Unraveling Him: A Small Town Family Romance (The Bailey Brothers Book 3)

by Claire Kingsley

  “Boys,” Gram said. “Not inside.”

  They both stopped and said, “Sorry, Gram,” in unison.

  It was so weird when they did that.

  Jack stopped by to give us an update. The FBI had Felix Orman and his goons in custody. They’d need to talk to Fiona, but it could wait until tomorrow. He apologized for having to take her dad in, but she assured him she understood.

  Eventually, the muffins were gone, and everyone went home after saying their goodbyes. I held Gram a little longer than usual when I hugged her on my way out.

  I took Fiona home. After feeding Sasquatch, we went straight to the bedroom, stripped off our clothes, and got into bed. It wasn’t a sex thing. I just needed to touch her, have her body next to mine. I needed to feel her breathe.

  She shifted so she could look up at me. “I need to tell you why I went to Luke’s shop.”

  I brushed her hair back from her face. “I don’t care why you were there. If you want to be friends with Luke, it’s fine. You can go feed the squirrels together if you want.”

  “No, you don’t understand,” she said with a soft laugh. “I wasn’t there just hanging out for no reason. Don’t forget, I rejected him. It’s not like he wants to be besties with me.”

  I tipped my head in acknowledgment. She had a point.

  “I went to see Luke because he has literally the only compatible convertible carriage for the Pontiac in a five-hundred-mile radius. I swear, I called everyone I know and a whole bunch of people I didn’t know. Nobody had one. Finally I found a guy who used to have one, but he told me he’d already sold it to Luke.”

  “Luke must have bought it thinking he’d get the Judge from Walt.”

  “Exactly. So I convinced Luke to sell it to you. And now I just need to convince you to buy it from him and use it to finish the car, even though you’ve sworn you’ll never do business with a Haven.”

  “How’d you convince him to sell it to me?”

  “He needed a set of dials for a Mustang Boss restoration. I knew a guy who had them. And before you hear some crazy rumor about me running around town with Luke Haven, I did ride with him in his truck to go get it, but it was only so he’d agree to sell you the part you need.”

  Touching her face, I shook my head slowly. “Now I really feel like an asshole.”

  “You kinda should.”

  “Beautiful, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay. You also saved my life today. Although I would have forgiven you anyway.”

  I gazed into those hazel-green eyes that got me every time. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you.”

  “Right back at you, Bailey.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “I have another confession.”

  “How many new houseplants did you buy?”

  “Zero,” she said, laughing again. “But that’s an excellent idea. Some plants would really brighten up the shop. No, that’s not what I need to confess. And maybe I don’t even need to tell you because it doesn’t change anything, but I just think it would be wrong to keep this from you. You trust me and I know how special that is and I don’t ever want to break that trust.”

  She was making me a little nervous, but I just nodded, waiting for her to continue.

  “I called my mom this morning. God, was that really today? It seems like ages ago. Anyway, I was thinking, for just a minute, that maybe I should leave Tilikum for a little while and go to Iowa, like I’d planned.”

  I opened my mouth to tell her no fucking way, but she put a finger to my lips.

  “I know, I know. Terrible idea. And I swear it wasn’t because I was going to leave you. I promise. That’s why I need to tell you, because I don’t want it to come out later and you get the wrong idea. This morning, all I knew was that someone trashed your shop and the cops couldn’t find my dad, and that could mean I was putting you in danger by being here. I thought maybe the right thing to do would be to go to Iowa until… I don’t know, until they found my dad or until we could figure out a way to make sure we could be safely together. But…”

  Her eyes shone with unshed tears and she glanced down.

  “But what?” I asked gently.

  “When I called her, she said no. They don’t have room and it would have been too disruptive to her other kids. And it’s fine, because I shouldn’t have called her anyway. But, still.”

  “Oh my god, Fiona.” I pulled her close and cradled her against my chest. After everything she’d been through, her own mother had rejected her. What the fuck was wrong with her parents? She was the most wonderful, incredible woman I’d ever known. How did they not see that? How did they not see her?

  But that was the truth, wasn’t it? They didn’t see her. They never had.

  I kissed her forehead. “I see you. I see how amazing you are. My family does too. And I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner, but I’m so fucking in love with you.”

  She pressed her face into my chest, muffling her voice. “I love you too.”

  I took a slow, deep breath. It didn’t matter what happened, Fiona would always be mine.

  44

  Fiona

  The arena was packed. People wandered up and down the rows of cars on display, the light glinting off shiny paint and chrome. There was everything from muscle cars to Model T Fords to contemporary customs. A guy from Idaho was getting a lot of attention for his superhero-themed roadster, and there was a custom vintage fire engine that Evan’s brothers would love.

  But one of the biggest draws at today’s show was the 1970 Pontiac GTO convertible. The Judge.

  Evan had absolutely outdone himself. He’d gone for full authenticity, using the original blue paint with red pin striping and blue interior. Every detail was period-accurate and perfect.

  It was a fucking badass car.

