Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
J esse pulled up in front of Burt’s Pizzeria. Before getting out of the car, he checked his phone. Still nothing from Aspen. He’d sent her a text a few hours ago and she hadn’t replied.
“Why do you keep checking that thing?”
He glanced over at Luke in the passenger seat. “I’m not Aspen’s favorite person right now.”
That was a damn understatement. She’d come out to breakfast this morning but had barely said two words to him. When he’d tried to touch her hip, she’d slipped away from him and moved to the other side of the island.
“Uh-oh, what did you do?”
Jesse scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d either embarrassed her or made her feel unwanted. Maybe both. “I screwed up. Come on, let’s go.” He climbed out of the car before Luke could ask any more questions.
It didn’t take long for Luke to catch up to him. “Fine. But at least tell me if she ate the pizza last night.”
“She ordered pepperoni.”
Luke cringed, because yeah, pepperoni was the worst on the menu, and that was saying something. “Rookie error. I don’t know what it is about his pepperoni that makes it taste so…”
“Fishy.” Add that to the soggy dough and smelly cheese…it was all-around bad.
“Luckily, we like Burt,” Luke muttered as they stepped inside the pizzeria.
Burt looked up from behind the counter, a huge-ass smile spreading across his face. “Jesse! Luke! My favorite boys.”
Burt was a short, round, balding man who had the biggest smile you’d ever seen. He also had a big voice and an even bigger laugh. He circled the counter and pulled Luke, then Jesse, into a hug.
“Please tell me you’re here for pleasure, not business,” Burt said, stepping back. “I can have a Margherita pizza in the oven in minutes. Pair it with some garlic bread and a glass of wine? On the house for friends, of course.”
Luke patted his stomach. “I just ate.”
Burt threw up his arms. “Hey, there’s always room for pizza. Come on.”
The older man started to turn, but Jesse touched his arm. “Burt, we need to speak to Pete. Is he here?”
The smile dropped from Burt’s face. “What’s my nephew done now? Was he speeding through town again? Do I need to—”
Jesse shook his head. “He didn’t do anything wrong. We just need to ask him about something. He could really help us.”
“Oh. Well, if Pete can help with an investigation, he certainly will. He should be back any minute. Actually, there he is.”
Jesse followed Burt’s gaze outside to see Pete pulling up in his old beat-up Kia. Jesse gripped Burt’s shoulder. “Thanks.”
“Rain check on the pizza,” Luke added as they stepped outside.
“Anytime,” Burt called. “Don’t be strangers.”
Pete looked up as he climbed out of his car, immediately rolling his eyes. “If this is about that cranky old bag Mrs. Allen, I’m the one who should be pressing charges. She’s hit me with that cane so many times, I probably have brain damage. It’s not my fault she crosses the road at the pace of a snail.”
“This isn’t about Mrs. Allen,” Jesse said as they stopped in front of him.
“It isn’t?” Pete shifted his gaze from Jesse to Luke and back. “Is it about old man Jack? Because I didn’t almost hit him. I gave him a wide berth around that corner.”
Jesus, the kid should not be a delivery driver. “It’s about the delivery you made to my house last night. A woman by the name of Aspen took it.”
“Oh. I didn’t do anything to her.”
“Did you approach a car after you delivered the pizza?” Luke asked.
“Yeah. Some jerk in a Beamer.”
“They were driving a BMW?” Jesse asked.
“A black one. He looked like he was watching the house, so I went over to ask him what he was doing, but he didn’t even roll down his window. Just sped off the second I got close. Almost ran over my damn foot.”
Damn, the kid probably didn’t have much information then. “Did you see what he looked like?”
“The windows were tinted, but it was definitely a dude. I saw short, dark hair and he had broad shoulders. Looked thin. Maybe had a goatee.”
Jesse’s chest tightened. Dylan fit that description, but it wasn’t enough to identify him. Was it possible the asshole was here in Amber Ridge? Was it even possible he’d been the person in Aspen’s bedroom window last night?
