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Ford shook his head. “Nope. I’m liking farm life a lot more than I expected.”

“And how much of that is because of my baby sister?”

Ford laughed. He hadn’t been expecting this, but he probably should have been. “Playing the protective older brother, Annie? Jolie’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself.”

Knox nodded, no sign of a smile on his face. “She is. But something or someone hurt her, and I don’t want to see that happen again.”

Ford lowered his hands, set down the drill, and looked directly at his best friend. No power tools in use when he was pissed. A family rule his dad had drilled—ha ha—into them from an early age. “And you think I’m the kind of guy to hurt her? To take advantage of her?”

Knox shook his head. “Hell, no. Not on purpose. You’re one of the best men I know. But she’s my little sister.”

Ford closed his eyes and blew out a slow breath. “I know. Hell, I tried to ignore her for that very reason. But she’s like a magnet. She’s a hell of a woman, Knox. Strong and smart. Careful with people and the world around her. Enough curiosity to make a cat jealous. And sexy as hell.”

“Hey.” Knox drew the word out into three syllables.

Ford laughed again. “It’s the truth, Annie. I tried keeping my mind off her. Tried to ignore the energy she puts out without trying. But I can’t.”

Ford sighed heavily.

“We’ve been going slow. Both of us worry about what happens if it doesn’t work. But she’s special, Knox. Really special.”

They studied each other for a long moment and he saw the instant when Knox resigned himself to the reality.

“Fine.”

That made Ford laugh again. “Not that you have any say in the matter, but I’m glad you’re not going to make things hard.”

Knox closed his eyes with a grimace at Ford’s inadvertent innuendo.

Glad the conversation was over without knuckles flying or hard feelings, Ford lifted his drill again. “I mean, have you seen those legs of hers? She’s an incredibly sexy woman.”

His buddy picked up another board with a growl.

Might as well drive him right up the wall. “I enjoy drilling. And nailing. I think we’re doing a bang-up job here.”

Knox flipped him off, but there wasn’t a hint of pissed-off in the gesture. Ford was going to have a lot of fun using construction terms to make Annie nuts. “Pass me some more screws for my drill, would you?”

“Don’t make me kill you, Dodge.”

Grinning at the use of his call sign, Ford knew they’d be okay. “Couldn’t if you tried, Annie.”

“Don’t make us find out for sure.”

Yep, they’d be okay.

Jolie flopped onto the ground, hoping she wasn’t lying in duck poop she hadn’t spotted. She breathed in the fresh air and let the sunshine lift her mood.

When she found the jackass who’d tossed that cylinder in the pond, she was going to kick his butt. Or at least yell at him a little. Thoughtless jerks. Why couldn’t they take their junk to the landfill for proper disposal?

It wasn’t a garbage can; it was far too small. More like a large thermos. It appeared to be a completely smooth cylinder, but she didn’t know much more. She couldn’t see it through the murkiness of the pond, but she had been poking her stick at it for ages.

Removing it had become personal and necessary. Her muscles ached from keeping the canoe balanced while she tried everything she could think of to move the cylinder. She’d even named it.

Cyril. Cyril the Cylinder. Bringer of evil to her pond.

Vanquishing Cyril was now her life’s mission. Then she’d hunt down the Cyril thrower-outer and vent the rest of her frustration.

The thought made her smile. In her imagination, she was a tough woman who knew how to administer vengeance. Real life? Not a chance.