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“Every single one,” Abby declared.
“Which is weird because they’re written by my sister,” Joshsaid with a grimace. “And those are some hardcore books. From what I’ve heard.”
Nicole ignored him, looking to Abby because this wasworld-shaking information. “Your daughter is an author? Your daughter wrote DallasDelights?”
“And that is how our sister became more interesting to ourgirlfriend than we are.” Grim sighed.
“Hush, son,” Abby said. “The women are speaking now.”
But she said it with a grin on her face.
And for the first time in forever, Nic felt like shebelonged.
Chapter Ten
“Are you sure you don’t need another set of hands?”Nic asked as Josh pulled the truck up in front of the motel.
“I have no idea how long it’s going to take, baby.” Grimslid out of the back seat.
He’d insisted she take the front when they’d gotten calledout on another bovine emergency. This time Grim had to drive about fortyminutes out of town to deal with more of whatever bug seemed to be hitting thecattle population of Willow Fork and its surrounding area.
“But I wish you would stay at our place.” Josh had made hispreferences clear.
Nic was sure if he’d had time he would have argued further,but Grim insisted on getting out to the Settleman’sranch as soon as possible. Apparently time was of the essence. “All my stuff ishere, and I have to go to the mechanic’s shop tomorrow morning anyway. I’vebeen fine at this motel for weeks.”
“You could be more fine at our place,” Josh insisted. “Youcan grab your things and we’ll drive Grim out and then I’ll take you home.”
She wasn’t going to argue with him. It would be hours andhours on the road when he should be helping his brother. “I have to worktomorrow if I’m going to go to Austin with you this weekend. Leaving Christadown a server for the weekend isn’t a great look for me. So I better not belate to the shifts I’m actually working. Or do we want to cancel the Austintrip?”
Josh frowned her way, his eyes narrowing. “Oh, we’re goingto Austin.”
That sounded like a threat, but it was one she didn’t taketoo seriously. Josh didn’t like having his seemed-reasonable-to-him advicerejected. He would get over it.
Or not. Sometimes it was hard to remember that they had anend date and it was rapidly approaching. The idea of staying with them at theirplace until she needed to leave had been tempting, but she still had to work.For the week or so it would take to fix her car now that she had the cash, shewould have to earn some more. Every dime she had was being spent on the car.She would need money to get out of Willow Fork.
“Hey, maybe you should come with us.” Grim opened her cardoor and held a hand out to help her down.
“Or maybe I should stay with her,” Josh offered.
Nic shook her head. “Absolutely not. Grim needs you. I’ll befine. I’ll see you tomorrow. I work the lunch shift, so I get off at 5:30.”Wow, she was being presumptive. The night seemed to have gone well with theirparents. She’d spent hours talking to Abby and Olivia about books. They’d satout on the patio and had a couple of glasses of wine while the men watched theevening football game. She’d been ready to explain all the reasons she neededto go back here when they’d rushed in and hustled her out. “I mean if you wantto see me. You might not have time tomorrow, which is fine.”
“I’ll pick you up at 5:30. We’ll go to dinner and talk aboutwhat we’re going to do in Austin,” Josh said.
Grim’s eyes rolled as he pulled her close. “He’ll have us atthe diner for lunch. We’ll see you soon, baby. And keep your cell charged thistime. I want you to call us if anything happens here. I know you’ve been okayso far, but this is not a safe area. I hate leaving you.”
If she didn’t move this along, she might find herself tiedup in the back of the truck, Grim carrying her around like luggage at his housecall. Nope. She wasn’t ready for that yet.
She went on her toes and kissed him. “Good night. I had agreat time with the family.”
“You fit right in,” Grim whispered. “I knew you would.”
She moved back, though she didn’t want to. She wanted tostay wrapped in those strong arms. Grim was a big old teddy bear. Under hisbrooding exterior there was the sweetest, kindest man. “Have a good night.”
“Nic,” Josh called out. Josh was opposite his brother. Joshlooked like the all-American, happy-go-lucky cowboy. But there was a darknessto him. She couldn’t explain it any other way. In this case she didn’t view thedarkness as dangerous. There wasn’t any evil in Josh. There was a deepwillingness to take on the bad things of the world, an eagerness, almost. Hewould slay the dragons and enjoy the process. “You lock the door. I’m not goinganywhere until I’m sure you’re locked in, and if anything happens and you don’tcall us…”
“Yeah. My ass will be red. Promises, promises.” No, hedidn’t scare her, and that was the scariest thing of all.
She strode to the door as she heard Grim climb into the seatshe’d vacated. She waved as she used her key and let herself in, locking thedoor firmly behind her.
