Sweet Nothings (8 page)

Not to mention the potential gold mine that was the house renovation—if Joanie would let him do it all. Once finished, all he’d need to do was post his sign out front, and he’d have all the work he wanted.

If
she gave him the go-ahead.

Frustrated, he decided not to fight the kitchen battle at the moment. He’d draw up a design, then spring it on Lee Ann. Surely she’d be less inclined to toss his offer back in his face.

Nick let the tape rewind into its case, the thin metal bending and popping, the only sound in the room. When it finished, Cody shot him a hard look. “And if you’re thinking of going around me to talk Lee Ann into it, I’ll smash your face.”

Nick eyed his brother, thinking a good fistfight might be just what he needed at the moment. Something to lessen some of the tension that had been building since Joanie had pulled down a bottle of whiskey and set him back on his ass. She was absolutely not like the women he dated.

Which, he’d discovered, was quite the turn-on.

“Why won’t you let me do this?” he snapped, irritation getting the better of him. He held up the counter samples. “Tell me Lee Ann wouldn’t like countertops made of this stuff. Or we can go granite.”

“She’d love countertops made of that, but you aren’t going to give them to her.”

“Fine,” Nick growled under his breath. He washed the dog off his hands and went to the chili to give it a stir, thinking back over how far he and Cody had come since they’d first met.

It had been less than two months, so he supposed he could accept that they still had some growing closer to do. Bonding and whatnot. Didn’t mean the jerk couldn’t accept a gift when it was offered to him.

“I’m still going to talk to Lee Ann about it,” Nick couldn’t resist adding, knowing that if he could get the idea in front of Lee Ann, he’d be golden.

“You do and I’ll break your arm.”

The tone was hard enough to indicate Cody meant it. Maybe not a full break, but Nick got the impression he’d be crossing some invisible line. Though he still didn’t understand why. He popped the cornbread in the oven. “Okay. I’ll back off it for now.”

“Forever.”

“
For now
. I won’t say anything to Lee Ann. But I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Cody tossed the apple back in the basket and grabbed a soda from the fridge. He popped open the top. “The big deal is, it’s too much. No one gives that kind of a gift to someone they just met. Even if they do look alike.”

“I have it to spend.” Nick grabbed his own drink off the counter and turned it up, certain Cody was wrong. If he had it, there was nothing wrong with spending it on those he loved. He’d worked extremely hard over the last ten years to be able to do just that.

“Then spend it on yourself. Or maybe on figuring out how to get Joanie to kiss you.”

“What the—” He cut off as Coke splashed up his nose from jerking the can at Cody’s words. He wiped the back of his hand across his face. “What are you talking about?”

Cody shrugged, and went into a monotone, “Lee Ann’s mother called this morning to make sure she’d heard the news. Linda Sue from the beauty salon had called. Said you got stonewalled on the front porch. Apparently in the middle of Linda Sue’s headlights.”

Nick could only stare in amazement.

Cody smirked. “Small-town living at its best.”

“Wow,” Nick finally managed to get out. “Even more impressive than I would have given them credit for.” Especially since he hadn’t even gone in for the kiss. He’d only planned to. Until she’d stepped back.

“Tell me about it,” Cody muttered. He sniffed the chili and made an appreciative noise. “It never stops.”

Nick could handle the gossip. He actually thought it was charming. What he couldn’t handle was this fixation he had on Joanie. He needed information before deciding what to do next.

“Any idea what the issue is with her?” he finally asked.

Cody raised an eyebrow. “With Joanie?”

Nick nodded. “Would be nice to know where the potholes are so I don’t blow out a tire before I get out of the gate.”

Cody took another long swallow of his drink, eyeing Nick over the can. Finally he set it down and motioned for Nick to follow him. They crossed the living room, not stopping until they were in Lee Ann’s studio.

“What’s the deal?” Nick asked, looking around. “The house bugged?”

“No, but the kids are girls, they like to talk. And there’s a vent into their room in the kitchen. If they want to, they can hear everything being said in there.”

Nick stared, his jaw slack. “So they know I bombed with Joanie?”

“Oh yeah. But they probably already knew that. I am, however, making it so they don’t know everything else we’re about to say.”

He supposed that was something. “So what’s the deal with her?” he asked.

“Her mom walked when she was thirteen,” Cody started. “Joanie came home, on her birthday no less, and the woman had cleaned out her stuff. Just gone. It apparently wasn’t the first time she went with some
guy. But unlike the other occasions, this time she didn’t come back. Or contact them again, as far as I know.”

“Ouch. But that can’t be a secret. Not in this town.” Surely Cody wasn’t sharing with him something that hadn’t been public knowledge for twenty years.

“Sure, everyone knows. But they don’t talk about it anymore. I’m not going to be the cause of them bringing it back up. It can be brutal when the past gets roused up. Everyone thinks they know every little detail—whether the ‘facts’ are based in reality or not—and they’re more than happy to share them with anyone who’ll listen.”

Thinking about Joanie and her issues with her mother made him think about his own mother. She had never left, but he’d often wished she would. In reality, when he’d turned eighteen, he’d been the one to leave her. Only, that hadn’t turned out so well, either.

He looked at Cody. “Anything else?”

Cody lifted a shoulder, along with one corner of his mouth. “There’s apparently a Bigbee Curse.”

“A what?” Nick couldn’t believe his brother had said that.

“A Bigbee Curse. Bigbee women have bad luck with men. Her mother dated a string of losers, her grandfather walked after thirty-three years of marriage. Apparently it goes back a few generations.”

“Let me guess. Joanie believes in this curse?”

Cody smiled, the action tight and unanimated. “If she doesn’t get close, she doesn’t get hurt.”

“You do know how ridiculous this sounds?”

