Page 39 of Wrecked
He might kill Nitro for the worst injury cover story ever known. He slashed a look over his shoulder at Angie. In polite surroundings, he described his aunt as having a snappy personality.
That sounded so much nicer than calling her an ornery old woman even though she was only fifty-eight.
She hadn’t changed one lick in all the years he’d known her.
Meanness must be good for her skin. She had a few laugh lines around green eyes sharp as a hawk on the hunt. Chin-length black hair framed her attractive face with smooth coffee-brown skin. She managed to stay trim even with her high-caloric, but great cooking. Cake recipes started with a pound of butter.
To be honest, she didn’t look fifty.
His team had probably thought she was sweet. They had no idea. There stood five-foot-four-inches of steel determination. She took shit off no one, especially him.
He’d have to think of aspecialway to pay Nitro back for delivering him here. He felt sixteen again stuck in this cove.
Angie cocked her eyebrow, a sign she waited for a proper response while she inspected her deep-pink rose bushes growing along this end of the porch.
To push her off the topic of his poor carpenter skills, he changed the subject. “How’s Janean doing?”
Angie paused, slowly turning to lift her chin.
Ah, hell. The chin. Worse than the eyebrow. What had he said wrong?
“Janean isbusydatin’ a good-lookin’ young man from Pohtland. Someone who stays put.”
“Oh.” He let out a longer sigh. No relief in sight.
As if Angie had heard his thoughts, she snapped, “Why should she be waitin’ foh months at a time, or moah likeyee-ahs, until yah deem us woohthy foh a visit. She’s a fine woman with much tah offah a man.”
“Never mind. I just—” He’d turned back to the facia work.
“She doesn’t need some playboy toyin’ with her.”
That was unfair. “Hey. I’m not a play—”
“Maybe one day yah’ll see moah in a woman than someone tah scratch an itch.”
He was not going to stand here and take this abuse. “For the love of—”
Angie was on a roll, arms crossed and frown in place. “When Janean asked aboutyaha week ago, I said yah would prahbly be back and I was quite shoh yah had plenty a’ women.”
He bit down on the curse fighting to get past his lips and dug out another nail.Thanks for nothing, Angie.
He tapped the nail in place to get it started.
“Even if she was heah,” his aunt continued,“that nice young man, Nitro, said yah should not be bouncin’ about on beds while healin’. He said they call yah Paaah-ty Man.”
That was it. He wouldhaveto bloody Nitro. Not kill him. Logan would not understand that, but even Logan had wanted to strangle Nitro at times.
Sam lifted the hammer, pausing only to clear up her confusion. “Let’s get something straight. I’ll decidewhatI do while I’m here. I may just go on an all-night bender.”
“Thought yah needed tah be healin’.”
He swung the hammer so hard he drove the nail in with one hit.
“Thah yah go, Sammy boy. I always believed yah had it in yah tah do framin’.” She sounded so pleased with herself.
He had to get out of this cove soon or she’d add more to the Auntie List of irritating tasks.
Her phone rang with an odd jangle. Good. He hoped it was one of her gossip buddies.
