidence?Or was her gut churning because she feared seeing Jesse marched away from her again?Her chest tightened.What if Gage had creeped on the Shelby and discovered that she’d had a role in Brock buying the car?

Nausea rippled through her.Bill’s side business had never involved him actually stealing a car.Just taking money to work on a known stolen car.But a hundred thousand was a lot of money to people like them.

What if Bill and Gage were scoping out the Shelby?What if Brock ran to town one afternoon and came back to find an empty spot where the Shelby had been?What if the locked rooms in the old house that served as Bill’s business served to paint the once-black Shelby Mr.Blackwell had cruised through town in with the love of his life to an unidentifiable electric blue?It might take some of the value off, but Bill could still turn a significant profit on it, especially in the special sales circles he ran in.No auto trader ads for her dad.

A chill swept through her veins.If she stayed with Brock, eventually, he’d come to her home and meet her family.He wasn’t stupid.Would she have to hide Bill’s illegal activity forever and worry that Brock would call the cops if he found out?

Brock would most definitely call Deputy Max if Gage or Bill messed with the Shelby.

Her hands clenched on the wheel.She’d help Brock dial the phone.

Josie parked outside of the courthouse and rubbed her stomach.Do not throw up.She was so sick of that giant mason stone building.All thoughts of Gage and Bill drained as Jesse’s penalty loomed.

She got out and headed toward the courthouse while keeping her gaze on the concrete sidewalk.Brock’s hand landed on the small of her back.He probably didn’t mean the gesture for comfort, but that’s what she took from it.Last night, while they lay in bed after lovemaking, she’d asked if he would sit with her.His cousins might take offense, but he hadn’t seemed bothered by the possibility.

They entered the building.The air conditioning was so strong, her skin immediately broke out in goose-bumps.She crowded next to Brock and the heat of his powerful body.He’d dressed up in the one white button-up shirt she’d seen him in before and his black Ford hat was on its hook at his house.

His cousins waited outside the courtroom.Brock greeted them but steered her inside to sit on the side her brother would be sitting.She detested staring at the back of Jesse’s head during these times.How much support could she offer beyond a hopeful look at his hair?

Dillon and Elle led the pack of Walkers that followed.Josie couldn’t face them, but she studied them out of the corner of her eye.They nodded toward Brock but didn’t say anything.

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