Chapter 4 Everly
Chapter Four
EVERLY
At least Bex would arrive in thirty minutes or less.
Of all my friends, male and female, she was the best option.
Besides being a skilled mechanic, she was also my only single friend.
Her family had their first semi-annual company picnic and she had taken my daughter with her, knowing I would not make it until after lunch.
I mean, it was mostly family since Salinger Security was a family business.
If I’d learned one thing about the Salingers, they had a rather liberal definition of the word ‘family.’
I had a meeting with my manager in the morning, after which, I needed to chat with my parents.
That was not a conversation I had been looking forward to and as usual, it went on longer than expected.
Of course, my parents made sure to let me know that I was the one being melodramatic and that my concerns were unnecessary.
Which was part of the point I had to make.
I would not have them stomping on my daughter’s dreams the same way they’d done to me.
There was a slight wheezing noise coming from the engine of my little Honda hatchback when I left my parents place.
I made a mental note to have Bex check it out when I got to the farm where the family-slash-company picnic was being held.
As it turned out, my little car didn’t have it in her to get that far.
The spluttering started a little while after I got onto the highway in San Diego, and a few short minutes later there was steam and more noise until the car stalled and wouldn’t restart.
The woman on the Triple A helpline, as well as Bex, had both reminded me to stay inside my car with the doors locked.
As many cars sprinted past me not paying even the least bit of attention to the damsel in distress on the shoulder of the road, I didn’t think it was necessary. At least not until a silver sedan pulled up behind me.
I checked my mirror and could make out a man with blond hair sitting in the driver’s seat.
I double checked the locks on my doors. Everything was locked up.
I wasn’t usually suspicious but one could never be too safe.
It didn’t help that a few of my friends and their partners were all former military or law enforcement and preached on and on about situational awareness.
Or the situations they had found themselves in over the last few months.
Thinking about my friends and their military background, I had yet to build up the courage to ask for the one favor I desperately wanted.
Not just for me, but for my daughter too.
I needed to see if Salinger Security and all their resources would be able to find Noah.
The problem was that I didn’t have much information on him.
Noah the Hot Marine was not much to go on.
We didn’t bother to know more than was absolutely necessary, like first names.
When we spoke, it was in broader terms. I was a singer, he was a soldier.
I tried to contact the friend he had at the party all those years ago, only to find out he no longer worked at The Dane and had moved on.
Of course, no one would help me contact him.
I should also probably show them the slew of emails I had received recently.
All by the same person. At first, it seemed harmless and I ignored them.
But it seemed whoever it was, the person didn’t like that I didn’t respond.
There were also little creepy things that made me think he was following me. It had started to scare me.
A knock at my window had me startling out of my thoughts. The man from the car behind me leaned down and made a winding motion, asking me to lower my window. I pressed the button allowing just two inches.
“Sorry, I can’t be too careful.” I tilted my head up, making sure he could hear me through the sliver of space. “I’ve called my friends. They’ll be here any minute. I called Triple A as well. I don’t want to be rude, but it's not safe for me out here.”
Yeah, I had a tendency to ramble when I was nervous. Not that the guy seemed to mind. He leaned his arms on the roof of my car and bent his head down to me.
“Not to worry my dear.” His voice was a little rough. Like he didn’t use it very often. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I’m Trey, by the way.”
That was the problem with being a woman. We couldn’t fully appreciate the care and concern of strangers because so often predators lurked beneath that kind hearted gesture.
“I’m Everly and I’m good.” I looked into the man’s face.
He was good-looking with that perfectly styled blond hair and pale blue eyes.
Clean-shaven and fuller in the face. I let down my window just another inch.
“I was in a hurry and didn’t check the engine when it made a weird noise a little earlier. ”
The man frowned and tilted his head. “It made a noise? What kind?”
“Like a wheezing sound.” I didn’t want him to trouble himself or make things worse. “Anyway, my friend is a mechanic, and she and her brother should be here soon.”
I was not blowing smoke. The reality was that Bex was likely to bring one of her brothers with her.
“That’s okay.” He leaned his denim covered ass against my car. “If it’s all the same with you, I’ll just keep you company while you wait for them. There are all sorts of crazies out there.”
Yeah, that was true. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone waiting with me. Besides he would be outside the car and I would be inside. Granted, I couldn’t just drive away but I was still relatively safe in the event that the perfectly nice stranger turned out to be a psycho killer or something.
In the minutes that followed, I’d gotten to know Trey a little bit.
He’d just moved to Marina De Ferrier and was picking up the last of the things from his apartment in Los Angeles.
He had a job interview on Monday and hoped to work with a security company in the area.
He’d been in the private security business for more than a decade and before that he was in the military.
He wanted a change of scenery and moving to the small town appealed a lot.