  Luke was here too, with his ’69 Mustang Boss. And, okay, it looked amazing. It was a super-hot car and he’d done a great job restoring it.

  Whatever. It wasn’t nearly as amazing as the Judge.

  After Felix Orman’s crappy goons had smashed up Evan’s shop and damaged the car in an attempt to get to my dad by coming after me, he’d needed to work extra-long hours to finish it in time. I’d been there to help with anything I could, in the shop and otherwise. But he’d pulled it off.

  No, he hadn’t just pulled it off. He’d rocked it. It was the talk of the show.

  I walked back with my iced coffee and found Evan standing casually next to the car while a horde of onlookers gaped at her. His arms were crossed, his stance relaxed, and anyone who didn’t know him might think he was arrogantly aloof.

  But I did know him. Behind that almost neutral expression was pride. He felt good about what he’d done and he was basking in the glory of his work.

  He felt awesome today. I could see it in his eyes.

  I was about to rejoin him—I’d just needed a little caffeine to get through the rest of the day—when a well-dressed man and woman approached the car. We’d seen them walking around earlier—the curators from America’s Car Museum.

  My eyes widened and I stopped in my tracks.

  They did a slow circuit around the car, clearly appreciative—and how could they not be? The Judge was badass muscle-car perfection. Then they stopped to talk to Evan.

  I was too far away, and the hum of noise around me too loud, so I couldn’t hear what they said. But I could read the conversation in Evan’s expression. They loved the car. In fact, with the way his eyes widened with disbelief, they might have more than loved it.

  It was hard to hold back from running over there, but if I did, I’d probably just spew a bunch of verbal vomit about how great he was and how they had to choose his car for their museum.

  Because they did have to. It was so perfect and he was so great and I could barely contain myself so I hoped they’d be done talking to him soon before I exploded on the spot.

  Finally, he shook hands with each of them. His eyes met mine as they walked away and he didn’t have to say
a word. No movement of his lips or even a nod of his head. I knew.

  He’d done it.

  I ran for him, almost forgetting I was holding an iced coffee, and landed in his arms. He lifted me off my feet and spun me around in a circle.

  “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” I said. “Tell me they’re buying it. Tell me.”

  “They’re buying it for the museum,” he said, his voice muffled in my neck.

  Squeezing him as tight as I could, I squealed with joy. “I knew they would. Oh my god, I knew it. I’m so proud of you.”

  He held me tight, sharing the moment with me. My body vibrated with excitement. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry or some crazy combination of the two.

  All his hard work had paid off. Big time.

  He loosened his grip and I slid down the front of his body until my feet touched the floor.

  I bounced up onto my tiptoes. “I’m so happy I might puke.”

  He tucked my hair behind my ear—and honestly, was there anything swoonier than when he did that? “Don’t puke.”

  “I’ll try. This is just such a big deal and I’m having a hard time containing all my feelings right now.”

  The corners of his mouth twitched in a smile and I could see that he was having a hard time containing all his feelings, too. He was just a lot quieter about it than I was.

  He met my eyes and I stared into those mesmerizing whiskey browns. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  I grabbed his shirt and popped up on my toes to reach his mouth for a kiss. “Anytime.”

  His expression darkened and I had a feeling I knew why.

  Luke.

  He approached with his hands in his pockets and gave Evan a short nod. “Bailey.”

  “Haven.”

  I briefly debated whether to step aside, in case this got ugly, or stay between them, in case this got ugly. But Luke’s face softened.

  “The Pontiac looks… amazing,” Luke said, his brow tightening like it pained him to admit it. “You did right by her. Nothing but respect.”

  My eyes flicked to Evan, a spark of hope flaring. Be nice to him, Evan. Or at least not mean.

  “Thanks,” Evan said. “The Mustang turned out great. Well done.”

  “Thank you.”

  Evan stepped forward and offered his hand.

  I bit my lip.

  Luke took his hand out of his pocket and shook.

  “Oh my god, you guys are so—”

  Their gazes swung to me and I realized I needed to just… not.

  “Never mind. Pretend I’m not here.”

  They finished their handshake without any sign that either of them was trying to out-alpha the other. I didn’t have any illusions that they were going to become best friends, but not mortal enemies would be a big improvement.

  I was so proud of them.

  Luke stepped back and turned to me. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  I glanced at Evan. I didn’t need his permission, but I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, either. Especially today. He kissed my forehead—an act of possession that was both sweet and respectful—and went back to his car.

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  Luke pulled an envelope out of his back pocket. “I asked my great-aunt about John Haven, the guy in the racing photo. She didn’t know anything, but she had this box of old stuff and told me I could take a look if I wanted. I dug through it and found this, along with a first-place auto racing plaque someone had kept.”

  He handed me the envelope.

  “There were a couple of partial newspaper clippings about John winning a race. I guess it was a really big deal at the time because of the prize money. He won fifteen hundred dollars, which is the equivalent of something like thirty thousand today.”

  I pulled out a piece of paper. It was a copy of two old newspaper articles.

  “The first one is about the race,” Luke said. “The second one was attached to the first one.”

