I sat in my truck, staring at the restaurant. My gaze tracked the script on the sign: The Warf. I needed to go in. I was already five minutes late. If I let it drag to ten, I’d be firmly in the rude category. That wasn’t who I was.
But when I’d said yes to dinner with some real estate guy on vacation from Seattle, I hadn’t known what today would hold. The thought had anger flooding my system. He didn’t get to do this.
It was bad enough that I measured every guy I ever went on a date with against Holt. A mental tally that always left the new guy coming up short. But now he was invading my physical space, too?
I’d thought we had a silent agreement. He didn’t show up around town, and I didn’t drunkenly call him, begging to know why he’d left. At least that was the agreement in my mind. And now that was all shot to hell.
“Looks like you’re staring pretty hard there.”
I jolted, sending up a million curses in my head as Chris stepped up to my open window. I didn’t let people sneak up on me. I was always aware of my surroundings. “Hey.”
“You okay?”
I blew out a long breath. “Want to go on my date for me?”
He let out a low, familiar chuckle, one I’d heard a million times. At first, that laugh had killed me. It didn’t sound right because I was used to hearing it mixed with Holt’s. But Chris and Jude had stuck it out, not letting me push them away.
They were the ones I called when I couldn’t fix the leak under my sink. Or when I needed furniture moved around that I couldn’t wrestle myself. They checked in on the regular and made sure I always knew I had help if I needed it.
Chris shook his head. “I think whoever’s in there waiting for you would probably be damn disappointed if I showed up.”
I leaned back in my seat, still staring at the restaurant as if I could make it disappear. “He’s back.”
Chris stiffened. I felt the shift in the air as his muscles tensed, but it took him a moment to speak. “I know.”
I looked at him then, studying the way that tension had etched itself into Chris’s face. “You see him?”
He nodded. “Ran into him outside the B&B. I think he’s staying there.”
My stomach twisted like someone wringing water out of a towel. Way too close. I’d thought for sure he’d stay with Lawson or Nash. Maybe in the cabin. But less than a block from where I worked every day? That felt like a slap in the face.
“You okay?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “Are you?”
I wasn’t the only one Holt had left in the wreckage. Chris, Jude, the Hartleys. Who knew who else? We had all been hurt when he took off. It was almost worse that he’d stuck around all through my rehab after the shooting. That he’d held my hand as I regained enough strength to move my body again. It was as if he’d built me back up only to level the death blow.
A muscle in Chris’s jaw ticked. “He’s an ass.”
My lips twitched. “That’s the truth.”
“I can’t just forget that he blew us all off like we were nothing.”
Nothing. It ricocheted around my body just like that damn bullet had.
“But I also know that what happened twisted him up good. I know that’s why he made stupid-ass decisions that hurt a lot of people—people who didn’t deserve it.”
I swallowed against the burn creeping up my throat. It was as if the fire the bullet had started in my chest had never been fully extinguished. It flared up again without warning to take me out at the knees.
It wasn’t that I thought Holt was malicious. I knew him too well for that. It was that our love hadn’t been enough. I had always thought it was a force that could move mountains. But at the end of the day, he had been able to leave with nothing more than a letter slipped under my door.
“I’d better get in there.”
Concern flashed in Chris’s green eyes. “I could go in and tell this dude you’re sick.”
I shook my head.
“You slipped and fell, got amnesia, and don’t remember your name?”
A laugh bubbled out of me, and I climbed out of my truck. I pulled Chris into a quick hug. “Thanks.”
“Always, Little Williams.”
I groaned as I released him. “Not you, too.”
He grinned. “Nash’s nicknames are catchy as hell.”
I shook my head and started for the restaurant, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
“That one dump of a building in an up-and-coming neighborhood was my breakthrough. All of a sudden, the big players were taking notice. They wanted me hunting for opportunities for them. Not anyone else.”
I made a humming voice as William droned on. It wasn’t like he cared about what I had to say anyway. All he wanted was to think he had a captive audience as he relived his many corporate victories.
“From then on, I was running with the big dogs. One client introduced me to another, and before I knew it, I was buying that Maserati.”
The urge to roll my eyes was so strong I had to bite the inside of my cheek. I did my best to tune out his voice in my head, but I still studied the man opposite me. There was no denying that he was handsome. He had dark brown hair, expertly cut and styled, but it didn’t swoop down over his forehead the way Holt’s did. And my fingers didn’t itch to run through the strands.
