SEATTLE CINDERELLA: FOUR-IN-ONE COLLECTION Page 7

  The phone rang and Annie answered it. She listened for a few seconds then put the caller on hold, stood, and joined

  Cindy at the counter. “Joe Fitzgerald is on the phone. He’s wondering about the warranty and wants to know…” Annie stared down at the counter then picked up the glasses. “Hey. I thought you said you’d lost these.” She turned to Luke. “Where did you find them?”

  “They’re yours?”

  Cindy felt like she could melt from the intensity of Luke’s stare. He looked at all the parts of her she’d changed, thanks to Farrah, that were back to normal. The hair color had taken three washes, but it had eventually come out. She’d put her contacts back in during the taxi ride. Her nails had felt a little funny after she’d taken off the fake ones, making her wonder why women did things like that. It had taken two days for her ankles to stop hurting after trying to balance in Brittany’s shoes, but she’d liked the shoes so much she’d gone to the same store and bought the same pair, in the right size, for the day that she might actually need to wear them. Of course that meant buying a dress first.

  “Dee?” Luke’s voice came out an octave lower than usual. “Cindy. Why?”

  Beside her, Annie pressed her hands over her mouth as she studied Luke’s intense stare. “Oh no. Did I say something I shouldn’t have?” She cleared her throat. “Come on, Kat. Let’s go get a Coke.”

  Luke continued to stare while Annie and Kat made a quick exit, leaving them alone in the foyer. “You said had a break-in that night. Was that real? Is any of this real?”

  Her voice came out in a little squeak. “It was real—but a false alarm. One of the guys must have left a door unlocked and someone tried to open it. When the alarm went off, whoever it was got scared and took off.”

  “You looked so different that night. How did you do that to your eyes?”

  “I’m wearing colored contacts. I lost the clear ones before we met.”

  “Then I guess you know how I feel about you.”

  Her heart pounded. “Yes.”

  Luke stepped closer. “You still haven’t answered my first question. Be honest. Why didn’t you want me to know it was you?”

  Cindy held her breath. If she was going to be honest, she’d have to tell him that she’d fallen in love with him, especially after he’d had no hesitation about making it known that he loved her, too. Being with him felt so right, but the timing was all wrong. She was about to jump off a cliff to battle with Melissa in court, and she wouldn’t come out unscathed.

  She doubted she would win the house, but she refused to lose the business. Her mother had thought it cute that daddy’s little girl loved to pretend she was fixing cars with him. Even as a child she spent more time with her father, playing with his tools at the shop, than playing dolls with her friends.

  Then when her mother died, she hadn’t just played with the tools—instead of going to daycare her father had taken her to the shop, and when she got old enough, she’d learned to actually use them. Together they’d built a successful business, Cindy working at her father’s side when all her friends got other jobs, which earned them money. She’d even forgone her dream of going to business college to keep the business running when he married Melissa and needed to cut back on his hours. When he died, she’d completely taken over.

  Mufford Brake and Muffler was her father’s legacy and now it was hers—or at least it would be after the court battle. The situation was ugly enough, but if Luke got involved, knowing Luke had money would only give Melissa more ammunition and motivation.

  She couldn’t do that to Luke. Or Kat.

  Cindy gulped and looked up into Luke’s eyes. “Because I can’t let this happen, this thing between us. I can’t drag you and Kat into the middle of my family’s battle zone. I have to do this alone.”

  Luke stepped closer, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Is that what you really want?”

  Cindy rested one hand on his chest, feeling his heart pound beneath her palm.

  What did she really want? Until now, all she’d wanted was to carry on her father’s legacy—the business was all she had left of him. But was that what her father would have wanted for her? Of course she needed the income, but she had skills. She could always work for someone else.

  What her father wanted for her was for her to be happy. If she was happy fixing cars that was fine, but there was more to life than work. What would really make her happy was beneath her palm: Luke and the love he offered.

  Was fighting Melissa for total ownership of Mufford Brake and Muffler worth letting go of Luke?

