“We need to be bold now, Rupert, if we’re going to win this thing.”
The waitress returns with coffee. I smile at her, take a sip. Rupert grumbles under his breath.
“Rupert,” I say. “You know this will work.”
“But they’re the enemy.”
“I’m the wife now,” Maggie says. “And I can get my father to play ball. I won’t let anything bad happen to Cork. It’s my last name now, too, you know.”
He frowns at her and I feel a glow of pride in my chest. She’s clever, that much is obvious.
“Well,” he says. “Interesting. I suppose… I suppose I could back this plan.”
I lean back, relief flooding me. “That’s great,” I say.
“If you two agree to wash my cars, of course.”
I sit there and stare at him for a long moment. “Excuse me?”
“My cars,” he says. He takes a pad of paper out of the bag sitting on the seat next to him, finds a pen in his pocket, and writes down an address. “They’re in a garage here. If you go and wash them, I’ll back this little… merger.”
“You can’t be serious,” I say. “Rupert, this is a business deal. It’s for the good of everyone… and you want me to wash your cars?”
“Yes,” he says, frowning. “I do. That’s what I want. Please? Wash them.”
“No, Rupert,” I say.
“Oh. Okay, then. Forget the merger. I’m out.”
“We’ll do it,” Maggie says. “I’ll make sure it gets done, Rupert.”
He beams at her. “I knew it. You’re the smart one.” He shoves the paper toward her. “Take it, take it.”
She takes it from him and glances down. “Is this… where your cars are?”
“Yes, go there, it’s a garage. There’s a key outside. Or maybe it’s unlocked. I forget. Everything you need will be there. Wash my cars then come here tomorrow morning and let me know it’s done. Then… we’ll merge. Yes? Good?”
“Deal,” Maggie says, nodding once.
I stifle a sigh. “Thank you, Rupert,” I say.
“Don’t thank me! Just wash the cars!” He grins at us. “Good morning to you both.”
I nod at Maggie and she slips out of the booth. We leave the place together and stop just outside. She stares at the address then looks up at me.
“This is like an hour away at least,” she says.
I sigh and close my eyes. “Of course.”
“We’d better get your car.”
“Right.”
“Josh.”
I open my eyes. She grins at me, tilts her head. “Yes?”
“If you’re willing to marry a total stranger to make this happen… then I think you can wash some cars, right?”
“You have no clue what you just agreed to.”
She hesitates. “What do you mean?”
“He owns a lot of cars.” I shake my head and start walking away.
“Wait,” she says, catching up. “How many cars?”
I give her a look and just sigh.9Maggie“I thought he said he owned a garage.” I frown and look around, my gaze landing on the only building in sight. “That’s not a garage.”
Josh closes his eyes for a second and takes a deep breath. “No, it’s not,” he says, letting it out.
“Josh.”
He looks at me. “Maggie.”
“How many cars does he own?”
“I don’t know how many exactly,” he says, approaching the building. “But it’s a lot.”
“Josh,” I say, not moving. “Is this place full of cars?”
“Probably.” He fiddles with the door then looks around. “He said there’s a key around here somewhere.”
“That’s a warehouse,” I say. “That probably has… hundreds of cars in it.”
“Probably,” he agrees. He bends over and pushes aside a large rock then laughs. “Here we go.” He holds up a single silver key before using it to unlock the door. “There’s probably a few million dollars’ worth of cars in this place and he keeps the freaking key under a rock. I mean, who the hell does that?”
He steps inside and leaves me in the parking lot.
We drove for forty-five minutes to find this place tucked in a little wooded area behind a residential development. It’s two stories tall and long enough that I can’t see the end of it. It’s made of stone painted white, but it’s gone gray from age. The windows are all large and on the second story, and from the outside, it looks like any other warehouse.
Except this apparently holds a few million dollars’ worth of cars.
I follow Josh in through the front door. At first, it’s almost too dark to see. I get a vague impression of shapes in front of me, and I take one hesitant step forward. “Josh?” I call out.
“One second.” He’s nearby, but I can’t see him. Light trickles in from the windows, but it’s muted, like something’s been pasted in front of the glass. The light from the door only illuminates a few feet ahead of me as my eyes start to adjust. The floor is concrete and I can smell oil, rubber, and paint.
“Here. Lights.”
Suddenly the whole place blasts bright. I blink, surprised, as I stare into a wide-open space packed full of cars.