Fuck . The idea made him want to drop everything and find her. Not let her out of his sight.
“Anything else you can tell us?” Luke asked.
Pete shoved his shaggy hair off his forehead. “Nah. Don’t think so. Why? Is he in trouble? Was the Beamer stolen?”
Jesse patted the kid’s shoulder. “Thanks for your help. Call us if you remember anything else.”
“Come on,” Pete called as they headed back to the car. “Just tell me one thing…is he gonna get put in the slammer?”
Luke shook his head once he was in the passenger seat. “That kid’s actually kind of funny. Shame he’s such a shit driver.”
Jesse didn’t respond. His mind was somewhere else. On the pit in his gut. The tightness of his chest.
“You okay, boss?”
His frown deepened. “It could be Dylan. If her mother told him where Aspen’s living, he could be here. It’s possible he was watching the house and Pete temporarily scared him. Then he came back. Watched her through her bedroom window.”
The idea made him want to be sick.
Luke frowned. “That’s pretty extreme behavior. You really think he’d do that to an ex?”
Jesse’s mind went back to the way Dylan had looked at Aspen in Misty Peak. Like she was a possession. Like he owned her. Then he recalled what Claudia had shared about Dylan’s ex-fiancée.
“Yes, I do think he’d do that.” He pulled out his phone. He needed to call her. Hear her voice. Anything to reassure him that she was okay.
It rang. Then it rang some more. It was on the fourth ring that he realized she wasn’t going to answer.
He hung up and pulled the car out of the parking lot.
“Uh, this isn’t the way back to the station,” Luke said after a few turns.
“I need to check on her.” He needed eyes on her right the hell now.
Aspen saw Jesse’s name flash over the screen of her phone. She didn’t answer it.
She was overreacting. She knew she was overreacting, but she couldn’t seem to stop.
She’d fallen to pieces in his arms. A million pieces, and he’d watched. Held her as she’d shattered.
But when she’d tried to touch him , he’d pushed her away.
She cringed and shoved her phone into her back pocket before moving down the aisle of the grocery store. Jesse had told her not to leave the house after the face-in-the-window incident last night. And she hadn’t…all day. But every hour that passed made the silence feel more…eerie. And every time she passed Jesse’s room, that hot embarrassment washed over her again like a blaze of fire until she had to get out.
Being a late Saturday afternoon, the store was busier than she would have thought. She dropped a couple of bags of noodles into her basket. She’d been living off the stuff lately. Next, she detoured for a loaf of bread, then found some tuna.
She was halfway down another aisle when a glimpse of a man at the end made her gasp and stumble back. She bumped into a cart behind her, and the cans of tuna fell from her hand.
She quickly picked them up and mumbled an apology to the person behind her, but when she looked back to the end of the aisle, the man was gone.
Dylan.
Had she really seen him? It was just a quick side view, but his profile and the way he moved were so familiar. And that sweater…gray with a picture of an eagle in the middle…he’d had one exactly the same.
She shook her head. It couldn’t have been him. She wasn’t in Misty Peak anymore. She was on the other side of the country. She was safe.
So why were her hands shaking? Because her mother had her address and could have passed it on to Dylan?
She shot forward, weaving through the crowd, sidestepping carts and slipping between baskets. She had to know if it was him. She needed confirmation that he wasn’t here.
When she reached the end of the aisle, she checked left and right. Where had he gone? She glanced down the first aisle. Several people took up space, none of them wearing a gray sweater. She shifted to the next. This one was almost empty, and again, he wasn’t there.
The third aisle was the busiest, with people and carts blocking every inch of space.
And that’s where she saw the back of the gray sweater.
Her pulse raced, her skin cool and sensitive. She shot forward, shuffling through people. She nudged a woman’s shoulder and muttered an apology, her gaze never leaving the man.
It might not be him. Other people could have the same sweater.
Someone who stood at the same height though? Someone with the same broad shoulders who moved in a similar way to Dylan?