  She nibbled her lower lip while he smiled and looked down at her, his question still hanging with one quirked eyebrow.

  “No,” Cindy said on a sigh. “It’s not what I really want. If I have to push you away to get control of the business, then it’s not worth it. I’d rather have you. I love you, Luke.”

  Luke groaned and pulled her closer. “I’ve wanted to do this for a very, very long time.” He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and kissed her. He tangled the fingers of one hand in her hair, the other hand drifted to the small of her back to pull her closer.

  And Cindy kissed him back with all the love in her heart.

  A bang from the shop reminded Cindy where they were. With the deepest regret, she nudged him away. He didn’t fight her, but she could tell he didn’t want to stop.

  When she could see his face, he opened his eyes, glanced over her shoulder, and then focused on her eyes and grinned. “We have an audience.”

  “Oh, no. Kat…” Cindy’s cheeks burned, and she increased the distance between them.

  As soon as they were separated, the door from the shop creaked open. Kat skipped through. “When’s the wedding?” she squealed. “Do I get to be a bridesmaid? Can I put a bow on Tippy?”

  Cindy squeezed her eyes shut.

  Luke stepped forward once more and grasped Cindy’s hands with his. “What about an answer to Kat’s question?”

  Cindy groaned. “Sure. As long as it’s not a butt bow.”

  Luke froze. “A what?” He shook his head. “Not that question. The other one. About the wedding.”

  “Wedding? What wedding?”

  “Ours.” He raised one hand to cup her cheek. “Cindy, will you marry me?”

  “I, uh…” Her brain stalled and her head swam. She could be Luke’s wife, but she hadn’t given any thought to being a stepmother for Kat. A stepmother…like Melissa. Luke picked up her hands. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re nothing like Melissa. Kat already loves you; she told me so the night of the banquet, and you already love her. Everything will be good. Great. We can work out all the details. We’ll be fine.”

  She stared into his face. He was right. When they all loved each other, everything could be worked out.

  She took a deep breath. The expression in his eyes told her she was doing the right thing. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  Behind them, Annie gasped. “This is so wonderful! I have to tell Zella.” She ran to the desk to retrieve her cell phone but picked up a piece of paper instead. “I forgot to tell you. The lawyer called. He said he needed to talk to you right away, that it’s important.”

  Cindy pressed her fingers into her temples. “I know what he wants,” she muttered. “I had some questions about making the garage into a suite and living there. I should probably call him back and tell him it’s no longer necessary.” She opened her eyes and looked at Luke. “Please tell me you don’t believe in long engagements.”

  Luke’s eyes widened. “Short. Really short. How about next week?”

  Cindy didn’t say anything; she only hoped he wasn’t joking as she picked up the paper with the lawyer’s number.

  Luke pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “I’ll leave you to your phone call. Tonight when we’re finished with work I want to take you out for supper to celebrate.” He turned to Kat. “Without you.”

  “Then I’m going to give Tippy more chicken pizza.”

 
“You go right ahead, as long as I don’t have to eat it.” He grinned. “I’ll be back at closing.”

  Before he could turn around, the phone rang. Annie ran to pick it up then started waving one hand in the air. “It’s the lawyer! Don’t go!”

  Cindy’s stomach dropped into the bottom of her steel-toed work boots as Annie pressed the button to put the call on speaker.

  “Cindy? I have some bad news for you,” the lawyer’s voice droned then paused.

  Cindy sucked in a deep breath. “If it’s about the garage, don’t worry about it. I don’t need it anymore because I’m getting married soon.” Her mind swirled. She was happy about getting married, but at the same time she felt the magnitude of what she was giving up. “I also need to tell you that I’m not going to fight Melissa contesting the will.” She tried to tell herself that it really was a no-win situation anyway. Even if she fought Melissa and won, the legal fees would use up most of the equity of the business. She wondered if Melissa was so vindictive that it had been her plan all along.

