Page 41 of Playing it Country

“Late night?” She smirks.

“Ask your husband.”

“Oh, he made up for it plenty.” She winks and I want to cringe but my coffee hasn’t kicked in yet. “Heard you offered to stay late, though. You’ve been making that a habit.”

“Keepin’ tabs on me, Isla?”

She cocks her head to the side. “Just want to make sure you don’t miss out on what’s important.”

“Is Hank makin’ you soft or is it the other way around?” I tease, and she gives me a wolfish grin.

“There isnothingsoft about your brother.”

I totally just threw up in my mouth. She cackles because she knows she won this round—she wins most rounds now that I think about it.

“Hey brother—wow, you look rough this mornin’. You all right?” Otto asks as he comes around the side of the truck. “Mornin’, Isla.”

“Hey Otto. Let’s go inside the garage. I grabbed coffee and muffins for your meeting.”

He wraps his arm around her shoulders and kisses the top of her head. “You spoil us.”

“Don’t I know it.”

Once inside, we settle into the waiting area, and Isla gives us the rundown on Bodhi Maxwell and Mason Amato.

“Foster brothers from New Hampshire. Bodhi is a couple of years older and made Mason complete an associate’s degree once he graduated high school. They’ve been taking odd jobs traveling down the East Coast. Hard workers as far as I can tell—and you know I checked.”

She looks at us over the top of her folder and smiles.

“What brought them down here?”

“Looking to settle down and find home is what they said—they’re a package deal but I think that’s a benefit for you guys. They have an apartment over in Blackstone Falls—nice guys.”

“You know you didn’t have to do all the leg work on this, right? You went above and beyond,” I say.

“Just say thank you. You know I live for this sort of thing.”

“Thank you,” Otto and I say in unison.

Isla looks at her watch and then plucks a Danish from the box. “They should be here any minute, so I’ll head out and let y’all get to know each other.”

“Aww, you said y’all,” Otto teases and she rolls her eyes.

“Stranger things have happened,” she says with a final wave over her head as she leaves the garage.

“We need to do somethin’ nice for her if these guys work out,” I say then amend, “Hell, we should probably do somethin’ nice anyway.” Otto nods in agreement, but we’re interrupted as two young guys walk into the garage.

“Hi, we’re looking for Otto and Case Thayer?”

“You found us,” Otto says easily and offers his hand. “I’m Otto.”

“I’m Bodhi Maxwell.”

“Case.”

Bodhi appears to be a couple of years younger than Otto and me, with blond hair and dark eyes. He looks strong—capable—and I can’t see any problem with that.

“Mr. Thayer, I’m Mason Amato.”

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