Free I Do! by Rachel Gibson Page A

he asked a kid from Ohio who thought he might have something. Jack listened to him because he liked cars from Ohio. Less humidity. Less rust.
    “I’ve got a 426 Hemi Cuda.”
    Everything in Jack stilled and he forgot about the pain in his back. A 426 Hemi Cuda was rare as hell.
    “Convertible.”
    He relaxed and laughed. Only twenty-one convertible Hemi Cudas with a 426 had been produced. They were not only rare, they were practically an urban myth. “Check the VIN,” he said. A lot of people thought they found something rare when they went through their daddy’s and granddaddy’s barns and garages, only to check the VINs and discover the engine didn’t match the frame. The parts didn’t square with the year, and the doors weren’t original to rest of the body. Jack’s brother, Billy, called them “Frankenstein cars.” The brothers bought Frankenstein cars from disappointed sellers all the time and used them for the parts that were original.
    “I did check the VIN on the engine and the numbers all match.”
    “E-mail me some photos.” He needed to see proof before he hauled his ass to Ohio to check it out. “I’ll call you once I get your pictures.” He hung up the phone and shook his head as his son, Nathan, walked into the office, tall and lean and the stamp of Jack’s father clear on his forehead. He remembered the first time he’d met Nathan. The first time he’d walked through that office door. A skinny kid with spiky hair, a ring in his bottom lip, and a dog chain around his neck.
    He’d held his skateboard beneath one arm, prepared to confront his biological father. The chain, lip ring, and skateboard were gone. His hair was still a bit spiky and he still wore his damn pants too low, but he was a good boy. A good man. He’d always been easygoing and never really given Jack and Daisy a lot of problems growing up. Not even that baby-daddy bullshit with Lindsey a few years back had caused too much heartache. Nathan said he wasn’t the daddy, and they believed him. He’d never given them any reason not to believe him.
    “Got a minute?” Nathan said.
    “Sure.” His sisters . . . those two little girls were going to make up for it. Eight-year-old Rosemary and two-year-old Lily Belle were sweet-faced tyrants.
    Nathan sat in the chair across the desk with something clearly on his mind. He worried his bottom lip before he came out with it. “When did you know that you loved Mom?”
    Jack studied his son. When Nathan was serious, his brows lowered and his eyes turned a darker blue, like now. “You and Holly getting serious?” Jack liked Holly Ann okay. He didn’t think she was right for his son, but if Nathan did, he’d have to accept it.
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “Holly Ann and I broke up.”
    “When?”
    “Sunday.”
    It was only Tuesday. Whoever he thought he’d fallen in love with, it had happened pretty quick. Nathan didn’t offer anything more and Jack didn’t push. His son was a man and he wouldn’t pry. Not that he needed to. Daisy could pry anything out of Nathan and then she’d tell him anyway.
    “I fell in love with your mama the first time I laid eyes on her. It was the first day of first grade and I saw her standing by herself on playground.”
    “How did you know you loved her?”
    “Well, she had a big red bow in her shiny blond hair, and once I looked into her big brown eyes, I felt my little chest get tight.”
    Nathan’s brows drew together. “What did you do?”
    He shrugged. “I told her she had the stupidest hair bow I ever did see. She told me I was stupid, then she burst into tears.”
    “That wasn’t very slick.”
    He laughed. “I always did have a way with the ladies.”
    Nate finally smiled as he looked across at him. “Was being with her different?”
    “Being? Do you mean sex?”
    Nathan nodded.
    “Yes.” Jack leaned back in his chair. “Being with your mama taught me the difference between sex and making love. Being with her, I learned that