“I’m just spreading the story, man. And to make it better—”

“Better than the Bigbee Curse?”

Cody smirked. “Shut up, wiseass, or this will be the last thing I ever tell you.”

Nick made a motion of snapping his mouth closed.

“To make it better, Joanie’s birthday is in a few weeks. She’ll be the same age her mother was when she fell for the last guy who pulled her out of here. So getting close to you? Right now?” Cody shook his head. “Don’t see it happening.”

Which stupidly felt like a challenge.

“Seems a man would be smart to steer clear,” Nick said.

“That would be the safe bet.”

Nick was tired of playing it safe.

“Thanks for the info.” He clapped his brother on the shoulder, unsure how he was going to proceed. The smart thing would be to forget Joanie existed, other than for a job.

Then he pictured her standing in her doorway last night, wanting him to kiss her as badly as he’d wanted to do the same, and he worried it was already too late.

He turned to head back to the kitchen. “Let’s eat.”

“Hold up.”

When Nick glanced back, Cody held a business card between two fingers.

“I got it from a buddy who came into the office this morning.” Cody was one of the two local veterinarians, both working out of the same clinic. He could have gotten a card from anyone in town.

“What is it?”

“The name of a PI. I think it’s time.”

Nick went motionless while his blood slammed through his body. Cody was ready to find their other brother? They’d agreed last month to put it on hold for a while, both wanting to get used to each other first before bringing another into the mix. Nick reached out for the card, reading the name on it. The guy was out of Knoxville.

He looked at Cody. “You’re sure?”

Cody nodded. “It’s time. Let’s go find another brother.”

Nick couldn’t help but smile. Yes, he very much wanted to go find another brother. He let out a laugh.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Let’s do.”

Late-season snowflakes dusted GiGi’s yard as Joanie turned into the drive Sunday after church, making her wish for a heavy snow. It had been
a couple of years since they’d had a really good one, and they always reminded her of times long past. Before her mother had left. But more importantly, before Pepaw had left.

She still didn’t understand what had happened to make him leave.

One day he’d been around all the time, playing games with her in the afternoons, and the next he’d been gone. As sudden as that.

Pepaw had been the one to stay home with her after school due to the fact he’d lost an arm in Korea. He had his military benefits, and GiGi and her mother had jobs.

Though he’d been a bit of a curmudgeon at times, it had been a plan that worked. Until her mother ran off with a man, or quit her job because the guy she was currently dating “didn’t care for it.”

Which made Joanie wonder briefly who her father was. Had he been just another deadbeat in a long line of them? She’d always assumed so since she’d never gotten an answer out of her mother.

Not knowing was for the best. She didn’t need to know the kind of loser she came from on that side of her family. She’d had enough motivation to be who she was by watching her mother’s escapades over the years.

Enough reminiscing. She had a house to empty out.

She turned off her car and opened the door, shocked by the burst of wind hitting her in the face, and silently grateful it wasn’t a Thursday when she’d need to be wearing a go-go outfit. Equally thankful she’d run home after church and changed from her dress into jeans and a sweatshirt.

Grabbing the tape dispenser and broken-down boxes from the backseat in one hand, she scooped up the deli-prepared, uncooked pizza from her passenger side with the other. Nick might have already eaten lunch, but this way she could at least feel she’d paid him back for dinner.

Especially since Friday night hadn’t been a date.

She thought back—for about the millionth time—to the two of them standing on her front porch.

He wasn’t her type. He would want more than she would ever give.

Yet the fact remained, she’d wanted to kiss him.

She had to fix that notion today. There was too much to get done together over the coming weeks. Whatever this attraction was between them, it had to end. Now.

She headed up the sidewalk, noticing the handful of early daffodils sprouting, and found herself surprised that Nick hadn’t poked his head out the front door. Surely he’d heard her car turn in. She glanced back at the driveway. Yep. Big, giant red truck, sitting right there. Though she wasn’t sure how she hadn’t paid attention to it when she’d pulled up. Too busy thinking about the past, she supposed.

When she got to the door and Nick still hadn’t shown, she pursed her lips, trying to decide what to do next. It didn’t feel right to just walk in. He was living there now. Plus, she didn’t have a free hand to open the door with anyway. What was he doing that he hadn’t heard her?

Or maybe he had, and he was playing nonchalant. Just as she intended to do.

Irritation had her kicking the door several times with the toe of her sneaker. The aluminum of the screen door rattled on its hinges, and finally she heard life from inside the house. Heavy footsteps headed her way.

It was about time.

The door swung open, and Joanie’s mouth dropped open.

The goggles on Nick’s face, along with the bits of dust and dirt covering his hair and the rest of his face, would have been funny, if not for the way his dark eyes stared out at her through the thin layer of dust. And the way his gray T-shirt was plastered to his chest.

He was drenched with sweat, looking like a crazed person, and she was suddenly ready to toss the idea of keeping it friendly, and help him with a shower instead.

She held up the hand with the pizza riding on her palm. “I owed you food.”

He blinked, glanced at the pizza in her hand, then stepped back and let her in.

“I’m sorry,” she started, passing by him and ignoring the dirt clinging to his extra-wide shoulders. Looked like demolition had started. She
headed to the kitchen. “I should have called and let you know I’d be coming by today. I thought I’d empty out the kitchen cabinets so they’d be ready to rip out when you got to them.”

When she turned after unloading her hands, he’d removed the goggles and had the bottom of his shirt lifted, wiping off his face. His abs looked delicious. Her mouth went dry.

“No problem,” he finally said. He dropped his shirt, but her memory hadn’t forgotten the show. “But you didn’t owe me food.”

She reached out for the knob on the oven and turned it on, then forced herself to quit gawking at his torso. “I told you I’d bring food next time.”