little girls? He final y climbed in behind the steering wheel,

hiding his smile when he saw Peg studying the dashboard

that looked like it belonged in a Black Hawk helicopter.

He’d driven the ful -sized SUV back from Pine Creek in

the wee hours of this morning, leading his convoy of

equipment through a gauntlet of moose out licking the salt

that had pooled in the potholes from this winter’s sanding.

At the rate this spring was going, he wouldn’t have many

more nights of below-freezing temperatures, which was the

only time he could run his trucks until the road postings

were removed—which didn’t happen until the frost heaves

settled back into place and the roadbed dried up.

“Do ye like the truck?” he asked conversational y.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many accessories,” she

said, fingering the buttons on her door handle. He saw her

glance over her shoulder. “Or one with bucket seats instead

of a bench in back.” She tapped the built-in navigation

screen and shot him a sassy smile. “You get lost a lot, do

you?”

“No, but my mother does, apparently. This is her truck,

not mine.”

“Then why are you driving it?”

“Because she’s wanting to sel it, and I told her that I

happened to know someone who might be interested in

buying it.”

“Who? Olivia?” She leaned back in her seat with a

chuckle. “That way she and Mac would have twin SUVs,

only his is pearl white, not gold like this one.”

“Actual y, I was thinking you might be interested in buying

the truck, since you … sold your van.”

She half laughed, half snorted in surprise. “Yeah, right; I

might be able to afford the down payment if I were getting

two fifty a yard for my gravel.”

“The truck’s six years old, Peg, and has close to eighty

thousand miles on it, making it very affordable at two

twenty-five a yard. It’s also considerably safer than what you were driving. It’s four-wheel drive and has a ful frame

underneath it, which gives you and your tribe a fighting

chance against logging trucks in an accident.”

“Affording the truck and affording the gas for it is another

matter,” she said, even as Duncan saw her studying the

dash a bit more discerningly.

But he was ready for her arguments. “Actual y, I believe it

gets the same gas mileage as your van did. The rear end is

geared for economy rather than towing because it was

Mom’s vehicle.”

“Real y?” she said in surprise, glancing at the children in

back before he felt her eyes narrowing on him. “How much

commission is she paying you to lie to a nearly

destitute widow about the gas mileage?”

Hearing the laughter in her voice, Duncan started to

relax. “Wel , she did promise to bring me an apple crisp

and large bowl of whipped cream when she and Dad come

to visit my work site next week.” He smiled over at her. “If I

have her truck sold so she can go buy the shiny red sports

car she has her eye on.”

Peg settled into her seat again with a sigh. “I don’t think

the bank wil give me a loan based on future income.”

“But I have faith in your future income, which is why on my

drive back this morning I thought of a deal we might work

out.”

He felt her eyes narrowing on him again. “What kind of

deal?”

“What if we took one day of wheeler loads out of your

weekly check for … say, the next twelve weeks?”

He could almost hear the gears turning in her brain just

before he heard her gasp. “That’s less than ten thousand

dol ars! This truck is worth at least three times that.”

“Not in today’s economy. That’s why Mom is sel ing it

instead of trading it in at the dealership, because their offer

was an insult. And,” he said when she tried to say

something, “I’ve recalculated after walking Mac’s mountain

a couple of times, and I’ve put on two extra trucks so that I’l

be hauling at least forty loads a day out of your pit for the

next four months. So that’s closer to thirteen thousand

dol ars for twelve weeks.”

He stifled a smile when her brain started grinding away

again. “But that would mean—wait. I don’t have that much

gravel.”

“Oh, but ye do. That vein is deeper than even I estimated.

I dug test holes nearly up to your northern line, and the

farther I went, the nicer the gravel was.”

He saw her glancing around the interior a bit longer this

time before she turned and gave the dash another scan—

al while rubbing her hand over the leather arm on her seat.

Oh yeah; was he a quick study or what? He had Peg pretty

much figured out—except for where and why she’d ditched

her van.

“Ten weeks,” she suddenly said. “One day’s worth of

wheeler loads for ten weeks and we might have a deal.”

“What! That’s not even eleven thousand dol ars. Are ye

trying to steal the truck from my mother? Do you have any

idea what it cost new?”

“And the booster seats stay with it,” she said, her eyes

fil ed with laughter. “I get the title signed over with my first

gravel check so I can register it, and we put the deal in

writing. But only after I talk to your mother on the phone,

which I intend to do the minute we get back from sending

Olivia and Mac on their way this morning.”

And right then, in less than a heartbeat, Duncan realized

he could live to be a hundred and ten and never have the

woman figured out. He turned to glance out the side mirror

to hide his smile, wondering why instead of scaring the hel

out of him that actual y turned him on. “Eleven weeks,” he

said into the pregnant silence. “And you have to bake me

an apple crisp drizzled with maple syrup and topped with

real whipped cream each one of those weeks.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’m always serious when it comes to apple crisp.” He

smiled over at her. “But I can be persuaded to share.” He

held out his hand. “Deal?”

She hesitated, biting her lower lip as she looked around

the interior again. “It’s awful … showy,” she whispered,

mostly to herself, he realized.

“It’s more about safety than luxury, Peg.” He put his

unshaken hand back on the wheel when she continued to

hesitate, and arched a brow to disguise the black thought

she’d just triggered. “Would looking showy prove to be a

problem for you?”

“Some people might feel I’m ra—that I’m stripping my

land bare just for money, and seeing me driving around in

something this fancy would only fuel the … gossip.”

Duncan glanced in his side mirror again, this time to hide

his scowl as he shrugged a deceptively negligent shoulder.

“Buying this truck was just an idea I had, Peg, because it’s

safe for your children and reasonably priced. And I know its

history, so I know it won’t be breaking down every time ye

go to town.” He smiled over at her. “But if what some

people might say is more than you want to deal with, I’l

understand if you pass on the offer.”

He saw her frown as she looked around again, absently

toying with the buttons on the door before she suddenly

thrust her hand toward him. “Okay, we have a deal. Eleven

days of gravel for the truck.”

He started to reach out but stopped. “And eleven apple

crisps.”

“It’s your waistline,” she said with a laugh, reaching more

than halfway to grab his hand and shake it. She squirmed in

her seat. “So pul over.”

“What?”

“I want to drive it.”

“You’re supposed to test drive a vehicle before you