by Melissa West
“Take care of yourself, all right?” Charlie said.
“You too. And Lila. I appreciate everything you’re doing for her. Not sure what I’d do without you.”
They said good-bye, and Charlie set down his phone, a knot in his stomach that hadn’t been there moments before. This guilt was going to eat him alive, but what could he do?
Nothing. He wouldn’t push Lila away. Not again.
* * *
Lila walked into Crestler’s Key Animal Hospital with pep in her step, her smile stretching from ear to ear, and it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
It was the first time that she had opened up about the accident and felt better after, not worse. Having Charlie there, his arms wrapped around her, made her feel strong. Like maybe she wasn’t just a victim. She was a survivor, strong and able. He’d helped her see that, and then last night had been . . . wow. She was still reeling, her excitement in seeing him later almost too much to stand.
“Hey there, Dr. Jacobs, you look happy,” Tracy said from the front desk. Today she was dressed in a light blue T-shirt with a cartoon dog on it and a skirt, bright red-rimmed glasses completing her look. Tracy had lost her husband a few years ago to a sudden heart attack, and as far as Lila had heard, she hadn’t dated since. But she was adorable and so nice. Maybe Lila should add her to her goals list, along with Annie. And then something occurred to her—she was happy, like her friend in Charlotte, and in turn wanted everyone around her to be happy. The bubbly feeling that took over was happening to her, maybe for the first time in her life.
“I am happy. How about you?” she asked, nearly bouncing, but then the older woman started in on a tirade of her aching back and an ingrown toenail, and suddenly Lila wished she’d kept it to a hello and nothing more. Perhaps Tracy could handle her own love life after all.
“I’m sorry to say, honey, that you might not be happy for long. Baxter asked for you to help in grooming.”
Her eyes went wide. “Grooming?”
“They’re short-handed in there today, and the place is already packed. I can’t leave here, and there’s no one else to help. Well, no one except Baxter, but you know how that goes.” She rolled her eyes just as the phone rang, and she lifted her index finger to signal for Lila to wait while she answered the call.
Lila took the opportunity to peer around the animal hospital. Sure enough it was empty, every seat in the waiting area empty. And then she glanced through the glass door that led to the grooming area, and sure enough, chaos ensued, dogs barking loudly from their crates where they waited, and Jenny, the groomer, was covered in suds. She wiped her sleeve across her forehead, causing more suds to attach to her hair, and Lila’s heart went out to her.
When she was getting her undergraduate degree, she’d helped out a groomer, so maybe that was why Baxter thought of her. And not at all because she was a woman and he was a man and clearly it would be her job to do anything that resembled cleaning, including the dogs. Because that was sexist, and surely he wouldn’t pull such an obvious sexist stunt. But then this was Baxter.
Tracy hung up and then walked around to Lila where she still stood, staring at the grooming fiasco.
“Want me to get you an apron?” Tracy cocked her head to the side as an especially large dog jumped away from Jenny and took off around the room. “Or a rain jacket?”
Lila sighed. “Not sure anything will help that craziness, but thanks. I’ll get on in there. Let me know if anyone shows, though, and I’m needed out here. Where is Baxter, anyway?”
“Oh, you know. Golfing. Or about to be. He’s probably still outside.”
“Golfing?”
The office manager’s face switched to anger. “Yep, every Sunday. He plays, we work. That’s a man for you.”
And Lila had heard enough. Not all men were like Baxter, and while she wanted to explain this to Tracy, right now she needed to get outside and give her boss a piece of her mind.
“Be right back,” she said to Tracy. Then she pivoted on her heels and marched out the front door, down the steps of the front porch and marched around to the back of the building, where sure enough, Baxter was placing a large black golf bag into the back of his SUV.
“Dr. Baxter, may I have a word?” Lila asked, fighting to keep her voice even. Her hands were shaking. She rarely got this upset, and every time she did, her hands would shake like a leaf, but enough was enough.
