We both laughed as the car sputtered down the road.
“Maybe you should change it up,” she suggested. “It’s your baby now.”
Yeah, but there was something nostalgic about Charlie’s magic touch, and a part of me wanted to put on those cheesy earrings in his honor. “I’ll think about it, but keep enforcing the work gear. I want everything running the same until I determine what changes need to be implemented.”
“Yes, sir.”
April pulled up the driveway to Austin’s house and Reno was out front throwing horseshoes. The recent rain had cooled things down just a little, but not enough, apparently, since the heat had driven Reno to strip out of his shirt. I’d only seen him wearing long sleeves, but without the shirt, he looked even tougher. Like he’d been chopping wood for three hours a day.
A dark blue baseball cap and mirrored sunglasses obscured his face.
“Who’s that?” she asked in a short breath.
“Reno. Austin’s older brother. I think he’s the eldest in the family.”
“Was he in the military?”
Good question. Reno kind of gave off a military vibe. It wasn’t just the short hair, but something about the assertive way he held his shoulders back and carried himself. Maybe it was the combat boots that made him stand an inch taller than Austin, and I wondered if he had a complex about his baby brother being the leader of the pack.
I scribbled down a few numbers on a scratch piece of paper while April turned on the windshield wipers. It didn’t help, because the unpaved road had kicked up dirt all over the car.
“My sister’s going to kill me,” she said, staring at the hood. “She just took the car to the wash this morning and now I bet the tires are caked in mud.”
“Who washes their car in the morning?”
April shrugged and turned on the radio. “My OCD sister who is going to have a fit. I may need to borrow your car after all.”
“Not a problem,” I said, barely paying attention as I dropped the pen in my purse. When I looked up, Reno was facing the car, staring at us with a horseshoe in his right hand.
Then I looked at April and saw her cheeks turn blazing red. She looked at the radio again and started fidgeting with it.
I smiled. “Want to meet him?”
“No!” she almost shouted.
I took that as an invitation and pulled the keys out of the ignition and quickly got out.
“Alexia, give me those!”
I walked toward Reno and heard her feet crunching on the dirt behind me.
“Give me the keys, Lexi. I have to go!”
“Reno, isn’t it a little hot out here for horseshoes? Where’s Austin?”
“Inside.”
Panic was coming up the rear and she snatched the back of my shirt.
“I’d like you to meet my friend, April Frost,” I said with a wide smile.
I stepped to the side so he could see her hiding behind me and April froze up like a statue, staring at the ground. She wasn’t overly tan, so the blush on her creamy cheeks was noticeable, but it could have been the heat.
“April, this is Reno Cole.”
God, that name really sounded horrible together. My brain was saying it ten times fast and it ended up sounding like a drug medication. I snickered and waited for them to start talking. But Reno folded his arms and kept intimidating her with his stare. The mirrored sunglasses weren’t helping.
“Hi,” she said in a small voice, kicking a pebble around with her jeweled flip-flop masquerading as a sandal. Her fingers twined around a frayed piece of her cutoff jean shorts and it was then I noticed her Billy Joel shirt. Maybe introducing her to Reno was a bad idea; he didn’t look like that type that jammed out to soft 80s piano rock.
“It’s pretty hot out here,” she said.
A lone drop of sweat rolled down his cheek and agreed with her assessment.
“Alexia, I really need to go. Can I have the keys?”
April—who could sell a condom to a nun—couldn’t talk to a man. I’d seen her work her magic in the shop buttering up customers, but it was always business related. She never had personal conversations with male customers, so I guess I just didn’t notice how uncomfortable she really was around them. But why? Something else was going on with her, but I decided to let her off the hook and tossed her the keys.
“Thanks for driving me home,” I said. “I’ll call you later when I get a chance to look over the documents.”
“Sounds good.” Her eyes skidded to Reno for a second before she walked backward and stumbled, almost falling on her ass. “I’ll talk to you later.”
April jogged back to the car and Reno didn’t stop staring.
“Could you look a little bit less intimidating?” I asked him. “You’re traumatizing my friend with your scowl.”