Her feet moved faster. The guy exited the aisle and turned left.
Desperation had her speeding up. She couldn’t lose him. She needed to know it wasn’t him.
She jogged forward and had just stepped out of the aisle when she collided with a big chest. Her basket dropped, falling to its side, cans of tuna rolling out.
“Aspen.”
Her gaze flew up to see a pair of brown eyes. Eyes slightly darker than Jesse’s, but also very similar.
“Becket.”
A frown etched his brow. “Are you okay?”
“I…” Her gaze shifted behind him. People were everywhere, but none wearing the sweater.
God, what was she doing? Chasing down a guy because he wore a sweater that was similar to Dylan’s? Dylan was in Misty Peak.
Heat crawled up her neck, and she shook her head. “Nothing. I was just…in a rush.” Yeah, in a rush to approach a stranger and make an idiot of herself.
He held her gaze for a second longer, looking down at the basket. “Let me help you pick this stuff up.”
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that.”
But he was already on the floor. She lowered with him.
He lifted cans of tuna and set them in the basket. “Is my brother not feeding you? You’re eating two-dollar tuna and noodles?”
“It’s not his responsibility to feed me.”
One side of Becket’s mouth lifted. “I think he might disagree.”
“There are a few things we disagree on.” They both rose. “Well, thank you for helping me, and sorry about running into your chest.”
“Are you walking home?”
“I am. No car means a lot of walking. But I don’t mind. Sunshine and exercise are good for me.”
“It’s not too sunny out there anymore.” Becket checked his watch. “In fact, it will be dark soon. I’ll drive you back.”
“Oh…you don’t have to.”
“I know. I want to.”
“You came here to shop.” She looked at his empty hands. “You don’t have anything yet.”
“They didn’t have what I needed.”
Why didn’t she believe him?
She wanted to say no, because honestly, why would he want to walk her home? Had Jesse told him about the face in the window? Was he just trying to help Jesse by protecting his housemate?
But if it was getting dark outside, she didn’t really want to walk by herself anyway. “Okay. Um, thanks.”
They headed to the counter, and while she paid, Becket took his phone out and began typing something.
The second she lifted her bag, Becket slid it out of her fingers. “I’ve got it.”
“Driving me home and carrying my bag. You’re quite a gentleman.”
He chuckled as they stepped outside. “My mother raised me right. Some lucky lady should snap me up.”
They stopped at a truck, and he held the passenger-side door open for her. She climbed in and he got behind the wheel.
“You’re not dating anyone?” she asked as he reversed out of the parking space.
“No. My schedule at the fire station’s always changing, so it’s hard to date.” His phone beeped, but he didn’t touch it.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked quietly.
He looked down at her. “Shoot.”
“Jesse’s a good guy, isn’t he? I mean, he seems like one, and I think he is, but—”
“Aspen.” Becket stopped at a light, the small hint of a smile slipping from his face. “Jesse’s my brother, so I would never in a million years say this to his face…but he’s the best man I know. Ten times the man I am. If there’s one person in this world you’re safe with, it’s him.”
Her heart gave a little jump. “I shouldn’t have to ask, should I? It’s just…”
“You’ve been hurt.”
She frowned at him. How did he know? Was it written all over her face?
“Trust me when I tell you, I’ve met some of the scum of the earth.” Becket’s gaze moved back to the street in front of him, as if he was searching for that scum. Either that, or remembering it. He glanced back at her. “Jesse’s one of the good guys. But it’s okay to take your time to trust in that. Make him work for it.”
The corners of her mouth lifted. “Thank you.”
The light turned green and he started driving again. They spent the short drive talking. Aspen asked Becket about his job, and in return, he asked about hers. He was easy to talk to. But she didn’t miss the way his gaze continually scanned the streets. His military background was definitely evident.
They reached the house just as Jesse pulled up in the drive.
“You were texting him, weren’t you?” she asked, not surprised.
The corner of Becket’s mouth twitched. “He’s my brother.”