The old man sighed heavily and turned around to look at her. “What is it, Lila?”
“Dr. Jacobs.”
“That’s what I said, dear. Now, I have a tee time to get to.”
Lila gritted her teeth together and flashed a good ole Southern smile, lest she chew his head off. “Actually, you didn’t. You called me Lila and then dear. But I’m a doctor, just like you, and I would appreciate you referring to me as such when I am here. And furthermore, this”—she said, pointing to his golf bag—“is ridiculous. You have assigned me to grooming while you go golfing? I don’t think so. I am a veterinarian, and my job is to provide care to animals. Not clean up their vomit. Not bathe them. I am happy to be a team player, I love being a team player, but I will not be treated like this anymore. So either you give me clients and their animals to care for, or I quit. Effective immediately.”
He stared at her, not blinking, not making a face. Just staring. The sky was astonishingly blue, the sun too bright, and Lila wished she had sunglasses on so she could better read his reaction. As it were, with the sun’s glare blinding her, she could scarcely see a few inches in front of her face.
He huffed. “All right, fine. You don’t have to get so testy. I’ll split the business with you beginning on Monday. Okay? Go on home. It’s a Sunday, and we’ve got nothing going on today. If Tracy needs you, she’ll call you. I’ll let Jenny know to call in her daughters to help with the grooming. They love that.” He smiled, and Lila tried to make sense of what all he’d just said.
It was the nicest thing she’d ever heard him say and the only time she’d ever seen him smile. Probably the only time he ever had in his life. For a second she contemplated telling him he should do it more often, smiling was a good look on him, but then the frown returned.
“Well, what are you staring at? Head on home before I change my mind.”
“Right! I’m gone.” Lila took off for her car, giggling like crazy the moment she stepped inside, and without consciously deciding to do it, she set off for Southern Dive.
The streets were quiet for a Saturday, and whereas normally Lila might struggle to find a spot to park around the dive shop, which was situated nicely at the end of Main Street, today she found one without a problem.
She pulled into an open spot, and immediately checked her face in the mirror for anything crazy, and then realizing what she’d just done, sat back in her seat. “Holy wow. I just checked my makeup. For a guy.”
Lila searched her memory, and she could not remember the last time she’d worried about such a thing. Her focus had been on school, followed by her first job in Charlotte, and so personal care fell to the back of her list of concerns. After all, there was only so much time in the day. And it wasn’t that she never checked her reflection in her car’s mirror. It was more that she’d never done it out of nervousness over what a guy would think. At least not since she was in high school, a freshman, Charlie a senior, and yeah, she’d stared at the mirror for an hour every time Lucas announced he’d be coming over.
Charlie. Oh my God, she was going to see Charlie. Who, by all accounts, likely wanted to see her, too. She could hardly contain her excitement.
She’d just decided to stop being silly and get in there, when a knock on her window had her jerking back.
“Hey!” Audrey called, waving.
Pushing open her car door, Lila stepped out and hugged her friend. “Hey, there. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, you know, nothing really. And not at all hoping to run into Brady while doing that nothing.”
Lila’s eyebrow
s went up. “Wait a second. Did you two . . . ?”
Audrey bit her lip. “No, well . . . maybe. Do you remember that night we were all at Maguire’s? You left with Charlie early? I offered to drive Brady home since we live in the same area, and this led to that and . . . well, I might have slept at his place that night.” She winked.
“You so did not go home with Brady Littleton!”
She chewed her lip again. “I so did. And now, I’m wondering if he’s thinking about a do-over, because honestly, I can’t stop thinking about him. Which is stupid. But there it is. Anyway, it’s just my luck that I’d run into you here. Now you can be my cover.”
“Your cover?” Lila asked skeptically.
“Just follow my lead.”
They stepped up to the main door, and Audrey opened and held it for Lila.
