with Isabella?” Zach asked Thane.
“What do you mean? Why do you ask?”
“Because I just saw her storm out of here.”
“She did, didn’t she? Damned if I know why. We were having a normal conversation about the images to use as wall décor and when I asked her if she wanted to come over to the house to have dinner and a movie, she couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”
“Hmm, I guess it isn’t just me then. She’s snobby like that to everyone.”
“Told you it wasn’t personal,” Troy tossed out as he went to pick up his drill to get back to installing shelving and cabinets.
“What are you guys talking about?” Thane wanted to know.
“Isabella. She’s been standoffish for months now, ever since she got here,” Zach grumbled.
“Ah, well, I didn’t know you two had a thing going on,” Thane stated.
“Not a thing at all, not with me anyway,” Zach said in denial. “I’ve tried to have a couple of conversations with her though. She’s always polite but…clearly reserved and not interested.”
“You called her snooty,” Troy corrected.
“Yeah, Zach took her attitude personally,” Ryder explained.
Zach skewed up his mouth. “I guess I did. But I’m taking Drea over to Santa Cruz tonight for dinner and a movie. I’m not interested in pursuing Isabella, although she is a looker.”
“No argument there,” Thane agreed.
Zach slapped Thane on the back. Then the door’s wide open for you, my friend.”
“I don’t think so. I have zero time in my life right now for a woman with an attitude, let alone a high-maintenance one.”
“High-maintenance? She doesn’t strike me like that,” Ryder said. “I’ve known women who were. But then, what do I know about the ways of the female mind? All I do know is that Julianne invited her to a barbeque on Memorial Day and she took a pass. There’ve been other functions where she did the same thing.”
“That day she rode her bike down the hill, stopped for two minutes to tell us she had somewhere else to be,” Zach added. “I guess she had other fish to fry.”
“We assumed she was headed over to Logan and Kinsey’s house at the time,” Troy offered. “Gotta be a logical reason she’s keeping to herself so much.”
“I’ve seen women act that same way after they’ve spent time in an abusive relationship,” Ryder proffered. “My mother’s a nurse, dragged me to one of those women’s shelters a couple times where she forced me to volunteer to put on a new roof at one.”
Thane started to disagree with that but then thought of yesterday at the doctor’s office. There had been something odd about Doc Prescott’s reaction to finding him there waiting when she came out of the exam room that seemed off. Doc’s attitude had bordered on chilly. At the time, he hadn’t thought much about it. But now it made him wonder, not just about Doc but about the woman with the sultry green eyes. Could that be it? Could Isabella have been physically abused? Maybe she wanted nothing to do with men.
“If that’s true, it’s a shame she’d put up with that,” Zach said. “Makes me want to find the bastard and give him the same type of payback.”
Troy nodded. “I could get on board with that.”
“Make it three,” Thane admitted. “With no problem whatsoever.”
“Well, if we find this guy he’d be surrounded and outgunned, that’s for sure,” Ryder noted. “No offense, Thane, but I don’t even think the three of us would need your muscle.”
“None taken, but you can’t leave me out entirely. Do you suppose it’s true? Or are we jumping to a conclusion where there’s no proof?”
Troy made a sound in his throat that had Thane eyeing him with open interest. “If you know something about her past now would be a good time to mention it.”
“Nothing definite, but I did overhear a conversation once when I stopped by Logan’s house. I was there to pick up a set of plans he’d done to redo my kitchen in the house
“What do you mean? Why do you ask?”
“Because I just saw her storm out of here.”
“She did, didn’t she? Damned if I know why. We were having a normal conversation about the images to use as wall décor and when I asked her if she wanted to come over to the house to have dinner and a movie, she couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”
“Hmm, I guess it isn’t just me then. She’s snobby like that to everyone.”
“Told you it wasn’t personal,” Troy tossed out as he went to pick up his drill to get back to installing shelving and cabinets.
“What are you guys talking about?” Thane wanted to know.
“Isabella. She’s been standoffish for months now, ever since she got here,” Zach grumbled.
“Ah, well, I didn’t know you two had a thing going on,” Thane stated.
“Not a thing at all, not with me anyway,” Zach said in denial. “I’ve tried to have a couple of conversations with her though. She’s always polite but…clearly reserved and not interested.”
“You called her snooty,” Troy corrected.
“Yeah, Zach took her attitude personally,” Ryder explained.
Zach skewed up his mouth. “I guess I did. But I’m taking Drea over to Santa Cruz tonight for dinner and a movie. I’m not interested in pursuing Isabella, although she is a looker.”
“No argument there,” Thane agreed.
Zach slapped Thane on the back. Then the door’s wide open for you, my friend.”
“I don’t think so. I have zero time in my life right now for a woman with an attitude, let alone a high-maintenance one.”
“High-maintenance? She doesn’t strike me like that,” Ryder said. “I’ve known women who were. But then, what do I know about the ways of the female mind? All I do know is that Julianne invited her to a barbeque on Memorial Day and she took a pass. There’ve been other functions where she did the same thing.”
“That day she rode her bike down the hill, stopped for two minutes to tell us she had somewhere else to be,” Zach added. “I guess she had other fish to fry.”
“We assumed she was headed over to Logan and Kinsey’s house at the time,” Troy offered. “Gotta be a logical reason she’s keeping to herself so much.”
“I’ve seen women act that same way after they’ve spent time in an abusive relationship,” Ryder proffered. “My mother’s a nurse, dragged me to one of those women’s shelters a couple times where she forced me to volunteer to put on a new roof at one.”
Thane started to disagree with that but then thought of yesterday at the doctor’s office. There had been something odd about Doc Prescott’s reaction to finding him there waiting when she came out of the exam room that seemed off. Doc’s attitude had bordered on chilly. At the time, he hadn’t thought much about it. But now it made him wonder, not just about Doc but about the woman with the sultry green eyes. Could that be it? Could Isabella have been physically abused? Maybe she wanted nothing to do with men.
“If that’s true, it’s a shame she’d put up with that,” Zach said. “Makes me want to find the bastard and give him the same type of payback.”
Troy nodded. “I could get on board with that.”
“Make it three,” Thane admitted. “With no problem whatsoever.”
“Well, if we find this guy he’d be surrounded and outgunned, that’s for sure,” Ryder noted. “No offense, Thane, but I don’t even think the three of us would need your muscle.”
“None taken, but you can’t leave me out entirely. Do you suppose it’s true? Or are we jumping to a conclusion where there’s no proof?”
Troy made a sound in his throat that had Thane eyeing him with open interest. “If you know something about her past now would be a good time to mention it.”
“Nothing definite, but I did overhear a conversation once when I stopped by Logan’s house. I was there to pick up a set of plans he’d done to redo my kitchen in the house
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