“Not as grand as some of the weddings we’ve been to. It could be a blessing in disguise.” She dialed Jacob’s number on her cell phone and wondered what his reaction would be.
Helping a bride in distress was one thing. Having a wedding beside the lake he wanted to sell was a completely different matter.
His cell phone kept ringing. Molly left a message and told him she’d call back later. She just hoped he was feeling in a generous mood when he heard her request.
***
Jacob stopped his truck in front of Alex and Emily’s home. His brother needed help with his Mustang and Jacob wasn’t going to turn down the chance to tinker with perfection.
He watched sunlight hit the side of the three-story barn that Alex had converted into his home. If any building could be called a labor of love, then this was it.
When Jacob had first seen the warped and twisted barn, he couldn’t believe Alex wanted to make it his home. Especially when there was a perfectly good house already on the ranch.
Jacob had gone over Alex’s budget, tried to talk him out of the foolhardy plans an architect had designed. But nothing he’d said had changed Alex’s mind, and looking at the barn now, he knew that was a good thing.
One of the double-height front doors opened, and Emily came outside to meet him. “Hi, Jacob. You’re just in time for some fresh blueberry muffins.”
Jacob stared at Emily’s growing baby bump. “Are you sure you should be out of bed? That baby is getting huge.”
The scowl on Emily’s face told him that she wasn’t impressed with his powers of observation. “I’m perfectly all right. This baby will come when it’s good and ready. A batch of muffins won’t make any difference.”
Alex walked out his front door and smiled at Jacob. “She won’t listen to me, either.”
Emily stuck her hands on her hips, or where they would normally be. “Does that mean you’re not interested in eating hot muffins?”
Alex wrapped his arm around Emily’s shoulders and kissed the side of her head. “We wouldn’t miss your muffins for anything. You can sit down and talk to Jacob while I make everyone a drink.”
Jacob didn’t wait for Emily to disagree. He walked toward her and stuck his arm out. “Allow me to escort the mother of my new niece or nephew inside.”
Emily held onto Jacob’s arm. “I can look after myself, you know.”
“Of course you can,” Jacob said softly.
Alex wisely chose not to say anything.
Once Emily was sitting in the kitchen with a glass of orange juice in front of her, it was time to find out what was wrong with the Mustang. Alex had three sports cars in his garage. Jacob had looked after them while Alex’s barn was being remodeled. He felt an odd sort of attachment to each of them, but the Mustang was his favorite.
“What’s happening with the Mustang?”
Alex sat beside Emily. He passed Jacob a cup of coffee and sipped his own. “I bought a new tuner for the Mustang’s supercharger. Daniel tried it last week on his own car. He swears it’s taken two seconds off his best time.”
Daniel Sullivan was a friend of theirs. He lived in Los Angeles and was one of the most successful computer programmers Jacob knew. “You think it will work for yours?”
Emily sighed. “Your Mustang already goes too fast. Why do you want to make it faster?”
“Why is the world round?” Alex asked as he helped himself to a muffin. “Mustangs were made to go fast. If we can add more horsepower to the engine, I’ll be a happy man.”
Emily watched her husband carefully. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the Wicked Wheels Day, would it?”
Jacob sipped his coffee and waited for his brother to tell Emily the bad news. The Gallatin County Search and Rescue Team had organized the biggest fair to ever hit town. It was their major fundraiser for the year and Alex had entered his Mustang in the Mad Mile Race.
Alex squirmed under his wife’s piercing gaze. He cleared his throat and took a gulp of hot coffee. “It’s a time trial. I wouldn’t be racing alongside anyone else.”
“What if you win?”
“Then I get a trophy and the honor of having the wickedest wheels in Bozeman.”
“Honor?” Emily didn’t sound impressed.
“It’s a man thing,” Alex mumbled.
“What if you get hurt?”
“There’s not much chance of that. The road will be closed to other traffic. There are safety wardens checking each of the cars and the spectators will be well away from the road. Half of the Bozeman police force will be there making sure everything runs smoothly.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? I’ve seen Dan’s face when he comes out here to go for a drive with you. He’s like a big kid in a candy store.”
Dan Carter was the Deputy Chief of Police, and one of Alex’s closest friends. Alex didn’t have a lot to say to Emily’s observation. She was right, but then most guys that came out to Alex’s garage had the same reaction to his sports cars.
“He’s a professional,” Alex grumbled. “His personal preference won’t interfere with his duties.”
Emily sighed. “What safety gear were you planning on wearing?”
Alex’s face lit up like a lightbulb. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He jumped out of his chair and ran out of the kitchen.
Less than a minute later he was standing beside Emily, showing her the catalog he’d already shown Jacob. “This is a top of the line fire-resistant racing suit. The company that makes the suits is based in Southern California. And this…” Alex opened another catalog and put it on the table in front of Emily, “…is the helmet I’m going to buy. It’s from the same company that makes the helmets that Formula One drivers use. It’s the latest model, and design wise, it’s way beyond anything else that’s available.”
Emily pulled the catalogs closer and looked at the pictures.
