“Not that it was all that great in the first place,” Jesse admitted. “This car is ten years old. I can tell you that if the electric hadn’t blown, the engine was going to go soon. That tuna can has a hundred and fifty thousand miles on it.” He turned judgmental blue eyes on both he and Noah. “Which one of you is her man? Why would you let her drive around in a death trap like that?”
“Neither one is my man,” Hope replied, and James was damn happy to see her frown at the scruffy mechanic. “And I couldn’t afford anything else.”
“Now, Hope,” Roger said with a conciliatory pat to her back. “We’re going to work something out. I promise. Don’t you listen to those boys. They like to make everything sound worse than it is. We’ll fix your car, or I’ll help you find another one.”
Cade smiled down at her. “Jesse and I are working on a real sweet ride. We can get it to you for a good price.”
“Where the hell did you find these guys?” James asked.
Roger turned back to them. “I was real lucky. After I had to turn down that nice Russian fellow because he scared the crap out of me, I was worried I would have to cut back on work, but Cade and Jesse showed up one day on their motorcycles and said they would work for one paycheck.”
Cade smiled, his eyes never leaving Hope’s chest. Fucker. “We knew we wanted to live here. We’ve been looking for a place to call home for a really long time. When we heard about Bliss, we knew we had to come here.”
Roger leaned in, whispering James’s way. “I think they heard about our low cost of living.”
Nope. They’d found out how easy it was to share in Bliss. James knew all the fucking moves. They were crowding her, one on each side. Cade would play the hard-ass while Jesse would be the sweet one. They wouldn’t leave any exits for the girl they wanted to get in between them. They would form a plan, and each would have a role to play. He knew damn well how that game went because he’d practically invented it with his brother.
“When the hell did Long-Haired Roger go bald?” Noah asked, his mouth hanging open.
Roger turned, and his eyes widened as he really looked at Noah for the first time. “Noah Bennett?”
“Yeah, hi, Roger.” Noah turned sheepish again, his face falling a little.
Roger’s face went red. “My dog died. How do you like that, Mr. Vet? Did you like New York City? I hope you did because my Princess paid the price.”
Long-Haired Roger stomped into his office and slammed the door.
“Is he talking about that ancient Chihuahua he used to have?” Noah asked, staring after him.
James couldn’t help but shake his head. “Yep. She died about two years ago.”
“That dog was eleven hundred years old. I remember her. She was blind and had arthritis in every joint, and he had to feed her baby food because her digestive tract was shot. She was hypoglycemic and had hydrocephalus, which was why the poor thing could barely raise her head. I won’t even go into the problems with her patellas. And yet that dog lived years longer than anyone would have recommended. How is this my fault?”
“What did he just say?” Jesse asked.
It was nice to know at least they weren’t the brainiest of men. Score one for the brothers. Fuck. He was not thinking like that. He was mad at Noah. He couldn’t trust Noah. “What my brother is trying to say is that dog was a miracle on four legs.”
“She wasn’t on four legs. She couldn’t walk. Roger walked her around in a baby carriage. Once I even saw him chewing up food and feeding it to her like a momma bird. He’s the crazy one.” Noah seemed just about ready to continue the argument when Hope put a hand on his arm.
“He and Liz never had kids. Princess was their baby,” Hope explained. “I’m sure he still misses her. You wouldn’t have been able to do anything if you had been here. But you can start repairing your reputation. You can apologize.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Noah insisted.
Hope obviously wasn’t listening to any excuses. “From what I understand, you walked away and left everyone in the lurch. Until you acknowledge that, how can you expect them to trust you?”
Noah’s shoulders sagged. “I’ll go talk to him.”
She’d gotten to Noah in a way James never could have. She’d stated the problem simply and with no real judgment that would have sent his brother into a tailspin of defensiveness. He listened as Noah rapped on Roger’s door and began to make his first real headway in coming home for good.
Hope had done that. Sweet Hope, who was also practical and plainspoken and kind.
Why did he find that so damn sexy?
“So, Hope, we haven’t seen you around town. Why don’t we remedy that? Let us take you out to dinner tonight.” Jesse sidled up to her, getting way too close for James’s comfort.
“She’s not going out with you,” James said. He held off picking up the nearest wrench and bashing Scruffy’s head in. Hope already thought he was some form of lesser man. Violence would be something she would likely take exception to. So he put an arm around her shoulder and went for compromise. She wanted him to get along with Noah? He could give in this once. “She’s going out with me and my brother.”
She shook her head but didn’t move out from under his arm. “Playing it that way, huh, James? Fine. I’m going out with them because it’s relaxing. I love to listen to them argue.”
“We do it all for you, baby. Now show me what’s going on with her car. You might have to use little words because I really know horses better than cars. Hope here knows everything so don’t worry about her.”
She elbowed him, but there was a happy light in her eyes. “Jerk.”
He kept his arm around her while they got the full tour of just how fucked up her vehicle was.
Noah walked out of Long-Haired Roger’s office with a feeling that something had finally fallen into place. Roger was insane, for sure, but he was also right in a way. He hadn’t just moved. He’d walked out. Noah had left his home behind. He should have talked to people, explained why he was doing what he was doing. He should have worked hard to arrange for another vet. He should have called and checked up on the people who had been his family.
He hadn’t acted like a friend or a brother or a son. He hadn’t acted like a neighbor. He’d been an obsessed asshole.
He looked across the garage at Hope. Damn, he was getting obsessed again, but this time it was over the right type of woman. Ally would have turned her nose up and rolled her eyes and told Noah that he didn’t need Long-Haired Roger. Hell, Ally would never have walked into this garage in the first place. If her car had gotten so much as a scratch, she would have whined until Noah bought her a new one.
Ally had no idea what it meant to be really loved. But Noah was starting to remember.
“Where did the other one go?” Noah asked. The douchebag with the beard was talking to Hope. The one who liked to strip was nowhere to be seen. He kind of wanted to punch them both, but Hope would have his ass.
Why did he like that idea?
“I don’t know,” James muttered, his gaze firmly on Hope. “He walked out the back door a little while ago. But they’ve backed off. I made sure of it.”
At least James was doing one thing right when it came to Hope. “Good. I talked to Roger. We’re going to take care of the repairs to her car. If the estimate goes over five grand, then Roger is going to sell us a car for that much. He’s going to take at least a week before he can give her a firm estimate. He’s really busy, you see.”
He’d had to smooth talk the hell out of Roger to get him to agree. And he’d had to promise to stay in Bliss until he died and to help Roger find a new dog. Both promises were fairly easy. He was a stray magnet and really damn good at matching pets to owners. His last brilliant move in Bliss had been to match a nasty mutt named Quigley and a set of twins with equal personality problems. He could find Roger a baby no problem.