by Devney Perry
I’d track Karson down and give him the car. Our car.
“We lived together in the Cadillac,” I told Brooks. “That’s why I want to give it to him. It was as much his as mine.”
“Where did everyone else live? In other cars?”
I shifted to put my chin on his chest and meet his eyes. “No. There weren’t many cars still intact. Mostly it was a graveyard of rusted pieces and parts. Gemma built herself a tent. It started as this little hut she built out of sheet metal, then it grew and grew. Sort of like the empire she’s built in Boston.”
“What does she do?” Brooks asked, his fingers drifting into my hair as I spoke.
“She started out selling real estate. Then she took the money she made and created a cosmetics line. From there, she got into fashion. Then she bought into a car dealership. She’s a silent partner in three of Boston’s finest restaurants. She has this gift. She takes one dollar and turns it into ten.”
Thomas didn’t like Gemma, mostly because he was jealous. At her rate, she’d surpass him in wealth within the next five years. I only hoped she found some happiness outside of work. I didn’t want a work-driven life for my friend.
I wished to see her laugh more, like we had in those early days together.
But whatever she was searching for, she hadn’t found it yet.
Neither had I.
“Her tent was the common area for us.” I smiled, remembering us all sitting cross-legged in the center of her tent as we played poker, bidding with toothpicks instead of chips. “She found these tarps and created different spaces. Katherine stayed in the tent with Gemma. Aria and Clara made their home in the shell of a broken delivery truck.”
It had been bigger than the Cadillac, but Karson and I had teased them relentlessly that our car had style while theirs was a white box.
“Were you and Karson . . .”
“A couple?” I asked and Brooks nodded. “Yes. For a short time.”
Besides Gemma, Karson was the first person I’d truly loved. He was the first person who’d shown me what it felt like to be loved. The memory of that childhood crush was everlasting.
“We ended it when I left with Gemma and Katherine for Montana. We both knew a long-distance relationship at our age wasn’t going to last. I lost touch with him, but I’ve always been curious how his life turned out.”
Brooks hummed. “I guess you’ll find out soon enough.”
“I just hope I find him well.” It would break my heart if Karson had lost the spark of the boy I’d loved. The boy who’d walked through life with charisma and confidence. He’d never looked at our situation with anything but excitement. Maybe that was why I considered those years an adventure. Karson had made that time magical.
He had for us all. He’d been the protector. The joke maker. The shoulder to cry on. Karson was the rock and the reason we’d all survived running away from home relatively unscathed.
“What if you don’t find him?” Brooks asked.
“I’ll find him.” Somehow, I’d track him down. “I really want him to have the Cadillac.”
“Why? You love that car.”
“I do love that car. But I just feel like I’ve had it long enough. That it should belong to him too. Yes, I paid for it. But it doesn’t feel . . . mine. Does that make any sense?”
Brooks was quiet for a long moment, then leaned up and kissed my forehead. “Yeah, honey. It does.”
I pressed my cheek to his heart. It never took much explaining with Brooks. He knew how I felt even if I couldn’t articulate it.
“So you’ll go and find Karson and give him the car. Will you search for the others too?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, my focus so much on first finding Karson.
It would be nice to see what had happened with their lives. When I found Karson, he might know where the others had gone. I’d thought about Katherine and Aria and Clara over the years. Were they happy? Had they battled their own demons and come out as victors?
“Yes,” I whispered. “I think I would like to see them all again.”
“Then I’m sure you will.” Brooks rolled me off his shoulder and onto my back. He came up on top of me, brushing my hair off my face. “Stay. Just a little longer. Before you set off to find these people and I never see you again, stay. Give me two more weeks, not one.”
Yes.
The word was right there. I opened my mouth to say it. But as I gazed into those bright blue eyes, it wouldn’t come. What if I stayed and never left Summers? What if I regretted giving up my shot at freedom? What if I stayed and he broke my heart?
I couldn’t stand to think of Brooks as another mistake. Not him.
Boston had never been my long-term plan. I’d gone there knowing I’d leave. But then I’d met Thomas. He’d asked me to stay too. Look where that had gotten me.
I wanted to say yes. Damn it, I want to say yes. Especially to Brooks. Which was exactly why the answer had to be—
“No.”
Chapter Eleven
Brooks
I hung up the phone, setting it on the boat’s dashboard. “That was the body shop. Your car’s done.”
“Okay.” Londyn kept her gaze on the water. “Do we have to go get it now? Or can we stay out here for a while?”
“We can stay.”
We’d stay long enough for me to memorize how she looked today. Her hair was up, twisted in a knot, still wet from our swim. Sunglasses covered her eyes. The only thing she wore was a simple black bikini she’d bought at a local shop today when I’d invited her to spend the afternoon with me on the boat.
She was breathtaking. This was how I’d picture her in the years to come. I’d remember her sitting in that seat, soaking up the sun and stealing my heart with every passing second.
The week had gone by too fast.
That always seemed to be the case when the end drew near.
Mack had texted me earlier in the week, estimating he’d have Londyn’s car done by Friday. Well, Friday was here, and true to his word, it was done. She’d be gone soon, which made my decision to take the day off work even smarter.
