into the soapy water, his outdoorsy scent teasing her nostrils. “No imposition. I enjoyed the company.” He picked up a tea towel and began drying. The graze of his hand as he reached for the mug she’d just rinsed unleashed a flutter of butterflies in her stomach.
Oh, boy. She seriously needed to get over this schoolgirl crush. She’d seen enough failed marriages to know they never lasted.
Marriage? She shook her head. Clearly, no worries there. In Josh’s eyes, she was still little Becki. She let the water out of the sink and pictured her silly girlhood crush swirling down the drain.
Little Becki grew up a long time ago...the day her parents had announced their divorce.
“Okay, let’s go.” She dried her hands on the edge of his towel. “Show me what you plan to do with those cameras. I need to start unpacking.”
He tossed the towel on the back of the chair and reached over her head to hold open the door. Tripod raced past and out ahead of them. “I’ll carry your boxes into the house.”
“No need. I can handle them.”
“You heard what my sister said.” Josh’s stern tone dared her to argue. “No heavy lifting for a few days.” He led the way to the barn, where he stopped and scanned the nearby trees. “I’m going to set up a couple of motion-triggered cameras so if your car thief comes back, we’ll catch him in the act.”
“Then what?”
“I’ll arrest him for trespassing and attempted robbery and whatever else I can think of.”
“Hmm.” She grinned. “Pretty handy having a police officer for a neighbor.”
His expression sobered. “No telling what time of day or night this guy might show up. If I’m not around, call nine-one-one and stay locked in the house. Don’t try to confront him.”
“Don’t you think he’d run off if he realized he’d been spotted?”
“Some guys would just as soon shoot a witness as run away.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Are you trying to scare me?”
“Prepare you.” Tripod bounded up to them, barking happily. “Maybe we should get you a dog.”
Her heart leaped at the suggestion. “What a great idea. I’ve always wanted one. Maybe a big lovable golden retriever who—”
“The idea is to get a dog that will scare a robber off, not show him to the silver.”
She laughed. “Oh, like Tripod here?”
“Yeah.” Josh tousled the scruff on the dog’s neck. “He’s not what you want.”
“I like him. He’s sweet.”
“Sweet won’t scare away a prowler.” Josh rolled open the barn’s big sliding door. “And you definitely have one. I found a couple of footprints.” He pointed to the dirt-crusted floor. “See those? Too big for your grandparents or you, and the tread pattern doesn’t match anything I wear.”
“You were already over here this morning?”
“The sun rises early.” He winked.
For the first time she noticed dark shadows under his eyes. Had he even gone to sleep last night?
An hour after she’d headed back up to bed the night before, she’d heard the screen door clap shut and figured he was doing another scan of her grandparents’ property. Her property. That trek probably hadn’t been the only one.
A cat bolted from the corner of the barn, and Tripod took off after it.
“Won’t see him for a while.” Josh strode toward the car, which sparkled in the sunlight beaming through the gaps in the boarded walls. “It looks like the guy gave the car a thorough going-over. Both the gear stick and emergency brake lever had been shifted. The toolbox under the seat had been rifled through. Looking for a key, maybe. Best-case scenario, it was a kid playing around.” His tone sounded grim.
“But you don’t think so?”
He shook his head. “I dusted for fingerprints on the door handles, gear shift and steering wheel. They were clean.”
“Clean? As in not even Gramps’s prints were on them?” She failed to keep the wobble out of her voice. No prints meant someone had wiped them away.
“Your grandfather was pretty meticulous about keeping it polished. But kids don’t usually think to wear gloves. Not in the middle of summer.”
She swallowed, forcing calm into her voice this time. “So worst case?” She opened the passenger door, and memories of riding proudly around town with her gramps flooded her thoughts.
“If it’s a professional, he’s got to realize he wouldn’t get far driving this thing out of here before being spotted. So I’m guessing next time, he’ll stash a trailer nearby to drive it into.”
“You really think someone would go to that much trouble?”
Josh raised an eyebrow. “The last Cadillac of this vintage I saw sell at auction went for eighty-five thousand dollars.”
“Are you serious?”
“Trust me.” He buffed a smudge from the hood with a fond smile. “If I could have afforded to buy this car from your grandfather, I would have made him an offer.”
Becki bit her lip. If Sarah found out what the car was worth, she’d demand it be sold for sure.
Becki’s heart lurched at the thought. She didn’t care about the money. The car had been Gramps’s pride and joy. How could she let it go?
She had sat for hours on the backseat with her notepad and pen as Gramps tinkered with something or the other and recounted adventures he’d had driving the car as a boy. She whirled toward Josh. “We can’t let it be stolen!”
“I don’t intend to.”
His confident tone quelled her alarm. Embarrassed she’d let it get the better of her, she gave him a lopsided smile. “Would you show me how it works, too?”
“Be happy to. First, I’ll need to figure out what’s wrong with it. Your gramps and I never did get it running reliably again. I’ll take a look at it this afternoon, after I get those cameras up. If I can get it working, we can take it out after church tomorrow, if you like.”
Becki gave him an impulsive hug. “Thank you!”
Josh folded his arms around her. “My pleasure, Bec.”
The tender sound of his pet name for her momentarily stayed her instinct to pull back. Since learning of her grandparents’ deaths, she’d felt so alone. Josh was the only one to comfort her who really cared.
“Maybe you and I could work on it together, like your gramps did with me after my dad died.”
Reluctantly, she eased her arms from