My fingers curled into fists under the table, my nails biting into my palms. Chris had joked about amnesia, but sometimes, I wondered if something like that would be a kindness. Not to remember how Holt’s smile pulled to one side a little more than the other. The way he ran his thumb under his bottom lip when he was thinking hard about something. How his blue eyes went soft when he told me he loved me.
I burrowed deeper into Holt’s side as we stared up at the night sky. He’d created a cozy nest in the bed of his truck, one perfect for stargazing. It was my favorite thing in the world: Holt, me, and the peace of nature around us.
His fingers trailed up and down my arm. “I say a place with a view of the lake. Far enough outside of town that things are quiet but not as far as my parents’ place.”
I grinned into the dark as warmth spread through me. I loved dreaming about the future with Holt, all the endless possibilities of what our life could be. “That sounds perfect. I only have one requirement.”
Holt chuckled, the new, deeper sound wrapping around me and creating a cascade of shivers over my skin. “Wraparound porch with a swing.”
I turned into him more, nipping at his pec. “Are you suggesting that I’m predictable?”
His chest shook with silent laughter. “Asks the girl who rereads Little Women every single year and can recite the movie by heart.”
I let out a huff of air. “I know what I like. Is that so bad?”
Holt brushed the hair out of my eyes and tipped my face up to meet his. “Not if I’m one of those things.”
My stomach dipped and rolled, three little words playing on my tongue, begging to be set free. “I like you, Holt Hartley.”
His eyes sparked with intensity. “I love you, Cricket. With everything I have.”
Everything in me soared. “I love you, too. I always have.”
He grinned, the devastating kind that always took me out at the knees. “We’re gonna have a beautiful life.”
He said it with such certainty that I believed every word.
“Dessert?” Frannie asked as she approached the table, pulling me out of my memories.
“I couldn’t eat another bite,” I hurried to say before William could say otherwise.
“How about an after-dinner drink?” he prodded.
“I shouldn’t. Driving those mountain roads.”
A devilish smile stretched William’s face, but it was smarmy and forced, not authentic and wild how Holt’s had been. “You could come back to my rental with me.”
Frannie’s brows rose as she pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“I think I’m just going to head home.” I looked up at Frannie. “Could you split the check for us?”
William whipped out a credit card. “I’d never let a lady pay.”
I guessed he wasn’t a jerk, offering to pay, even knowing he wasn’t getting laid. But it didn’t change the fact that he was a pretentious cheeseball. “Thanks.”
“I’ll get your receipt right out to you,” Frannie said, hurrying away.
“What about dinner tomorrow night? I’m here for two more days.”
“I’ve got plans the next two nights.” It wasn’t a total lie. I was going to take Shadow for a hike after work tomorrow, and Grae and I usually had a movie night at least once a week, and we were due.
A flicker of annoyance flashed in William’s eyes, but he reined it in. “Text me if you change your mind.”
“Sure.”
Frannie hurried back to the table. “Here you are, sir. Make sure you come back and see us.”
He nodded as he filled in the tip, signed, and handed the slip back to her. “Walk you to your car?”
Oh, hell no. I wasn’t giving this guy an opening for a kiss. “You know, I see a friend I need to say hi to. Thank you so much for dinner. I hope you have an amazing rest of your trip.”
William grumbled something under his breath as he got to his feet and headed for the door. As he grabbed the handle, Frannie dissolved into laughter, the lines on her face deepening with the action. “That poor guy.”
“What about poor me? I had to listen to a play-by-play of every real estate deal he’s ever closed, and every car he’s bought. I’m sure he was moving on to his investment portfolio next.”
She snorted and then pulled out a bag from behind her back. “This should soothe the soul.”
I grabbed the sack. “Lava cake?”
“Like I’d give you anything less.”
I stood and kissed her cheek. “You’re an angel.”
“Don’t you forget it.”
“I gotta get home to let Shadow out. See you later this week?”
She shooed me off. “You know it. Go kiss that girl for me and give her lots of belly rubs.”
“I will.”
I moved through the restaurant, waving to people I knew and taking note of the unfamiliar faces, wondering what their stories were. Pushing open the front door, I stepped into the night air. Even though it was spring, it had a bite to it, that little bit of an edge that made you sit up and pay attention. It was the perfect night to sit out on my deck wrapped in a blanket.
I started toward my truck, but a voice stopped me dead in my tracks.
“Hey, Cricket.”
