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Rex glanced at Luke. Even with a decent tan, his brother’s face was blushed in the center of his cheeks. He was jealous. His temper was flaring.
Billy closed his small pocket model and tossed the device in the car. “No answer.”
“Damn,” Rex said. “That’s our Lucy. She’s too busy to answer her phone.”
Billy’s lips twitched. “Would you mind if I wait for her?”
“Not at all,” Luke said, a big grin stamped on his face. “In fact, we’ll just go ahead and break you in right if you’re planning on moving here. Around these parts, friends and neighbors help one another. Strip off your shirt and climb aboard. We’ll get this hay baled in no time with an extra pair of hands.”
Billy looked a little confused, but he followed the recommendation and hopped on the wagon. Rex snickered under his breath when he heard him ask Luke for a pair of work gloves. This would be a fun afternoon.
When they finished there, he was going to see Lucy. He’d meant to wait until she came looking for him, but plans changed. And it was time to set a few things straight.
Rex and Luke didn’t like outsiders. They damn sure didn’t like out-of-towners coming in and messing with their woman, and Lucy Malone was their woman. After a sleepless night, Rex planned to tell her all about that, too.
Right after he spanked her for luring this kid to Tennessee.
* * * *
Lucy held the phone between her ear and shoulder, opening mail as she paced the length of her grandfather’s elaborate study, a room she’d easily chosen for her office. She reached the decision because of the picture window overlooking the garage bays and where she planned to eventually build a practice track.
She listened to Billy’s wife go on and on about Billy. How Billy wasn’t used to traveling without her, how Billy left a wife and baby back in Dallas, how the money was good but it wasn’t good enough to buy a temporary separation. Sometimes Lucy wondered why she took phone calls from the drivers’ wives.
When Melinda, Billy’s demanding twenty-one-year-old wife, finished bitching, she said, “By the way, I haven’t heard from him. Is he there yet?”
Lucy stared at the elegant grandfather clock in the far corner as the timekeeper began with its chimes of time. “I haven’t seen him.”
The weighted pendulum struck in an even beat. Seven strikes resonated throughout the room. “When was the last time you’ve talked to him?” Melinda asked.
“Around ten this morning. He was trying to find the farm and said if he didn’t make it out here, he’d grab a room at a local motel he’d just passed. He was exhausted. You know Billy. He has no sense of direction, and he was frustrated. I’ll probably hear from him around midnight tonight. If you talk to him, tell him to call me. He was supposed to stay here. Some of the other drivers are heading in tomorrow.”
“Stay ther
e?” Melinda screeched.
What was it about some of these women? Most of these racing wives were once groupies. They knew how racing worked. Most of their men were as wild as bucks until they decided to marry, and then from what Lucy had seen, they didn’t just settle down. They provided good lives for their significant others. And they were loyal to a fault.
Case in point? Billy put up with Melinda in spite of her numerous flaws.
Lucy didn’t have time to deal with an insecure woman. If Melinda wanted reassurance, she’d have to find Billy and talk to him for that. “Yes, Melinda. I want all the guys staying here. If he’s in town for the night, that’s fine, but after the others arrive, he’s staying here. The company isn’t picking up the tab for hotel rooms when I have a full staff ready to cater to my drivers and eight bedrooms to house these guys.”
Melinda coughed. “I see. So tonight, uh…will you and Billy be all alone?”
About that time, Rex and Luke entered the study with Billy on their heels. Lucy glared at two smug cowboys and a race car driver who looked like he’d been hit over the head with a caution flag he ignored.
“What the hell?” she asked, searching their eyes for an explanation she most likely wouldn’t receive.
Billy took a deep breath and set his jaw. “I thought you lived next door.”
“Is that Billy?” Melinda asked excitedly.
“Here,” Lucy said, handing off the phone without saying good-bye. She continued to stare at the McDavids while Billy offered one excuse after another for his delayed call home. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Seeing what kind of stock he’s made of,” Rex replied.
“He ain’t cut out for farm work, Lucy,” Luke told her.
“Farm work?” Lucy asked, studying Billy as he collapsed into an overstuffed chair. His shoes—what appeared to be left of them—were covered in hay and grass. His legs were dirty, his clothes filthy, and his shorts were torn. He looked like he’d been working all day in the hayfields of Tennessee.
