Just as I'm passing through the lobby, I see a tall, extremely fit man coming in. He looks around but finds no one at the desk.
"She usually goes to the kitchen to grab a cup of tea around this time of day," I tell him. "She'll probably be back in a few minutes."
He pulls a key ring that I recognize from his pocket. "I could just leave these behind the desk with a note?"
"Oh! Those are mine. For the green Jeep, right? Thane called you yesterday?"
He swivels, dropping the keys into my palm. "Yup. The three of us tackled it together. Since you're a special friend of Thane’s, we gave it an extra thorough check from top to bottom."
"So it wasn't just the starter?"
"We replaced that, yeah. It was toast. Plus gave the engine a full tuneup, new brake pads, checked the alignment…a few other tweaks. Should be right as rain now."
I reach for my purse. "If you could please tell me the total, I can go to the bank machine for cash. Or Venmo it, if that's easier."
His hands fly up as he backs away. "Oh,hellno." He steps closer again to shake my hand. "Griffin Dirty, by the way."
"Audra Barclay. And you must let me pay you. I have money. I'm not a charity case."
He shakes my hand firmly, then lowers his voice. “Listen…this is kind of…” He hesitates. “Thane is a Wolfe. We've done tons of work for him and his family over the years. I'm sure he’d want the bill to go to him, and I’m not about to piss off one of the Wolfe Brothers. You know what I’m saying?"
An icy shiver runs up my spine. Is Thane’s family dangerous or something?
Griffin chuckles. "Don’t look so scared. They're great people. But there's a lot of them, and they hold a lot of sway around here. That’s all. I'm sorry, but I have to go."
"Thank you so much," I call out the door as he disappears.
The nice older lady who looks after the reception desk in the afternoons comes back with her tea just as the door shuts. "Was somebody here, dear?"
"Just the mechanic returning my Jeep."
She smiles, a naughty twinkle in her eye. "Those Dirty boys. There's nothing they can't fix. Such a shame they happen to look handsome while they're doing it."
I laugh at her cheeky grin, then hurry out to get my sandwich. Once I'm back in my room, I do a detailed online search of the Wolfe family.
My jaw falls open, almost spilling crumbs onto the desk. These people basically run the mountain. Property, businesses, influence with the town council. They fund everything from schools to roads…and there's some online chatter that they donate a lot of money anonymously as well, working behind the scenes.
Thane hasn't said a thing about his family’s power and influence.
But then again, I haven't said a single word about mine, either.
11
THANE
Something feels off.
Audra and I exchanged good night texts last night, which felt cozy.
But this morning, as I drive around running a few errands, I have a nagging suspicion that something isn’t right.
Maybe I'm paranoid because I've never been in a relationship before. Never been so completely consumed by a woman – not to mention the whole sleeping together so soon thing. Even though it felt deeply, perfectly right at the time, now I'm second-guessing myself. Maybe we should have waited a few weeks. Maybe I should have proven that I'm not some back country hick who can't control his physical urges.
Although, to be honest, around her… That's nearly impossible.
After loading up the truck with groceries, I drive to Valley Auto. Griffin comes walking out, wiping his hands on a rag. "Delivered that Jeep yesterday. Starter fixed, full tuneup, safety checks, the whole works. Full princess treatment."
I follow him into the office, where he shows me an itemized bill on a tablet. Damn, they did alot. I notice there's been a couple of discounts wherever they could sneak them in.