Alex watched her face. “I’ve driven down the road we’ll be racing on. With no one else around, there isn’t much that can go wrong.”
Emily looked up at her husband. “Don’t do anything crazy. I want our baby to still have a father at the end of the race.”
Alex kissed his wife’s cheek. “I’ll be safe, I promise.” He looked at Jacob and grinned. “There’s a Mustang waiting for us in the garage. Are you ready?”
Jacob finished the last of his muffin and nodded.
Emily sighed.
The race was about a month away. He hoped Alex had a plan in place for an early arrival of their baby. He didn’t think Emily’s stress levels would cope with her husband roaring down the road at 145 miles per hour.
***
Alex stuck his head under the bonnet of his beloved Mustang. “You want to tell me what’s going on with Molly?”
Jacob nearly dropped the wrench he was holding. “Nothing’s going on. If anyone says anything different, then they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Alex turned his head sideways and frowned. “I meant about the photos for the sale of your property. What did you think I meant?”
Heat exploded across Jacob’s face. “You don’t want to know,” he muttered. “Do you want the wrench or not?”
Alex grabbed the wrench and started working on the engine. “It wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
“What wouldn’t?”
“You and Molly. She seems like an okay kind of person.”
Jacob snorted. Before Alex had met Emily, he’d dated so many women that Jacob had trouble keeping track of his brother’s latest girlfriend. With all of his experience, Alex had quickly learned how to sort the hangers-on from the real deal. Being an ‘okay kind of person’ was high praise from his brother.
“I need another wrench,” Alex muttered.
“Bigger or smaller?”
“Smaller.”
Jacob grabbed a wrench off the workbench and held it toward his brother.
Alex took it out of his hand and started tightening a bracket. “So apart f
rom nothing happening with Molly, where are you up to with the sale of your land?”
“I’ve had a valuation done on each property. I’m meeting Molly on Wednesday afternoon to go over the photos she’s taken. Hopefully by Friday, I’ll have the website up and running. I’ve booked the first advertising to start next Monday.”
“You’re not wasting any time.”
Jacob rarely wasted his time. There was too much he needed to do. “Can’t afford to. The deal in New York is conditional on selling the land in the next five weeks.”
“Are you sure you want to sell? A property like Emerald Lake doesn’t come along every day.”
“I need to move on with my life. I can’t do that in Bozeman.”
Alex glanced at Jacob. “Would it be any better in New York?”
“There’s more happening. More chances of meeting people.”
“Didn’t do you much good last time.” Alex laughed at the frown on Jacob’s face. “You had the shortest engagement I’ve ever heard of.”
Jacob wasn’t going to dwell on what happened two years ago. He thought he’d found the woman he’d spend the rest of his life with. After dating Sonia for a year, he’d asked her to marry him over candlelight and roses. She’d said yes and they’d looked at dates, found a Saturday for the big society wedding she wanted.
A week later, the wedding was off. She didn’t like the prenup he’d given her, didn’t think it was necessary. He’d tried to change her mind. He reminded her of all of the divorces her legal firm saw each year, the advice she gave her clients.
But Sonia, it turned out, wanted more from their marriage than him. If their marriage ended in divorce, she wanted an equal share of everything he’d owned before they got married. If they had children, a specific percentage of all future income would be channeled into trust funds, maintenance accounts, and education allowances.
Their relationship had turned into the worst of everything he’d ever imagined. Since then he hadn’t dated anyone, hadn’t wanted to. Until he’d met Molly.
Jacob yanked his mind away from the tall brunette with clear green eyes, to something that had been worrying him. “How’s dad?”
Alex stopped what he was doing. “All right as far as I know. Have you heard any different?”
“No one’s said anything, but he’s been acting weird.”
“Weird how?”
“He keeps hinting about finding someone special. When Molly came out to their ranch the other day, he asked if she wanted to go fly fishing.”
Their dad was selective about who he invited fishing. Alex knew just as well as Jacob that those invitations weren’t given lightly. “You’d better watch out. Sounds to me like he’s trying to get the two of you together.”
“She said no.”
Alex grinned. “Story of your life.”
Jacob threw the oiliest rag he could find at his brother. “You’re not helping.”
“Wasn’t trying to. What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing.” Jacob sighed. “I’ve been asking her out for the last year and she keeps turning me down.
“Maybe she doesn’t like you?”
Jacob knew that wasn’t the reason. “She’s been married before. It didn’t end well.”
“He must have been a jerk. You should keep trying.”
Jacob watched what his brother was doing. “Is that a casual observation from someone who’s only met her a few times or insider knowledge?”
“Emily would kill me if I said anything, so I’m not going to. But I listen plenty and Molly’s got as much drive and determination as you have. She’s honest, nothing like your blonde lawyer friend.”
“Sonia’s not my friend. I haven’t seen or heard from her since we broke up.” That wasn’t strictly true. He’d found out through another friend that she’d married someone else a year ago. He wished the poor guy all the best. He was going to need it.
Alex started the Mustang and watched the tuner spring to life. “Nearly there,” he muttered.
Jacob looked down at the engine. “What should I do?”