  “Married, you say? That changes everything.” She heard the shuffling of paper echo through the phone. “Here it is. Effective on the date of the wedding, the terms of the will of David Mufford changes the conditions of his assets left behind to, 100 percent of the business of Mufford Brake and Muffler reverts to Cindy Mufford, and 100 percent of the house reverts to Melissa Mufford. I have a list of which contents of the house go with Cindy and what stays with Melissa. There is no contesting this.” He paused, and the tone of his voice lightened. “Cindy, your father did this because after you’re married you won’t need the house, and Melissa never wanted the business. He didn’t want you to know about this until after you were engaged, so you wouldn’t choose the wrong man. I assume you’ve chosen the right one, so congratulations, and I hope you live happily ever after with him.”

  She could barely believe it, but she’d just heard it. Emotion tightened her throat, and a tear rolled down her cheek as she looked up at Luke.

  He smiled down and squeezed her hand.

  “Yes,” she choked out. “I met my Prince Charming, and we certainly will.”

  LOVE BY THE BOOKS

  Dedication

  Dedicated to my writing buddies in Scribes211—in alphabetical order—Bob Kaku, Donna Mumma, Ginny Hamlin, Jennifer Uhlark, Linda Truesdell,

  Ruth Reid, and Sarah Hamaker.

  I couldn’t have done this without you guys/gals.

  Chapter 1

  Annie Wilson’s hands froze over the keyboard as someone yanked open the door of Mufford Brake and Muffler. She tried not to cringe. She was having a bad day already, and she had a bad feeling it was about to get worse.

  Brent from Like a Prince Car Rentals strode to the counter and looked up at the clock on the wall. “Is the red Ford finished yet? You said it would be ready half an hour ago.”

  She stood and approached him, glad for the barrier of the counter between them. “I’m sorry, no. As you know, we’re short a mechanic this week, and we’re running a bit behind.”

  Brent ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t mean to be snappy, but I’m short someone, too. I don’t have a minute to spare with Luke gone.”

  Annie swept one hand in the air toward the shop. “The guys are working as hard as they can with Cindy gone. We took your Ford without an appointment, and we’re doing our best.” She turned her head to the west, in the direction of the ocean and ultimately Hawaii, where Luke and Cindy were. “Do you think they’re thinking of us and what’s going on while they’re gone?”

  “I doubt it. At least they shouldn’t be. I sure wouldn’t be thinking of work on my honeymoon.” He turned his head toward Hawaii, too, and his expression softened. “I still can’t believe how quickly this happened. It took him so long to get her attention, and then it felt like the next day they were married.”

  Annie sighed. “I can’t believe that story Luke told Cindy about getting a great deal on the plane tickets, but only if they used them right away.”

  Brent nodded. “I know. But it worked.”

  Annie didn’t believe anyone really fell for that line, yet somehow they’d managed to make a wedding happen in two short weeks. Although with the way her mother had treated Cindy, Annie couldn’t blame Cindy for wanting to get out of the house as fast as possible.

  Ever since the night of Brent and Luke’s banquet, Annie’s eyes had been opened to her mother’s behavior toward Cindy, which had shown her the real Cindy. She’d believed all her mother’s lies and wrongly acted just as awfully as her mother. Even though her mother had no remorse, Annie couldn’t shake the guilt. In an attempt to make things right between them, Annie had done her best to pull every string she could to make the wedding happen. And in order for Cindy to actually go on a honeymoon, Annie had volunteered to run things at the brake and muffler shop. Now that she was a college graduate, she’d be looking for a job at a public accounting firm, but those plans were put temporarily on hold.

  She knew she would be in over her head, but she hadn’t counted on Luke’s partner and his bad attitude.

  Brent checked his watch, as if he didn’t trust the clock he’d just looked at only minutes ago. “How much longer will it be? The people who reserved it will be here soon, and I haven’t given it an inspection yet.”

  “I’ll have to ask Oscar. I’ll be right back.”

  As she turned to walk into the shop, the hair on the back of her neck bristled. She couldn’t believe Brent had the nerve to follow her.

