House, so this is next level.”
“And your parents?”
“I haven’t seen them yet.” It was crunch time. “I was hoping you’d come to dinner with me tomorrow night to tell them together.”
A heartbeat passed.
Then another.
“What’s your definition of becoming a family?”
Ethan considered his words carefully, but in the end decided blunt honesty was the only way to go.
“I mean we live together. I mean we build a life together. We take it slow. You call the shots.”
Emily exhaled. “That’s a lot to consider over one meal.”
“It is.” He’d waited for her answer, his jaw clenched so tight, he could barely speak.
Then Emily slowly nodded, her voice barely a whisper. “I’ll come to dinner at your parents.”
“And the rest of it?”
Her answer came slowly. Haltingly. The ghost of Rick hovered between them.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan tossed his wrench onto the bench and ran a critical eye over the work he’d accomplished on the bike for Link. It was early afternoon, and he’d been up with the birds, unable to sleep. It felt like his skin was pulled too tight and his brain was on fire, filled with thoughts that left him restless and on edge.
A month ago, he would have reached for a bottle of tequila to get him through, but a lot had changed.
Hell, everything had changed, yet it felt like nothing had changed. Therein lay his dilemma. Neck tight, he rotated his head and stretched out his shoulders. He had a couple of hours until he was expected at his parents’ and was about to dive back into the project when the unmistakeable rumbling of an engine caught his attention. A peek through the dingy shop window didn’t tell him much because he didn’t recognize the pickup truck in his driveway. A trailer was hooked up to it with a tarp covering whatever the cargo was. From the looks of it, most likely a bike.
A tall man slid from the cab and paused in the driveway, glancing from the house over to the shop. Ethan poked his head out the door and gave a shout, and the newcomer took exactly two steps before Ethan realized who he was.
Connor Jenkins.
He held the door open and stepped aside to let him in.
“Hey,” Connor said with an easy smile. “I hope you don’t mind me showing up out of the blue without an appointment. I would have sent a text, but I don’t have your number.”
“Don’t worry about it. All good.”
“The other day at Em’s, you mentioned that you restore old bikes and cars, and I’ve got something here I think you’ll like.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“An old Indian motorcycle. Chief, I think. Used to belong to my grandfather. As a kid, I remember him tooling around town in it. The old man loved it more than Grams, I think. I forgot about it until I was cleaning out his barn and found it buried underneath a bunch of crap.” He offered a grin. “I was hoping you’d be able to restore it for me.”
His interest piqued, Ethan grabbed his jacket from the hook beside the door. “Let’s have a look.”
He followed Connor over to his truck and helped him undo the tarp. When Ethan ripped it back, he whistled real slow and took a critical look at the lines. He had a soft spot for Indian motorcycles. His first had been a Scout, which he still owned.
There was rust and corrosion and missing parts. The leather seat had been home to a family of mice…or two, and the tires were done, but overall, it was saveable.
He hopped up onto the truck and had a closer look. “1947. Chief. The parts might be dicey to come by, but I’m pretty sure I can do this up right.” He glanced down at Connor. “I’ve got a project that’ll take me into next month, and then an upholstery redo of a ’56 Vette, but I should be able to get this in the new year at the latest.”
He and Connor got the bike off his truck, and twenty minutes later, it was parked in his shop, tucked away in the corner.
“Beer?” he asked. At Connor’s nod, Ethan rooted through the old fridge and handed him a cold Bud. The two of them talked about the changes that had come to Crystal Lake since Connor had been gone. Most of them, they agreed, were good for the region, though they hoped development would slow down.
“It will change everything if it keeps up,” Connor said.
“How long you planning on sticking