“Yes.”
“Gotta go, Cash.”
“Thanks, Stud,” Rachel said before he could leave.
He gave her a nod. “Later.”
Rachel began walking to her car, which she had left across the street at the church.
“I don’t get a thanks?” Cash asked mockingly, falling in step beside her.
“Thanks,” Rachel said ungratefully as she came to a stop beside her car, staring at it in dismay.
“I guess the restaurant wasn’t Jared’s first stop.”
All four tires of her older than dirt car had been slit. The tires would cost more than the car was worth.
“Dammit.” Rachel reached inside her purse for her phone.
“Come on. I’ll give you a ride home.” Cash took her arm, leading her back across the street to the diner’s parking lot.
“I’ll call my brothers. One of them will come and get me.” She didn’t get inside his truck when he opened the door.
“If you call them, then they will go after Jared. You can calm them down if you’re home when you tell them.”
He was right, but it would be just as bad for them to see her getting out of Cash’s truck.
“Get in, Rachel.”
“I still think I should—”
Cash lifted her up, placing her on the bench seat in his truck, then slammed the door closed, effectively cutting off her protests. Sliding into the truck, he turned the motor on.
“I can have you home before you make up your mind.”
Rachel sat back against the seat, closing her mouth.
“So, why was Jared so pissed off at you?”
Rachel turned sideways in her seat to stare at his profile. “I can’t tell you. It’s private.”
“It quit being private when he assaulted you in public.”
Rachel kind of agreed, but she was ultimately respecting Cheryl’s privacy, not Jared’s.
“I still have to respect his privacy.”
Cash threw her a quick glance. “If you can’t keep your brothers from going after Jared, it could get messy. Jared has a large family, too. Someone could get hurt.” His warning didn’t fall on deaf ears. She was well aware of the consequences if her brothers stormed off after Jared.
“I think that’s going to happen, regardless.” Rachel thought of Cheryl. She didn’t think it would be fair not to tell her what she had discovered about her cheating husband.
“How often do you volunteer at the church store?” The abrupt change of subject threw her off-guard.
“Three days a week.”
“That’s a lot of time to volunteer.”
“I enjoy it.” Rachel shrugged.
Cash made the turn onto the steep hill that led to her house, the truck bouncing on the rutted lane.
“How in the hell does your little car make it up this hill?”
“I know where all the holes are.”
“Jesus. Why won’t Tate just pave the road?”
Rachel laughed. “You know Tate; he’s a cheapskate.”
“Among other things,” Cash said grimly.
“I heard that.”
“I wasn’t trying for you not to. You’re his sister; you know he’s an ass. They all three are.”
“They’re not so bad,” Rachel defended her brothers.
“When’s the last time they let you go out on a date? The last time I remember is last summer when they let you go to a movie with Harvey Green.”
His sideways look caught her shudder at the reminder of the disastrous date. It had been a miserable experience from the time he had picked her up at her house, with all three of her brothers casting threatening looks, to the moment Greer had turned the porch light on when Harvey had been about to kiss her goodnight.
Rachel was embarrassed by Cash’s knowledge of her lack of social life.
“I don’t let my brothers dictate who I go out with.”
The truth was Treepoint didn’t have a large selection of eligible bachelors she would go out with. They were either jerks or like Cash, only interested in sleeping with someone before moving on to the next available woman.
His snort of disbelief had her temper rising.
“I go out with anyone I want to.”
“Prove it.” His challenge shocked her.
“How? By going out with you?” Rachel wanted to take back her words as soon as they were out of her mouth. Her face flamed with embarrassment.
“I wasn’t thinking of me. I’m too old for you and I don’t date.” He turned his attention away from the road, brushing her body with his gaze, as if she was lacking what it took to capture his interest.
“I wasn’t asking you out on a date,” Rachel snapped back at his brush-off.
“That’s what it sounded like to me,” he said, pulling up in front of her house.
“Well, you were wrong. When I go on a date with someone, I at least have to like them.” Rachel opened the truck door, sliding out.
“Keep those brothers of yours under control. A feud between them and the Macys would keep the hospital busy.”
“I know how to manage my brothers.”
“Good. You can start now.” Cash nodded toward a furious Greer, who was heading their way.
“You better go,” Rachel responded, slamming the door closed before turning back to her brother.
Hearing Cash’s truck deliberately spin gravel on his way out only fueled an already-loaded situation.
“I’m giving you ten seconds to tell me why you were in that shithead’s truck.”
Rachel thought fast. Cash was right, someone could get seriously hurt in a feud, and she didn’t want it to be one of her brothers.
“My car broke down while I was having dinner with Lily. Cash offered me a ride home,” she explained.
Greer lost some of his anger. “You should have called. One of us would have come to town to get you.”
“Cash drives by here to get home. I didn’t think it was a big deal to accept a ride.”
“It is. I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
“It was just a ride, Greer. He was just being nice.” Rachel linked her arm through his, walking toward the house.
“Cash isn’t a nice guy,” Greer warned.
Rachel couldn’t argue with that statement. No one in town would use that word to describe Cash, but he had been nice tonight. He had stepped in when Jared could have hurt her then had given her a lift home, despite her lack of gratitude. He had handled the situation much better than her hotheaded brothers would have.
When she was younger, she used to fantasize about Cash. He had always been her knight in shining armor. Now that she was older, the armor was old and rusty, needing to be dusted off. Regardless, Rachel couldn’t deny the thrill of watching him beat Jared for slapping her. She guessed she was more like her brothers than she realized.
Chapter 3
“Throw the ball!” Logan yelled.
Rachel rose higher out of the water, swatting the large beach ball toward Logan. When he hit it back toward her, Rachel used her feet to jump higher out of the water to hit it again.
“You missed.” Logan’s giggles sounded around the pool with Holly’s laughter joining in.
Rachel stuck her tongue out at her nephew as she climbed out of the pool to go get the ball. Her bare feet padded around the concrete pool area to retrieve it. Picking it up, she then threw it back into the pool.
“I need a drink. You’re wearing me out.” Going to the patio table where she had left a cold pitcher of lemonade, she poured herself a glass as she watched Holly and Logan switch to playing water tag.
Rachel enjoyed the afternoons they spent twice a month at Mrs. Langley’s house, playing in the pool. Logan’s great-grandmother would spend the mornings interacting with him then, when she watched her afternoon soap opera, Rachel and Holly kept him playing in the pool. Afterward, they would eat a late lunch and then leave.
Sadly, the summer holidays were coming to an end, and Logan wo