He swore to himself and shifted the Jeep into gear. The wide tires chewed up the dirt road as the four-by-four sped toward town. He had some building contracts waiting for him to sign at his offices, and his mother and Louie were expecting him for lunch. Instead, he drove to a job site fifty miles north in Garden. The subcontractors were surprised to see him. The framers were even more surprised when he pulled on his work gloves and picked up a nail gun. He shot the hell out of the subfloor and wall studs. It had been several years since he and Louie had taken part in the physical part of construction. Most of his time was spent driving or talking with contractors and suppliers. If he wasnt driving or talking or doing both at the same time, he was creating new business. But after the day hed had, it felt good to shoot something again.

By the time he got home, it was past dark outside. He tossed his leather jacket and car keys on the marble countertop in the kitchen, then reached for a Bud. He could hear the television in another part of the house but wasnt concerned. His entire family had a key to his front door, and Sophie often came over to watch a movie on his big screen. His boots echoed on the hardwood floors as he made his way to the great room.

The television blinked off and Louie rose from the beige leather sofa. He tossed the remote on the pine coffee table. “You should call Mother and tell her youre not dead in a ditch.

Nick took a pull off his beer and eyed his older brother. “I will.

“Both of us have been trying to reach you since noon. Did you forget about lunch?

“No. I decided to drive to Garden.

“Why didnt you call?

He hadnt wanted to hear the disappointment in his mothers voice or listen to the guilt shed heap on his head. “I got busy.

“Why didnt you answer your cell phone?

“I didnt feel like it.

“Why, Nick?

“I told you why. What in the hell is this all about? You havent been waiting for me because I didnt answer my cell phone.

Louies brows lowered over his brown eyes. “Where were you?

“I told you.

“Tell me again.

Nicks scowl matched his brothers. “Go to hell.

“Its true then. What everyone is saying about you is true. You were screwing Delaney Shaw on the counter in her salon. Right there on Main Street for anybody walking by to see.

A slow smile started at the corners of Nicks mouth, then he burst into laughter.

Louie didnt see the humor. “God damn you, he swore. “When Mom told me shed heard you were kissing Delaney at Henneseys, I told her not to believe it. I told her you werent that stupid. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, you are!

“No Im not. I didnt screw Delaney in her shop or anyplace else.

Louie sniffed and scratched the side of his neck. “Maybe not yet, but you will. Youre going to go right ahead and lose it all.

Nick raised the beer and took a drink. “Now we get to the real reason youre here. Money. You dont care who I screw, as long as you get to develop Silver Creek.

“Sure. Why not? Ill admit it. I want it so bad the thought of it keeps me up at night just thinking of all those million-dollar houses and ways to spend all that money I stand to make. But even if that piece of property wasnt worth a pile of shit, Id still be here because Im your brother. Because I slithered through bushes with you. Spied with you, flattened the tires on her bike with you, and I thought we did it because she got a nice new Schwinn. She got what you should have had. And because I thought you hated her. But you didnt. You flattened those tires because you wanted to walk her home. You said you walked with her so Henry would see you and get all pissed off, but that was a lie. You were infatuated with her. Youve had a hard on for Delaney Shaw since you could get it up, and everyone knows you think with your dick.

Slowly Nick set his bottle on the stone mantel of the fireplace. “I think you better leave before I kick your ass all the way out of my house.

Louie crossed his arms over his barrel chest, not looking like he planned to leave any time soon. “Thats another thing. This house. Look at it.

“Yeah?

“Look around. You live in a thirty-eight-hundred-square-foot house. Youve got four bedrooms and five bathrooms. Youre one guy Nick. One.

Nick glance about at the fireplace made of smooth river rock, the high ceiling with exposed beams, and the bank of cathedral windows that looked out at the lake. “Whats your point?

“Whod you build it for? You say youre never going to get married. So why do you need such a big house?

“You tell me. You seem to know all the answers.

Louie rocked back on his heel. “You wanted to show Henry.

It was close enough to the truth that Nick didnt deny it. “Thats old news.

“You wanted to show her, too.

“Youre full of shit, he scoffed. “She didnt even live here.

“She does now, and youre going to screw up your life for a piece of high-price ass.

Nick pointed toward the front door. “Get out before you really piss me off.

Louie walked forward, stopping within an arms distance. “You going to throw me out, little brother?

“You going to make me? Nick was taller, but Louie was built like a bull. Not only did Nick not want to fight his own brother, he knew Louie hit like a bulldozer. He was relieved when Louie shook his head and walked past.

“If youre going to have sex with her, do it now. Louie sighed as he picked up his jacket from the back of a leather arm chair. “Do it before you get other contractors involved in Silver Creek. Do it before you contact more lenders, and do it before I waste any more of my time.

“Youre worrying about nothing, Nick assured his brother as they walked to the front door. “Im not going anywhere near Delaney, and I have a feeling shell be avoiding me for a long time.

“Then what happened in her salon today?

Nick opened the heavy wood door. “Nothing. I changed her locks for her. Thats it.

“I doubt it. Louie shrugged into his jacket and headed down the steps. “Call Mom, he said. “The sooner you get it over with, the better.

Nick shook his head and walked back into the great room. He wasnt in the mood to call his mother. He didnt want to hear her rant about Delaney. He snagged his beer off the mantle, then headed through a pair of French doors to the deck. Steam rose from the octagonal hot tub, and he flipped the switch to start the jets. His right shoulder ached from the work hed done in Garden. He stripped naked and goose bumps broke over his arms and chest before he stepped into the bubbling hot water. The windows from the house threw oblong patches of light but didnt reach his corner of the deck.

Louie had been right about some things and dead wrong about others. Nick had originally built his house as an “up yours gesture toward Henry. But before construction had been halfway completed, hed lost interest in proving anything to anybody. As far as Delaney, he hadnt really expected to see her again. His brother was way off the mark with that theory. Hed been close to the truth with the bicycle conspiracy theory of his though. Originally Nick hadnt planned to push the bike all the way to Henrys, but then hed looked at her face when shed seen her tires. Shed looked as if she were about to burst into tears and hed felt so guilty, hed helped her. Hed even given her a Tootsie Roll, and shed given him a stick of gum. Peppermint.

Louie had been right about the other—although hed call it a strong interest rather than infatuation. But contrary to his brothers opinion, he wasnt going to have sex with her. He might not be able to control his bodys reaction, but he sure as hell could control what he did, or didnt do, about it.

People said a lot of things about him. Some were true. Some werent. For the most part he didnt care. But Delaney would. She would be hurt by the gossip.