“The JLT cold air intake is hooked up. The forty-seven-pound injector looks good…”
“Not about the Mustang. About Molly. What can I do to get a date with her?”
“No point asking me,” Alex said. “I’m an old married man now. Before I met Emily, I was pretty much hounded by buckle bunnies. Women threw themselves at me.”
Jacob wasn’t going to go anywhere near that conversation. “What did you do to help Emily become interested in you?”
“Pulled the boutique she owns to pieces and put it back together.” Alex smiled. “It was the chandelier that really made the difference.”
Jacob couldn’t pull anything of Molly’s apart. She was self-contained, independent, and too damn stubborn to see that they could be good friends. More than friends if she let him into her life.
“Aren’t you seeing her tomorrow to look at the photos she’s taken?”
Jacob nodded. “At her apartment.”
“Well, there you go.”
“It’s not a date. It’s a business meeting.”
Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Date…meeting…they mean the same thing. Tell her you’ll bring dinner. You are going to be there for dinner, aren’t you?”
“I’ll arrive in the afternoon. It could lead into dinner depending on how long it takes.”
Alex leaned under the bonnet of the Mustang. “Make it last a long time.”
Jacob stared at his brother. With typical Alex Green logic, his brother had found the answer to one of Jacob’s problems. The other, if everything went to plan, would sort itself out once his marketing campaign kicked into high gear.
“You want to pass me the flex-head ratchet?”
Jacob looked on the bench behind him and passed Alex a yellow-handled tool. “What are you doing?”
“Replacing the spark plugs. What are you taking to Molly’s for dinner?”
Jacob ran through the takeout options in Bozeman on a Wednesday night. “Pizza?”
Alex laughed. “If you want to impress a woman, you don’t take pizza for dinner. What about Chinese or Thai?”
“I don’t want her to think it’s a date.”
Alex shook his head. “Do you want a second date?”
Jacob nodded.
“Go with Chinese takeout.”
“What if she doesn’t like Chinese food?”
Alex sighed. “Ask Emily before you leave. If the New York deal works out, you’ll be gone in five weeks. That’s not much time to fit in another date, especially with your track record.”
“Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?”
“Just saying. It’s time to do what you do best. Form a strategy, mitigate the risks, and make it happen.”
Jacob glared at his brother. “Molly’s not a business deal. She wouldn’t appreciate being treated like a property acquisition.”
“It’s your choice, but after twelve months of nothing happening, you might be fighting a losing battle.”
Jacob took the spark plugs Alex handed him and frowned. His brother could be right. Molly might want nothing to do with him. But if he didn’t push her out of her comfort zone, he’d never know.
He just hoped she didn’t see through what he was doing. He couldn’t push anyone’s comfort zone from New York. Whatever was going to happen needed to happen now.
Starting with Chinese takeout.
***
Molly opened her front door and stared at the box Jacob was holding. There must have been twelve separate containers of Chinese takeout inside the box. “Were you planning on feeding an Army with all of that food, Jacob Green?”
He looked at the containers and frowned. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a bit of everything.
Molly moved out of his way and waved him inside. “You’d best be bringing our dinner inside, then. Welcome to the O’Donaghue apartment.”
Jacob walked into the li
ving room and looked at their odd assortment of furniture. “I like your home.”
“Thank you. Becky bought most of the furniture before I got here, but some of the pieces we found together.” Molly smiled at the surprised look on his face. He’d been expecting something different. Something that wasn’t a collection of secondhand furniture.
Becky had found a lovely blue sofa and a wooden bookcase in a thrift store. The big rectangular rug in the middle of the floor had come from a church, and the dining table and chairs had been auctioned as part of an estate sale.
When Molly moved to Bozeman, Becky had taken her to every market and garage sale they could find. It wasn’t because they couldn’t afford to buy new furniture, it was because they chose not to.
Nothing gave Molly more pleasure than seeing someone else’s unwanted furniture come to life with a new coat of paint or a little reupholstering. “Your Chinese takeout smells wonderful. Would you be wanting dinner before we look at your photos or after?”
Jacob adjusted his hands around the edge of the box. “I’m happy either way.”
Molly sniffed the air. Her stomach rumbled. “Let’s eat first. You can put dinner on the table. I’ll go and get some plates.”
Jacob slid the box onto the table and started unpacking the cartons. “How long have you lived here?”
Molly raised her voice so that Jacob could hear her from the kitchen. “Becky bought the apartment three years ago. I moved in when I arrived in Bozeman.” She smiled as she found plates, glasses and cutlery. The apartment she shared with her sister wasn’t big, but with two bedrooms and a small study it suited them fine.
She walked into the living room and set the table. “It’s a grand place to be living. We’re close to Becky’s work and there’s plenty of parking for when friends come visiting.” She put a serving spoon in each of the dishes and passed Jacob a plate. “You start. I’ll get the wine and juice that I put in the fridge earlier.”
“I can wait. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Molly shook her head. “Nothing that’s important. I made a cheesecake for dessert, but I’ll get that later.” Molly went back into the kitchen and sighed. The only thing she needed was a good dose of common sense.
Sweet on You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 4) Page 9
