Jacob's Ladder: Gabe (Jacob's Ladder #1)

He’d then moved us into the sprawling 1890s home on Main Street, where my sisters and I still lived. The house actually belonged to my great-aunt Sadie. It had been in the Hart family for several generations, and as the only daughter, it had been left to my Aunt Sadie since she never married. Like Andy Taylor having his Aunt Bea move in with him to care for him and Opie, Aunt Sadie helped fill the maternal role we needed since Dad’s parents had moved to Florida before we were born. While Dad had eventually remarried and moved out ten years ago, Aunt Sadie’s sprightly ninety-year-old self still resided in the house, and she had the room across the hall from me.

Although my sisters and I were in our late twenties and had our own careers, we still lived at home. Some people liked to joke that we were cursed to be old maids like Aunt Sadie, but I liked to point out that in a small town, there weren’t a lot of men to choose from. With its population of just under five thousand, Hayesville could certainly be considered a very small town.

Truthfully, I really didn’t have time for a relationship. Between running Hart and Daughter and being a single mom, my plate was full. Part of me wished a decent man might come along, one who would make me want to make time for him. At the moment, there was no one on the horizon who fit that bill, so I just focused all my energy on Linc. That was one of the reasons why I was spending my Sunday painting the solar system.

“Just out of curiosity, besides your science project, is there anything else going on at school you’ve forgotten to tell me about?” I asked.

Linc tilted his head in thought before his dark eyes widened. “Oh yeah, it’s Donuts with Dad on Wednesday.”

“Who do you want to come? Me or Papa?”

After giving me a you just asked me the stupidest question in the world look, Linc replied, “Papa.”

“I’ll let him know.”

It went without saying that I didn’t need to ask Linc’s father if he was going to come. I had no idea where he was. The last time I’d laid eyes on Ryan Perkins was when he came to the hospital after I gave birth to Linc. He’d taken one look at him before turning on his heels and getting the hell out of Dodge. It was probably a good thing he ran because my dad was ready to shoot him for knocking up his seventeen-year-old daughter.

Although Ryan had grown up in Hayesville, he’d had his eyes set on Nashville and being a country star. To a teenage girl, there was nothing hotter than having a boyfriend in a band—at least, that was the way I’d felt when Ryan first asked me out. Most of the guys at Hayesville High were intimidated by the fact that my mad soccer skills had found me a place as kicker on the all-male high school football team, but Ryan thought the idea of me kicking guys’ asses on the field was hot. It was on our six-month anniversary that I got the second blue line on the pregnancy test.

Thankfully, Linc looked nothing like his blond-haired, blue-eyed sperm donor. He had the same dark hair and brown eyes my sisters and I had, and he was basically a mini-me of my dad. Over the years, Dad had gotten used to playing the dual roles of father and grandfather to Linc. He’d had a lot of practice considering he’d been mother and father to me and my sisters.

“Which one should I work on now?” I asked.

“Uranus.”

“What color do I paint Uranus?”

Kennedy closed her eyes. “I’m seeing your anus as a giant, black hole.”

While Linc doubled over with laughter as only a nine-year-old boy can, I shot my sister a look. “Wow, you’re so mature.”

“I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Try a different way.”

“Fine,” she grumbled.

When my phone rang, I put down the Styrofoam ball and my paintbrush to glance at the ID. “Crap, it’s the shop,” I muttered. I quickly used the wipes to remove the leftover paint on my hands. Rising out of my chair, I grabbed the phone and started into the kitchen. “Hello?”

“Hey Rae, it’s Candy.”

“Hey girl. What’s up?”

“We have a VIP that needs a tow ASAP.”

I snorted. “Did Ronnie Tillman get his boat stuck again?” Our mayor was known for throwing back a few too many beers at the lake on the weekend and somehow always managing to get his pontoon stuck in the shoreline.

“No, no. It’s not anyone from here. It’s Gabe Renard.”

“Who?”

“Oh my God, how can you not know Gabe Renard? He’s the drummer of Jacob’s Ladder.”

“Are they kinda country rock?”

“Yes!”

“Yeah, I think I’ve heard a song or two of theirs.”

“We need to get you out of the house more and to one of their concerts. They’re amazing. Gabe is hell of a drummer.”

I laughed. “I’ll make a note to go see them, but what’s the deal with Gabe?”

“He’s stuck off Vanderbilt road. Billy has two tows ahead of Gabe, one way out in LaFayette, and I can’t get Wayne to answer his phone. He’s probably hungover from painting the town last night.”

“I see. Since all the usual weekend workers were occupied, you were kind enough to offer him my services on my day off?”

“I couldn’t let someone like him wait. Honey, I never let a man as fine as he is wait.”

I laughed. “Spare me.”

“Come on, Rae-Rae, it won’t take you that long to tow him. Then you can have the bragging rights that you not only met Gabe Renard, but you saved him.” Candy gasped. “He might even ask you for a date!”

“A famous rocker ask me out? Ha! I think you’ve been huffing too many fumes from your essential oil diffuser.”

“You never know. Stranger things have happened. You’re a hot ticket, too.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” After putting Candy on speakerphone, I did a quick Google search of Gabe Renard. Hmm, not bad…okay, fine—he’s incredibly good-looking. I especially liked the pictures of him shirtless at his drum set, dripping with sweat. Yeah, sweaty men got me hot. Sue me.

“If I go tow him, I’m charging him double the weekend fee, so make sure you note that on the paperwork.”

Candy screeched. “You go get him, girl!”

I laughed. “Whatever. Send over the billing when you send the location and I’ll have him do an electronic sign.”

“I will.” Before I could hang up, Candy said, “I want to hear every single detail about him just as soon as you leave.”

“I’m not exactly sure how tantalizing a tow is, but I’ll be sure to fill you in.”

“And he’s supposed to sign something for me as well.”

“I’ll try to remind him.”

“You better. Don’t make me drive out there and get him to sign my boobs.”

Oh good lord. I was both horrified by her suggestion and by the mental image it conjured. “Um, goodbye, Candy.”

“Bye, Rae.”

I couldn’t help eyeing the phone before I hung it up. I had known Candy pretty much my entire life, and I had never heard her quite so giggly. She would have rivaled one of the high school girls at a Bieber concert—not that I actually listened to Bieber.

Don’t get me wrong, I got her enthusiasm to a certain point. We rarely saw anyone remotely famous around here, so it was understandable that Candy would be star-struck. I just couldn’t help having a preconceived notion that this Gabe guy was going to act like an uptight jerk because of being famous.

Walking back into the dining room, I said, “Kennedy, are you going to be around for a little while?”

“Just until six. Then I need to go get tomorrow’s breads started.”

“Can you keep an eye on Linc for me while I go do an emergency tow?”