I’d called Tony this morning and asked if he could cover the garage. Fridays were typically busy but he’d assured me he’d take care of all the oil changes that rolled in. Worst-case scenario, he’d turn folks away for Monday. One Friday away wasn’t going to sink my business. One missed day with Londyn would eat at me for years.
I’d gone over to her room first thing, before she disappeared on one of her walks around town, and asked her to spend the day with me. We’d gone to breakfast at the diner. We’d found her a swimming suit at Walmart. We’d loaded up on groceries for a picnic lunch. Then we’d headed for the water.
Much like the first time, I’d cruised us around the lake before coming to the middle to float. Then I’d stripped her out of that bikini and made love to her on the floor. We’d cooled off afterward with a swim. I’d just finished toweling off when my phone rang and Mack put a damper on my day.
She was leaving.
Fuck. Was I destined to be alone? Before Moira, there hadn’t been many girls. Just a few high-school flings, forgotten before they’d even begun. Once Moira and I had hooked up, she’d made it known around Summers High that I was off-limits.
Our marriage had been doomed from the start. Moira and I had been opposites in every sense of the word—that old adage was bullshit. Opposites didn’t attract. They annoyed.
After the divorce, after my failed attempts at dating, I’d decided I’d rather be single than with a woman more interested in my parents’ money than me and my simple garage. Sure, I had a nice house and a new boat. I’d earned those things. I’d paid for them by working my ass off.
I had Wyatt. I had my family. I didn’t feel alone.
Until Londyn.
She’d blown into town and made me realize the hole in my life. The hole in the exact shape of a five-foot-five blond woman with
jade-green eyes.
Goddamn, I would miss her.
“It’s really beautiful here.” She smiled, casting her gaze at the trees that surrounded the lake. “I don’t know if I’ll ever find another lake as pretty as this one.”
My heart. Replace lake with woman and she’d voiced the thoughts in my mind.
She’d been making comments like that all week, reminding us both she was leaving. How could I forget? The minutes were ticking by too quickly. The nights I spent in her motel room weren’t enough. We still had the weekend, but I needed more.
I wouldn’t get more. I’d asked once.
I wouldn’t ask again.
One no from this woman was enough to crush my hopes for good.
Londyn was leaving. I had no choice but to accept it, appreciate it even.
The longer she stayed, the more I’d keep begging for another day. I’d push for a week, then a month, then a year.
I was hungry for her in a way I’d never be full.
“Want to cruise around?” I asked.
“No.” She turned away from the view and slid her sunglasses off her face. The emerald flecks in her eyes danced bright in the sunlight as she reached for the bikini tie behind her neck.
I grinned. Hungry.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the lake, exploring the water in between breaks from exploring each other. By late afternoon, the lake was teaming with boats, people out on the water for a few hours before dark to kick off the weekend. Neither Londyn nor I felt like being one in a crowd, so we called it a day.
The boat was tied to the dock and we were in my truck, driving to the garage to check out her car. Mack had done me a favor and brought it over so I didn’t have to pick it up. Tony had texted that it was safely locked inside.
“Feel like dinner on the rock tonight?” Londyn asked.
“Or . . . we could eat at my place. With Wyatt.”
She looked over, her eyebrows rising above her large sunglasses. “You want me to meet your son?”
“Haven’t you already?”
“Well, yes. This is a bit different though, don’t you think?”
“Not really. It’s just you and me eating dinner with a kid who will probably be on his phone the whole time.”
She pushed her sunglasses into her hair and shifted to face me. “Is that smart? I’m leaving on Monday.”
“I know. But Wyatt knows about you. He knows you’re leaving. He’s my favorite person in the world. You’re quickly climbing that list. For once, I’ve got two favorites in the same place. I’m trying to capitalize while I can.”
She gave me a small smile. “I get that. How would you introduce me?”
“As a friend.” Or a girlfriend. My son was no idiot. He knew where I’d been going each night.
Londyn thought it over for a minute, then nodded. “All right. As a friend.”
Girlfriend.
“Pizza?” I steered us into the rear parking lot of the garage where Tony and I normally parked. “Wyatt should be done with football by now. I can text him to pick one up for us.”
“I never say no to pizza.”
I grinned. “Neither do I.”
This thing with us was good—damn good. If Londyn had moved to Summers, this might have become a real thing. She’d only been here for a couple of weeks and it was more real than anything I’d had in a decade.
I needed a woman like her, who loved pizza more than the number on her bathroom scale. A woman who spent time on my boat happy with long periods of time when not a word was spoken. A woman who preferred eating dinner on a rock to a fancy restaurant.
Londyn would be perfect if she weren’t so hell-bent on leaving.
Then again, maybe the reason we clicked so well was because there was a time limit.
Leaving that thought untouched, I got out of the truck, rounding the back to open Londyn’s door. Then I took her hand and walked her into the shop. I inserted my key into the lock, meeting no resistance as I turned.
Fuck. My stomach clenched. This door should have been locked, something Tony would have done before going home. I took a few steps back, glancing around the corner of the building to see if Tony’s truck was still here. Maybe he’d parked alongside the tow rig today, but that space was empty.