  She spun around, holding up one hand to stop him. “Customers aren’t allowed beyond the yellow line.”

  He pointed down at the line they were both about to cross. “Neither are you if you’re not wearing safety boots.” He stared down at her feet. “Unless those are steel-toed sandals.”

  Annie couldn’t help but wiggle her exposed toes. She hadn’t thought about going into the shop before; she’d never needed to. “Never mind the sarcasm. Wait here.”

  She shuffled across the floor, being careful not to trip on any loose nuts or debris. “Oscar, how much longer?”

  “Five minutes. Or more if he’s being a pain.”

  Annie bit back a grin. “Just get it done,” she muttered and walked back to the yellow line.

  At her return, Brent turned and walked back to where he should have been in the first place.

  “Five minutes and it’s all yours.”

  He checked his watch again. “I’ll be back in four, which should be enough time to start filling out the form.” He turned and left the second he finished his sentence.

  Annie didn’t know whether to be angry with him or feel sorry for him. Even though she didn’t like his manners, or lack thereof, she could understand his situation. She felt the same without Cindy running things. Luke and Cindy had only been gone four days, and already everything was nearing a disaster. She’d never appreciated Cindy’s organizational skills. Instead of learning from Cindy’s instructions, for the past year she’d listened to her mother and only answered the phones and done a minimal amount of actual work. Most of the time she’d been there, she’d done her homework for college. Now she was trying to run the place, and she was totally unprepared.

  Annie watched as Oscar lowered Brent’s fleet car down on the hoist, mentally counting the seconds until his return. She’d been so unfair to Cindy. No matter what it took, for the two weeks Cindy was away on her honeymoon, Annie vowed to do everything she could to make up for her past sins. Even if that meant dealing with Luke’s partner.

  Brent Wallace gripped the pencil so hard he didn’t know how it didn’t snap.

  During the time that Luke had been pursuing Cindy, it had been their unspoken agreement that Luke would be the one to go over to the brake and muffler shop when they needed something. Or even when they didn’t. Brent had found Luke’s besotted behavior amusing. But what hadn’t been amusing were the times when Luke came back frustrated over Cindy’s sisters’—or rather, her stepsisters’—
behavior. He’d often grumbled about Annie being the worst slacker he’d ever seen, in addition to being downright disrespectful to Cindy, who, despite the family relationship, was the boss and should have been treated accordingly.

  Even without Cindy there, Annie didn’t follow the rules. He could understand her not wearing regulation safety footwear, but sandals with her toes showing…

  Cute little toes with bright-red nail polish…

  Brent shook his head to clear the image from his mind.

  Luke had asked him to make sure Annie could manage the place on short notice in Cindy’s absence, but Brent understood what Luke meant. Luke had meant for him to keep an eye on Annie to make sure she actually worked.

  It was going to be a long two weeks.

  Chapter 2

  Annie flexed her fingers and rubbed her aching wrist.

  It had been the fastest and busiest two weeks of her life, and she’d never been so sore. Halfway through the first week, Jack called in sick, and then the next week Oscar caught the same bug. Instead of turning customers away, Annie had put down her accounting pencil, borrowed Cindy’s coveralls, and with Brent’s words echoing through her head, she’d bought a pair of safety boots.

  The mechanics had given her the lackey jobs, calling them easy, but they hadn’t been easy for her. While it didn’t take much skill to change a tire, the tools were big and heavy, and the jarring from the impact wrench had surely loosened her teeth. She’d also never known that tires were so heavy.

  She forced herself to keep her eyes open as she locked the front door and flipped the sign to Closed. Now that the staff had gone home, it was time to do the bank deposit, e-mail orders for all the parts they’d used, and double-check they had everything they needed for the next day’s appointments. Every night she hadn’t gotten home until nearly eleven o’clock, and then she had to be back at 6:30 a.m. to open up. By the end of the first week, she’d considered bringing a sleeping bag, except there was no couch and that would have meant sleeping on the dirty floor. Tonight she felt like she could do exactly that, maybe even without a sleeping bag.