  The second headline read Missing Auto Racing Champion Presumed Dead.

  “He went missing, too?”

  “Yeah. Crazy, right? Apparently it was right after he won and there was some sketchy stuff about the prize money. They suspected he was killed in a robbery, since so many people knew he’d won all that money. But it doesn’t sound like they found his body, although maybe they did later. It’s hard to tell from these, and there weren’t any other clippings in the box.”

  “This is amazing. Thank you so much. But, can I ask what made you decide to do this for me?”

  He glanced away. “I kind of felt like I owed you.”

  “For what? I got you the dials for the Mustang, but that was in exchange for selling Evan the convertible carriage.”

  “Not for that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You were right about Jill.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “I don’t know why I thought…” He sighed. “I saw her in town and we started talking, but I kept thinking about what you said. How she’d given Evan her number right in front of me and that had been a crappy thing to do. I blamed Evan for that whole thing—and it was mostly his fault—but I had to think about why she’d done that, you know?”

  “Yeah, absolutely.”

  “So I was sitting there chatting with her and trying to decide whether to keep talking to her or move on when she started showing me house listings on her phone.”

  “Why?”

  “For when we move in together.”

  “Did she actually say that?”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow.”

  He shook his head. “I know. It was… a little much. We were just talking, we weren’t even on a date together and she was ready to pick appliances.”

  “Wait until she starts texting you and asking why you’ve been ignoring her even though you’ve never gone out.”

  “Oh great.”

  I laughed. “Maybe she won’t. Hopefully she’ll find a guy who loves her brand of crazy.”

  “Yeah, I hope she does too. Anyway, after that I figured a goodwill gesture on my part wasn’t a bad idea. Good karma and all that. I remembered you asking me about John Haven, so there you go.”

  “Thanks, Luke. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem. I’ll see you around.” With a friendly chin tip, he walked away.

  I tucked the paper back in the envelope. I couldn’t wait to show this to Grace. Of course, her wedding was in a week, so maybe I’d wait until they got back from their honeymoon. She had enough going on.

  My iced coffee had gotten very melty, but I took a drink anyway, then skipped back to Evan.

  “What was that about?” he asked, then put up his hand. “Never mind. You don’t have to tell me.”

  “He just did a little research for me,” I said. “Tilikum history stuff.”

  He hooked an arm around my waist and drew me in close. “That was nice of him.”

  “Yeah, it really was. So could you possibly consider not hating him with all the burning fires of hell? Maybe tone it down to just mild antipathy?”

  He laughed and kissed my forehead. “I think I can manage something like that.”

  “That’s very big of you, Evan Bailey.”

  “We still need to prank them, though.”

  “What?”

  The corner of his mouth hooked in a sly grin. “We haven’t answered back for the goats at the Caboose. I have an idea, but I’m going to need your help.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “My first prank?”

  “Gotta break the ice sometime. You’re basically a Bailey, right?”

  Smiling, I nibbled my bottom lip and nodded. Basically a Bailey. I really liked the sound of that.

  In fact, maybe someday, we’d take out that little basically and I’d be an actual Bailey.

  45

  Evan

  “I’m so nervous,” Fiona whispered, pulling the bill of her hat lower on her forehead. She had a nondescript cardboard box on he
r lap, addressed to the Timberbeast Tavern owner. It looked pretty legit.

  I reached over to rub her thigh. “Don’t be. You’ve got this. And you don’t have to whisper, there’s no one around.”

  She glanced out the window. We were sitting in my Camaro, parked down the street from the Timberbeast Tavern. It was a Friday and the place was starting to fill up. Luke’s truck was parked outside and a few more cars pulled into the parking lot while we waited for my brothers to finish their part of tonight’s prank.

  So far, so good.

  Fiona looked at the kennel secured in the back seat. “Do you think Peek and Boo are okay?”

  The two shifty little squirrels were deceptively quiet. She’d easily coaxed them into the kennel with what she’d determined was their favorite treat—a mix of peanut butter, nuts, birdseed, and cookies. Fortunately, she hadn’t trained them to open the kennel from the inside, although I’d feel better when they were no longer in my car, just in case they figured out the latch on their own.

  You couldn’t trust those little shits.

  “They’re fine,” I said. “You spoiled them so much they don’t even care that they’re in a car.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Good boys, Peek and Boo. You’re such good boys.”

  I shook my head. She was so fucking cute.

  Logan ran up to the car, casting alarmed glances behind him. I rolled down my window.

  “Are they coming?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” He looked over his shoulder again. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “Positive.”

  “They won’t hurt you,” Fiona said.

  Logan winced. “I’d rather not take that chance. This is the scariest fucking prank we’ve ever pulled.”

  “Don’t be a baby.” I spotted Gavin in the rear-view mirror, heading our way. Levi and Asher were coming from the other direction. Asher was getting married tomorrow, but he was still out here with us. “Okay, beautiful. Are you ready?”

  Fiona took a deep breath. “I think so.”

  “Go get ‘em.”

  “Be careful when you let them out,” she said. “They might get confused.”