Something about his story made no sense. The only security company with offices in Marina De Ferrier was Salinger. Even the businesses in town hired from a company in San Diego and the guards lived in town. None of them hired the Salingers since that was not what the company did.
Then again, the company prided itself on discretion. Still a change of scenery was not a reason to work for a company like Salinger Security.
I never mentioned that one of them was on her way to fetch me or that I was a close family friend. In the event he was lying to me, I didn’t want him to get defensive. I also didn’t mention what I did for a living.
Inevitably when people learned I was a singer and songwriter, they wanted to know where they could see me perform. What songs had I written? And had I released anything. That in turn led to the conversation where they politely didn’t mention that I was a one hit wonder more than a decade ago.
Not that I was ashamed of how my life had turned out, or the choices I’d made. I would do them again for the sake of my daughter and my own conscience and peace of mind.
Instead, I told him I was a single mom. I spoke about my friend Cassie who was in the Navy and how she and her now husband had snuck off a while back and got married in Vegas.
It was a benign topic, but it kept the conversation moving and I didn’t feel impolite for not sharing anything personal.
The time passed quickly and before long Nick’s familiar black Escalade pulled up behind Trey’s car. Bex’s car pulled up in front of mine.
Exactly as I had predicted, Bex had brought at least one of her brothers with her, though I wasn’t sure why they came in two cars.
Bex hopped out of her car and threw a suspicious look at Trey.
With her pink knitted top with the sleeves shoved up to her elbows and the dark pink tactical pants she looked nothing like the army badass who could kill you without a weapon and not even break a sweat.
She said nothing as she motioned for me to open the hood of my car and checked out the engine.
Nick and another man stepped out of his car.
They both stalked toward me. I squinted my eyes trying to make out the passenger.
He wasn’t one of the Salinger brothers. I opened my car door and stepped out as Trey retreated.
My gaze drifted past Nick, to the man walking beside him.
Why had Nick brought another man with him?
I squinted and it took me a moment before my heart lurched and my breath seized.
There was no mistaking those eyes. “Oh my God,” I muttered under my breath
Instinctively, I pulled at the hem of my knitted dress and straightened the collar of my denim jacket.
Mere moments were all I had as I processed the man walking toward me.
My head tilted as I took in the man walking alongside Nick.
He was older, his face a little more drawn.
Wrinkles around his eyes showed the passage of time.
He was leaner than I remembered but he carried himself with more confidence.
And that was saying something. What I needed to reconcile was the hardness in his gaze that had just not been there thirteen years ago.
“Noah?”
I didn’t mean to sound breathless. And I certainly didn’t mean for my belly to flip when he smiled at me.
“Babe.” As he got closer to where Trey and I were standing he frowned again and nodded in my companion’s direction. “Who’s this?”
My spine stiffened. Seriously? He thought he had the right to question me? How was he even on Highway 1? He was supposed to be off heroing in some far off land.
I must’ve stared at him too long when Trey stepped forward. His broad six and half feet frame took me by surprise. “Eve, do you know this man?”
Noah’s shoulders went rigid and Nick looked ready to back him up. Hell no.
“Oh.” I looked between the two men and the frown on Nick’s face. “Sorry. Noah, Nick, this is Trey. Trey, that is my friend Nick, and this is… Noah.” I turned back to the man who filled my dreams. “What are you doing here?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you on the way back.”
Trey smiled. “I recognized Nick Salinger. He’s who I’ll be having my interview with on Monday.”
Nick nodded and shook the other man’s hand but didn’t return his smile. “Trey Gosling. I recognized you from your picture I have on file.”
Noah’s scowl never left Trey. “Bex, can you see the problem?”
“Yes.” Bex walked away from the front of the car. “You guys can go. I’ll make sure the tow-truck takes it back to the farm.”
“Come, babe.” Noah’s hand dropped to my lower back. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Babe?
Nick handed the Escalade’s key to Noah. “If there is one scratch...”
“I’ll see you on Monday.” Noah darted his eyes between Nick and Trey. “For the record, I accept the job offer.”
“Thought you would,” was all Nick had to say.
Oh, there would be no quiet exit. Hands on hips, I scowled up at Noah. “What if I don’t want to drive back with you? You can’t just show up here and expect me to fall in line.”
Trey took a step forward, but Nick raised his hand. “I suggest you don’t interfere.”
Noah’s smile still did things to me. “I was at the company family picnic thing. I met everyone who was there, including Skylar. I think we need to talk.”
My shoulders sagged. Of course, he knew. The universe fucking up and placing him at the picnic was beyond me, but him knowing about our daughter didn’t scare me.
“Fine.” I slumped my shoulders and walked to the Escalade. “But this doesn’t mean you get a free pass for blind-siding me on the side of the road. I’m pissed Mr. – Noah.”
“Moore. I’m Noah Moore.” He opened the passenger door for me. “And just so we both understand each other, I’m not exactly thrilled with you either.”