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I turned to Laney, quirking a brow. “Your daddy has two, right?”
Since our parents were so close, I knew all about the $100,000 truck she’d bought her old man last Christmas. He’d come home from Nashville with it—following the ridiculously over-the-top limo that held the rest of the Cole family. But Judd Cole was a simple man, and he’d been mighty proud the day he’d paid off his old beater truck, so he’d kept it for sentimental purposes. But he also drove it more often than the gift from Laney since it was a little too pretty to do any real work with it.
Laney pursed her lips. “He sure does.”
“I’d wager he wouldn’t mind lettin’ you drive that truck you bought him while you’re in town,” I said, unable to help the teasing tilt of my lips. Much as I wanted to be cold to this woman, I was actually running hot as the devil himself.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t. Though, we could also hitch rides with family or … Riley.”
My spine morphed into a fire poker. “Riley?”
“Laney’s boyfriend,” Paisley supplied helpfully. “You know, Riley Conrad? He’ll be here tomorrow. He’s gonna be her date for her high school reunion on Saturday.”
My eyes cut to Laney’s, but the pleading in hers prevented me from speaking. Which was probably good because I wasn’t sure what would come barreling out otherwise.
Paisley let out a frustrated noise, clearly missing whatever was happening between me and her not-as-close-as-she-thinks friend. “Well, can you guarantee it’ll be ready by the time we leave at least?”
“That depends. When do you leave?” I asked. Again, looking at Laney instead of her overzealous manager friend.
“Monday,” Laney replied.
I snorted. “That dog won’t hunt,” I said with a quick look skyward. “It won’t be ready by Monday, I can promise you that.”
“Oh, come on. Whatever happened to that ‘can’t never could’ attitude of yours?” Laney groaned. “That’s not long enough to fix a few bumps on the undercarriage?”
“Sugar, this is a fancy car.”
“So?” she asked.
“So I might have to order parts, and they don’t come overnight.”
She slid her gaze over to the car and then back to me. “I could literally sell this car and have a new one delivered overnight.”
I took a step toward her, a challenge in my tone. “Okay. Then do it.”
“Why is it such a big deal?” Paisley asked, inspecting the car like she genuinely didn’t get it.
I sighed heavily. “It’s a big deal because this here’s a Mercedes-Benz. Certain models require specialized tools, and as amazin’ as I am, I may not have the tools in my shop. Not only that, but you can’t just use any old parts. You need brand-specific ones, and without a dealership within a hundred miles, those parts might take a hot minute to get here.”
“Oh,” Paisley said.
“And,” I went on, maybe without reason because they were likely picking up what I was putting down, “even if I had the parts, the advanced engineerin’ makes it difficult to diagnose, dismantle, and reassemble.”
Paisley leaned close to Laney, but her words weren’t quite low enough for me to miss. “Shoot, girl, your friend here is pretty hot when he spits out all that car lingo.”
Laney’s eyes flicked to mine as her pale cheeks went scarlet, but I held her gaze.
She looked away and held up her hands. “Everett, it’s fine. How long then, do you think?”
“First things first. Gotta get it on the truck. Gotta get it back to the shop. Gotta get under it. I can let you know tomorrow how long it’ll be.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. You two wanna wait in the truck while I take care of this? The AC’s on.” It wasn’t particularly hot out, given that it was just barely October, but it was midday, and the stickiness in the air wouldn’t feel particularly pleasant in a stuffy old truck. Especially not one that smelled like the inside of an engine.
“We’re fine.” She shook her head and gave Paisley a meaningful look. “I’m sure we need to make a few phone calls.”
I jerked a shoulder. “You can try.”
