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could see the hurt in his mother’s
eyes.
    Huck ran his hand across the back of his
neck. “I know, I just gotta do this thing right now.” He sat on the
arm of the couch. “I’ll see if I can hire somebody to help Dad on
weekends.”
    Pete and Huck had never kept secrets from
each other. It felt foreign to be excluded this way. “The Amhursts
would probably do it.”
    Shaw opened the door to their room. He caught
the looks on Pete and Huck’s faces. “I’m off the phone.” He shut
the door and the thin line of light under the door went dark.
    “Yeah, okay.” Huck stood. “I’ll call Dad
tomorrow and work it out. And I’ll talk to Momma.” He trudged to
the door to his room. “I’ll be sure to make it to the Halloween
thing, little brother. I’m really proud of you.” He opened the door
and disappeared into the room he shared with Dax.
    Pete shook off the feeling of impending doom.
Huck was an adult. Whatever he was doing, he could handle on his
own. “Hope so, big brother.”

Chapter Three
    Friday night, CJ blinked through the steam
blasting from the dishwasher behind the bar, and started unloading
the hot glassware. Midnight, and the place was only half-full
because of the live concert at one of the parks. That was fine with
her. Maybe she could let her other bartender go early. Or maybe
she’d leave early, go to the park and listen to the band for…
    Who was she kidding? Her sense of
responsibility to the place would tug at her like a big old rubber
band. She reloaded the dishwasher, set it to start, and looked up
as the front door opened. A tall man walked in, wearing a black,
short-sleeved shirt that showed off his big shoulders, nice muscles
on his arms and chest, and was tucked into the narrow waist of his
dress jeans. Shiny cowboy boots clomped toward her. And thank you
Karma, he had a nice, healthy bulge at the front of those
Levis.
    “Ma’am.” He stopped at the waitress
station.
    She looked up into light-brown eyes with
green flecks. “Hayseed?” This was not the same country boy who’d
shown up on Sunday. He’d tamed those wild curls some, but they
still looked soft and touchable. Damn cute specimen of the male
species.
    “Yes, ma’am. Pete Gonally.” He sounded a
little agitated. “I’ve come to look at the bike, if that’s all
right.”
    “Sure.” She wiped her hands on a towel. “I’m
just surprised that you actually clean up.”
    Pete didn’t move a muscle.
    She had to give him credit for not shooting
back about her outfit. Catching her reflection in the mirror behind
the bar back, she smoothed her white T-shirt, spotting a few stains
on it. Her jeans were old and comfortable, but there wasn’t any
changing now…without looking like she was trying to impress him.
She did slide her feet out of her purple rubber clogs into a pair
of flip-flops. That’d be her concession to fashion for the day.
    CJ caught the other bartender’s eye. “Tony,
I’ll be out back in the garage.”
    He nodded, and went back to pouring tequila
into a dozen shot glasses.
    “C’mon, Pete Gonally. Let’s get you
acquainted with your work space.” She led him out the back door of
the bar to a one-car garage. The opaque windows had bars over them,
and the door was heavy metal with a keypad lock.
    “It’s like a fortress.” Excitement had
replaced the irritation in his voice.
    “Been broken into one too many times.” She
entered numbers and the door popped open. On the opposite wall, the
alarm flashed and beeped. CJ flipped on the lights and hustled over
to enter the code to shut it off.
    Pete closed the door and clomped in behind
her.
    In the middle of the nearly-empty building,
the brand new black motorcycle sat shining like a kid on the first
day of school. But her gaze wandered to the corner. To the old bike
sitting in shadows, collecting dust.
    “She’s a beauty.” Pete walked three circles
around the new bike, his enthusiasm pouring off him. “Okay if I
grab my stuff out of my