“As a matter of fact, I am.”

“How did you manage that? You have to live in Jersey to get a license.”

“What are you? The plumber police?”

“Only for the Tri-State area. And how come you won’t answer my question?”

“Because I don’t have to! And—” she threw the wrench to the floor, water spraying the front of his jeans

“—you left me!”

And there it was. He couldn’t describe how satisfying it was to know that she had cared he’d left that day and that she still thought about him. He’d hate to think he was obsessing all on his own. “I had to leave. They called the Park Rangers.”

“Who did?”

“I’m guessing the half-brother of your half-brother—and can I call him that for eternity?”

“No. His name’s Brendon. And you let some cop force you to leave me when you promised you wouldn’t allow the organ thieves to get me?”

“The organ thieves didn’t get you, and yes, I just said that out loud. And it wasn’t some cop or some ranger…it was Toots.”

“Who the hell is Toots?”

Embarrassed, Lock didn’t answer her right away, and Gwen put her hands on her hips. “Well?”

“He’s a polar. Okay? Seven-seven, almost four hundred pounds, and he beat me up once.”

“He beat you up?”

“We were only fifteen at the time, but it was lasting damage.”

“Physical?”

Lock cleared his throat. “Emotional.”

“Emotional damage?”

“It can be just as devastating, Mr. Mittens!”

“Yeah. I can see it. You look completely devastated.”

“At least I can admit to my fears, She Who Is Stalked by the Organ Thieves of America.”

“That’s it, I’m leaving.”

Lock started laughing again. “Why? Because I’m rudely suggesting you have issues?”

“I don’t have issues.” She bent down and picked up her wrench. “I’m fine.”

“You snuck out the window when no one was looking so you could get away from your doctor.”

“I’m not talking about this.”

He grabbed the wrench from her. “You brought it up.”

“I brought up the fact you left me in that mortuary to die.”

“You call a medical center a mortuary and you don’t think you have issues?”

Snarling, she reached for the wrench, but he kept it from her by lifting it over his head. “You have to fix whatever damage my father’s done before my mother gets home.”

“Find someone else.”

“Please. I promise I’ll keep him upstairs and out of your hair.”

“Another promise? You sure do toss themaround.”

“This one I can keep as long as the half-brother of your half-brother doesn’t show up and ruin everything.”

“Stop calling him that.”

“No need to hiss, Mr. Mittens.”

“And stop calling me that!” She leaped up and snatched the wrench from him. “Get out of my sight!” she ordered after she’d landed.

Unable to keep his smile under control, Lock pointed at the stairs. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

“Yeah. Sure you will.”

Lock went back up the stairs and found his father in the kitchen—sulking.

“How about some coffee, Dad?”

“I don’t see why I can’t observe.”

“Dad,” Lock asked sincerely, “do you even know the meaning of that word?”

His father shrugged. “Sometimes.”

After a solid fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time, Gwen discovered three things. One, the MacRyrie family needed a new water heater. Two, she’d need to get the pump out of her truck to deal with the water on the floor that wasn’t going anywhere in that concrete basement. And three…that deserting idiot was even cuter than she remembered.

Marching back up the stairs, leaving a trail of water behind her, Gwen walked into the kitchen and stopped. Father and son sat at the table, their elbows on the wood, their hands gripping extremely large coffee mugs, the same expression on their faces. So much father and son, Gwen felt this weird tug at her heart.

“Well?” the grizzly son asked.

“Do you need some help, dear?” the grizzly dad eagerly offered.

“No, Dad.”

“But—”

“No.”

And all that anger she’d been carrying around since her argument with Mitch that morning washed away.

They were just so damn cute, she couldn’t stay mad at either one of them.

Biting back her smile, Gwen said, “You need a new water heater.”

“That sounds expensive,” the older bear said, his brow furrowing. “Your mother isn’t going to like it if it’s expensive, Lock.”

“Mom has no choice.” He shrugged at Gwen. “I’ve been trying to get them to get a new one for years. I did what I could.”

“It lasted longer than it should have, so you did really well. But it’s time to put her out of her misery and to get you folks up to the here and now.”

“Of course, of course.” Brody MacRyrie put his coffee mug down. “I understand.”

Eeesh. Twenty minutes ago, she was ready to charge this guy out the ass simply for being a pain. Now she didn’t have the heart. “Don’t worry, Mr. MacRyrie. I got ya covered.” She winked at him and the older bear’s face turned red.