There were male voices coming from the right, but they went quiet as soon as the women were inside. Lila’s gaze travelled over to where the voices had been and immediately locked on Charlie. He stared back at her, while a slow smile crept across her face. “Hey, you.”
“Hey yourself,” she said.
“No way. You didn’t.” This was from Brady, but Lila couldn’t pull her eyes away from Charlie enough to see what his brother was talking about. “I knew you were going to go there. Zac, you owe me fifty bucks.”
But Zac wasn’t paying attention to Brady. He was staring at Charlie. “Can I talk to you for a second? Alone.”
“No.”
“Dude,” Zac said, his tone harder this time.
“Not now.” Then Charlie walked out from behind the small counter and started for her. Each step sent her heart racing, butterflies dancing through her belly, her insides coming alive.
He stopped a few inches away from her and her body buzzed with the desire to touch him, kiss him. “I thought you were at work.”
“I was. Good ole Bax let me go early.”
He grinned. “So you came here?”
“I came here. I hope that’s okay. I had some stuff to show you, but you look busy so we can go over it later if you’d like.”
Charlie opened his mouth to reply, when Zac called to him again, and Lila wondered what was going on.
“Are we interrupting you?” She glanced from Charlie to Zac and then back.
“No. He’s fine. Let’s go outside.”
Opening the door for her, Charlie waited until Lila was outside and the door was closed to speak again. “Everything okay?” he asked as they started down the sidewalk. Most of the shops sat dark, a typical Sunday in Crestler’s Key.
“Yeah, I just wanted to show you a few things.” She took out her cell, went to her Etsy app, and clicked on a few of the businesses she’d saved there that morning before she went into work. “Look, there’s all kinds of T-shirt businesses that operate fully through Etsy. You could maybe start there to build up the business or even to check how well it’s going to work before fully launching on your site.”
Charlie took her phone and swiped through the T-shirts while Lila watched him. Maybe she’d chosen bad designs, but still, it would give him an idea of the possibilities. Finally, he handed her phone back with a smile. “You researched this for me?”
“I know these aren’t as good as yours. They’re just examples. But I know you can do this. It’s a chance, sure, but I think it could be amazing.”
“I think you’re amazing.” He took her hand and they fell into an easy silence as they walked, when Lila glanced back at Southern Dive, her curiosity taking over.
“What was that about back there?”
“What do you mean?”
“Zac. He seemed . . . I don’t know. Upset, maybe?” Lila thought back to all the times she’d been around Zac and never once had he behaved so strangely toward her.
Charlie blew out a long, slow breath. “He wants me to talk to Lucas about us, and he’s right. I want to talk to Lucas, too. But Lucas called me today, and I thought about telling him, and then I remembered where he is and what he’s doing. This could seriously jack up his focus. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to him.”
“No, you’re right. We shouldn’t say anything to him until he’s back here.”
“Right, so when he goes ballistic at least we’ll know he’s in a safe zone. Me, on the other hand? Yeah, no certainties there.” Charlie laughed, but it didn’t brighten his face like his real laugh would. Clearly, he was worried.
Lila thought about her brother, everything he’d done for her, and guilt hit in her chest. “I didn’t realize he’d get so mad.”
“You’re his little sister.”
“Not so little anymore.”
His eyes sparked. “Noticed that.”
She grinned. “How about dinner tonight? Or the movie, since you owe me a friend date.”
“Dinner sounds great, but my place. I’ll cook for you.”
“You cooked for me last night.”
He took a step closer to her and reached out for her other hand. “I’ll cook for you every night if you’ll let me.”
Their gazes held and he inched in, but then commotion from inside Southern Dive had them glancing up the sidewalk to find Audrey storming out, Brady on her heels.
“Uh-oh,” Charlie said.
“I better go check on her. See you tonight?”
