Just a Whisper Away

Jace raised a dubious brow. “A little early in the evening for that sort of thing, isn’t it?”

Blue eyes twinkling, Ty slipped off his gray vest and tossed it through the archway to land on Jace’s brown leather sofa. “It’s never too early. Unfortunately, this kind of tie-up wasn’t that much fun.”

“Oh? Where were you?”

“The hospital. I wanted to talk to Arnie.”

The mood in the room sobered. “Think that was wise?” Jace asked.

“You phoned him,” Ty pointed out.

“A phone call’s not a visit. We’re supposed to steer clear of Arnie. The bloodsucking lawyers are doing the talking.”

“I know, but we’ve known Arnie for a long time, and I wanted to hear what he had to say.” Ty inclined his head toward the kitchen. “Got any coffee made?”

Hoping Ty’s visit hadn’t done more harm than good, Jace started walking. “No, but it’ll only take a minute to make some.”

“Good. Because we need to talk, and I think better with a mug in my hand.”

Minutes later they were standing across from each other at the kitchen bar, ignoring the leather stools, and listening to the spit and splash of coffee brewing on the adjacent countertop.

After height, similar facial structure and the requisite jeans and boots, people had to look hard to see that they were related. Ty’s hair was as thick as Jace’s, but it was medium brown, not black, and his eyes were the deep blue women loved. But then, women loved everything about his little brother, and Ty felt the same about them. Short, tall, blond, brunette, he enjoyed them all. But he’d never had a serious relationship in his life.

Then again, neither had he, Jace admitted. Not one that had been totally reciprocated. In that way, he and Ty were like their mother. All flings, no strings.

“I don’t think this lawsuit is Arnie’s idea,” Ty began. “I think it’s his wife’s. Callie’s a nice woman, but they’ve got four kids and I think she’s worried that Arnie’ll never work again.”

Jace nodded gravely. He and Ty understood the need for security more than most people did. Financial and emotional. “She could be right.” The tree that put Arnie in the hospital had done enough damage to his leg that it would be a minor miracle if he was able to walk again without a cane.

“I’ve been giving that some thought, though,” Jace continued. “If he can’t log anymore, we’ll find something else for him.”

“Not the sawmill. Callie’d never go for that, even with all the safeguards.” Leaving the bar, Ty went to the refrigerator to rummage around. When he returned, he was balancing assorted packages of deli cold cuts, cheese and spicy mustard on his arm. “Want a sandwich?”

“No, you go ahead.” He wasn’t hungry anymore. Now, he just wanted this thing with Arnie Flagg settled in a way that benefited all of them, and he wanted Abbie Winslow to get the hell out of his mind. He could still see her staring through that open window, her hair lifting in the wind and her dark eyes serious.

Ty pulled a loaf of sliced rye from the bread drawer. “By the way, I passed a dark-colored Ford Expedition about a half mile up the road. Looked like our favorite banker’s ride.”

Jace shot a glance at him, wondering if Ty was fishing. “It was.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. I’m not.”

Eyes brimming with interest, Ty pulled a plate from the cupboard. “So, what did Morgan want? Another opportunity to toss around a few insults? A pint of your blood?” He grinned suddenly. “Or did he just drop by to tell you to keep your nasty Rogan lips off his daughter?”

“None of the above,” Jace returned dryly. “It wasn’t him. It was her.”

Chapter 4

Several minutes later, Ty narrowed his bewildered gaze on Jace, took a bite from his sandwich then chewed for a moment. “She’s working with you on the project? How did that happen?”

“She came to the meeting. I gave her something to do.”

His brother stared as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That made them even. Jace couldn’t believe he’d suggested it. Good God, he was mere days away from turning thirty-six. Most men his age had a working brain by now.

“Let me get this straight. You asked and she said yes? With all the bad blood between you, her and her dad?”

“Yep.” But he’d never admit to Ty or anyone else that his reason for doing it was more than a little muddled in his mind.

Feeling a worm turn in his gut, Jace collected Ty’s sandwich fixings and put them away.

“Why would she agree to something like that?”

“Beats me. Maybe because this was the most appropriate job for her if she wanted to help. Obviously, she won’t be dishing out carrots at the dinner. She’ll be back in L.A. before Easter.”

Closing the refrigerator, he crossed to the counter beside the sink where the coffeemaker had finished brewing, and filled two mugs. He slid one over to Ty.

“Is this about sticking it to Morgan again? I thought you’d gotten past that.”

“I have gotten past it.” Raising his mug, Jace took a cautious sip. “I’m just filling a position that needs to be filled.”

“Right. First the dance and the kiss at the country club, now this.” He spoke again before Jace could comment, mild surprise entering his voice. “Or is it payback? She’s the one who served you your nuts on a plate way back when. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about riding that train again.”

Jace sent his perceptive little brother a firm look. “My interest in Abbie starts and ends with the project. All I’m looking for is a warm body to handle some publicity and contact last year’s sponsors for donations. She’s pretty, well-spoken and strong. She’ll get us some money. Now, can we talk about something else?”

“Sure,” Ty replied, sampling his own coffee. “You pick the topic. But we both know your pat answers about her warm body are major crapola. You’re interested again.”

“Ty?” Jace said coolly.

“Yeah?”

“Eat your sandwich.”

An hour later, Jace walked Ty to his truck, then crossed the snow-covered gravel to his workshop and let himself inside. He flicked on the lights and the small electric space heater, then went to his workbench to finish sanding the drawer fronts on the small chest he was building for Betty. Okay, so Ty hadn’t been too far off the mark. Part of him was interested again. But it was only his nocturnal caveman part—the part that wouldn’t sleep again tonight. As for anything beyond that… He wasn’t the same guy who’d let her use him back then.

Sex with him had been the quickest way to send a message to Morgan, and she’d done it. Jace slipped on his earmuffs and safety glasses and plugged in the sander. That night had been all about Abbie’s emancipation. And he’d been the gullible fool who’d made it happen.

The clerk behind the counter motioned that one of the workstations had opened up, and Danny smiled at the too thin, fiftyish woman sitting across from him in the busy mall’s Sweet Bytes Internet Café. Soft pop music played over the low conversation coming from the dozen or so tables. “You’re up, Miss Murphy. Time to surf the information superhighway.”

Smiling broadly, Janice Murphy retrieved her cane from the floor and winced as she got to her feet, a few biscotti crumbs falling from her cheap navy pantsuit. “Time to collect my e-mails, anyway,” she replied.

Just then, the half-dressed brunette who’d been giving Danny the eye since she got there passed by, banging into the older woman and knocking the cane from her hand.

Shooting her a murderous look, Danny leapt up from the tiny table where they’d been sipping mocha lattes, then steadied his new friend and returned her cane. “Sorry about that,” he muttered. “Someone should teach that girl some manners.”

“It’s all right, Anthony,” the graying woman replied, using Danny’s new name. “It’s crowded in here. I’m sure she didn’t realize what she did.”

Danny doubted that. The harlot—that’s what his holier-than-thou father called women who looked like that—was too interested in showing off her boobs and spandex to care about anyone else. Too interested in teasing every guy in the place with a free show so she could steal their cash later.