The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,40

nearly as electric as the men and women who’d come from Bear’s and Bishop’s mother. Her eyes seemed made of sapphire, and Ranger’s mother had dark eyes.

His father did too, which made him dark from head to toe. Wasn’t that what women wanted? Tall, dark, and handsome?

Apparently not, at least in Ranger’s case.

He sighed and rolled his shoulder, the one he’d injured years ago. It bothered him when the weather turned hot, when it turned cold, and pretty much every other day in between.

“Did you tighten the radiator cap?”

“Yes,” Ranger said in a deadpan, already looking at his phone to see what the inventory was at Mack’s. Going into summer, they sold a lot of inventory as people geared up for family activities in campgrounds, riding trails, or towing trailers.

Ranger could practically hear his father lecturing him about the Glover family motto, which was repair, reuse, and recycle. Replace didn’t ever seem to make the list, though it started with the same two letters.

“Sometimes things just need to be replaced,” he said. “I wouldn’t just keep sewing up my leather jacket if it kept ripping. I’d buy a new one.”

“And not just because you can’t sew,” Bishop said, poking his head out from behind the lifted hood. He grinned, and Ranger couldn’t help returning it.

“I could ask Etta, but what’s the blasted point?” Ranger shook his head. Bear wouldn’t like the money it required to replace two trucks, especially at the same time. But Ranger was part-owner of this ranch too, and he could make financial decisions just as easily as Bear.

What good was being a billionaire if he literally had to fiddle around with this screw or that cap almost all the time? Couldn’t his money buy him just a little convenience, for once?

Ranger could practically hear his father rolling over in his grave. Uncle Stone too. They’d say that the reason all the Glovers now living and working at Shiloh Ridge had so much money was because they stuck to the family motto.

They didn’t spend money like it was water, and that ensured that the ranch always had a huge reserve, and they could always take care of themselves and their cowboys that relied on them for their livelihood.

Well, they couldn’t run the ranch with broken-down trucks sitting in the vehicle shed.

Ranger had plenty of money too, and he’d take the cost of the trucks out of his own salary.

He wouldn’t have to. Bear growled a lot, and he shot dangerous, sharp looks from those piercing, blue eyes. But he was really a softie at heart, especially now that he was off helping Sammy every other minute.

He’d do anything for that woman, and if Ranger could somehow get Sammy to say the ranch needed the trucks, Bear would be in total agreement.

That wasn’t a bad idea, actually….

Ranger dismissed it, because he was still getting to know Sammy, and he’d rather save his favors for when he really needed them.

“I can’t go with you,” Bishop said, leaving the engine, because he couldn’t find the problem either. “But I know Ace probably would. He just went in to take some meds for a massive headache.”

“Then why would I want to take him to a car dealership? If I go, I’ll be down there for hours.” That alone was keeping him from getting behind the wheel and going right now.

“You’re right.” Bishop sighed. “Well, I’ve got double chores to get done now. Good luck with Oakley.”

Ranger sucked in a breath through his nose and didn’t respond. If he kept quiet, Bishop would just leave. He did, and relief cooled Ranger’s irritation.

“Oakley,” he scoffed, though he hadn’t been shy about his feelings for the woman. It certainly didn’t hurt that she owned and operated Mack’s Motor Sports, or that she knew more about cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, and jet skis than anyone else in the whole world.

Fine, maybe just Three Rivers. “Possibly Texas,” he muttered.

Oakley intrigued him, that was all. She was unlike any woman he’d ever met in Texas, though she’d been born and raised in the state. The Southern part, but still. It wasn’t another country.

Sometimes he felt like they existed on different continents, but she always had a smile for him at church, and he sure did like her pretty sundresses that showed off the muscles in her arms and shoulders. And her back.

Ranger shook his head and moved around the truck he couldn’t get to start. He opened the driver’s side door and snapped a picture of the