Charlie released her hands and took a step backwards. “I’ll be counting the minutes.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Hey there, cutie, you had a package delivered,” Annie called from her front porch. She was rocking in one of the white rockers situated on the porch and drinking a glass of tea. What a life. Lila thought for the first time in a long time that maybe she could have a life like that someday. Easy and lazy, just her, a rocker, a tall glass of sweet tea and a certain handsome man.
She sighed at the thought and waved to Annie. “Thank you, Ms. Annie!”
Lila had spent all afternoon talking to Audrey about Brady and what had happened. Apparently, she hoped they could go out, an official date and all, and Brady hoped they could keep things casual. In the end, it was probably for the best. Brady had a reputation for never settling down, never being content with a woman for more than a few weeks. Audrey deserved someone who would be there for her for the long haul.
Telling herself she’d send her friend a quick text to check in on her when she made it inside, she went up the steps where, sure enough, a large white envelope with her name on it but no return address rested against the door. Hmm, that was odd.
Opening the door, she kicked it back closed with her foot and examined the envelope closer. It was probably a telemarketer thing or something, but then she thought of her old friends, and how they had talked about coming to visit. She did give them her address, so maybe it was something from them.
She pulled out a knife from the silverware drawer and tore open the end of the envelope. Once opened, she emptied the contents onto the kitchen counter, only to feel all the blood drain from her body.
Before her lay a dozen or more four-by-six photos, all of her and Charlie during their camping trip. Some were at the campsite, some were of them hiking. Others were of just close-ups of her face. And then one was of them kissing, his arms wrapped around her, their bodies pressed together, and suddenly Lila couldn’t breathe.
Who would have done this? And then the answer hit her like a freight train, causing her legs to go weak and for her to slip to the floor. The knife clanged against the tile beside her.
“No, not again.” She gripped her head as fear worked its way through her. “How could he find me?” Suddenly, it occurred to her that it wasn’t safe here. She scanned the kitchen, the family room, and that was when she noticed the flowers on the table behind the couch, a dozen bright red roses staring back at her.
Slowly, she pushed herself to standing and walked over to the flowers. A tiny note stuck out from within their petals, and she took it, her hands shaking so badly she could hardly open it. Finally, she peered down at
the words scribbled across the card.
Miss me?
A scream burst from her lips and she stumbled back, eyes searching everywhere. He had been there. Oh my God, he had been there, in her apartment. Could be there now, but no—it could have been Annie. Could be just a delivery to scare her, and Annie put them inside on the table.
She raced outside and down the steps, narrowly falling down them before she reached the bottom, not stopping until she stood before her landlord.
“Annie, did you put flowers on the table in there? Or maybe let a delivery person inside to set them down?”
Her brow quirked. “No, can’t say I did. How nice, though, that you received flowers.”
The last of the warmth in Lila’s body disappeared, replaced by an icy cold. She turned slowly, eyeing the driveway, the trees. He could be anywhere. “Annie . . . do you have your phone?”
“Of course, honey, why?”
“Call 911.”
* * *
Charlie finished slicing up all the peppers and onions for the fajitas he planned to make Lila for dinner, hoping his memory served that they were a favorite. When they were younger, and Lila wasn’t old enough for her license, Lucas and Charlie (because they always carpooled) drove her to school, and she used to beg them to take her to Taco Tuesday, the only Mexican restaurant in town, for their fajitas. She was addicted to them.
When he was living at the Keys, he stumbled across a favorite little Mexican joint that made the best fajitas he’d ever eaten in his life. He grew close to the owner and managed to get the recipe, Lila on his mind, but until now he’d never tried to make them.
With the veggies cut, he went to work mixing the spices he’d picked up, sure to eye the recipe as he went along. He’d just picked up the half-crumpled napkin with the recipe written on it to look over the next steps when a knock sounded from his front door, followed by another, then another, each more urgent than the last.
He dropped the recipe on the counter and wiped his hands on his jeans, setting off for the door, worry working through him. Lila was due in a half hour, but if she were early, then something must have happened. Or he could stop being paranoid and just open the door.