“What?” Londyn asked.
“The door’s unlocked.” I went back to the handle, turning it slowly as I poked my head inside. “Hello?”
The shop was pitch black. My voice bounced off the walls but otherwise, the garage was silent. I flicked on a row of lights, stepping inside.
Behind me, Londyn put a hand on my back, the pressure gentle as she followed me down the hallway and into the main room. I flipped on a row of lights, scanning the place.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Londyn gasped.
“Wha—” I followed her gaze to the Cadillac’s tires.
They were slashed.
I rushed to the car, walking all around it as I inspected it from roof to wheel and bumper to fender. There wasn’t a thing wrong with it except all four tires had been cut, the rubber dangling from the rims.
“Fuck.” I raked a hand through my hair. I should have taken that key from Moira when I’d gone to her house. I’d been impatient to leave. I thought she’d done her worst and I could have Wyatt get it from her later. That mistake was on me.
“Was this—”
“Moira? Yeah,” I clipped. “I’m calling the cops.”
I dug my phone from my pocket, ready to dial the sheriff, but Londyn stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“What if it wasn’t her?”
“Who else could it be?”
She frowned. “My ex.”
“You think?”
“Well, the first time, I would have said no. But Thomas knows I’m here and he’s been trying for months to get me to listen to him. What he wants more than anything is for me to come back to Boston.”
“But wouldn’t we have seen him around town? He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d lurk in corners.” Thomas was an arrogant, rich asshole. He’d driven to Summers and found Londyn immediately. He was bold, not a coward who trashed a woman’s car in secret.
“Maybe that investigator he hired did it for him? I don’t know.” Her eyes dropped to the tires and she pressed her fingertips to her temples. “I can’t believe this.”
“Me neither.” I hung my head. “It’s just tires.”
“This is crazy. Totally insane. I feel . . . violated. This is my car. My beautiful car. It doesn’t deserve this.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I pulled her into my side. “I can fix it. All I have to do is get the tires ordered. It’s past time for a Friday, but I can place the order and they’ll be here on Monday. You just might not be able to leave first thing in the morning.”
“That’s fine,” she muttered, her eyes still locked on the gashes in the rubber. “If your ex is so desperate to get rid of me, why do this? I don’t think it was her. If she had left them alone, I would have been gone already.”
My stomach tightened at the idea of having lost her a week ago. I hated the shit with her car, but I’d gotten time with Londyn we otherwise would have missed.
But it had to be her. This was so damn familiar, it made me sick. When the fuck would Moira grow up?
“She’s got to be worried that you might stay,” I said. “This is her way of trying to run you out of town.”
“Or it’s not her.” Londyn dug the phone from her purse, the one I’d given her. “This feels slimy and devious. A year ago, I wouldn’t have said that was Thomas, but it turns out I didn’t know my husband all that well. I’m going to make a call.”
“Okay.” I kissed her hair. “I’ll leave you alone and go order your tires.”
“Thanks.” Her shoulders fell as she dialed the number.
I disappeared into the office, collapsing into my chair. “Fuck.”
Why was this happening? I could hear Londyn talking, but I d
idn’t need to know what her ex was going to say. He hadn’t slashed her tires.
This had Moira written all over it.
Why couldn’t she just let me move on? I didn’t wish her to live a lonely life. She didn’t date but I wouldn’t stand in the way if she wanted to. I swiped up the handset of the phone on the desk and punched in her number.
She answered on the first ring. “Hey.”
“Why’d you do it?”
“Hello to you too.”
“She’s leaving, Moira. She’s not a threat. But this whole if I can’t have you, no one can attitude is getting old. Leave her alone. Leave her car alone.”
Silence. One moment later, I got the dial tone.
It wasn’t the first time Moira had hung up on me and it wouldn’t be the last. I set the handset in the cradle and sighed.
Londyn’s voice drifted into the office from the shop, and though I knew I shouldn’t listen in, I did anyway.
“I’m sorry, Thomas.”
That caught my attention. Why was she apologizing? For calling? I sat motionless, my ears searching for more.
“Goodbye.” Londyn let out a groan, then her footsteps shuffled toward the office.
“Not him?” I asked as she leaned against the doorframe.
“Nope. He’s in Boston with Secretary . . . his girlfriend. Or mistress. Whatever she is. Her name is Raylene.”
“He cheated on you?”
She nodded. “With the woman who sat across from my desk. Raylene was his other assistant.”
That hadn’t come up in all our conversations. If I hadn’t asked her earlier this week about being a rebound, I might have doubted her motivation for being with me had I known Thomas was a cheat. But I believed Londyn. Nothing about this felt shallow or distant. She was in this, all in this, just like me.
“Damn.” Now I was really curious why she’d apologized to the asshole.
“She’s pregnant.”
“What?” My jaw fell open. So this guy had cheated on her and gotten her coworker pregnant? I should have hit him when I’d had the chance. “Wow.”
“Pretty much.” She closed her eyes. “Well, she was pregnant. She had a miscarriage. When I called, he was at the hospital with her.”