Chapter 5
Chapter Five
One week later
Amy
By the following Friday afternoon, I had gotten the hang of my new job.
Well, the parts they’d told me about anyway.
It had taken a full week to get comfortable, though. I wasn’t sure if that was normal or not, but I felt good about it.
Answering the phones was simple; taking the information to pass along to Wolfe or Lynx wasn’t hard most of the time.
When someone wanted to go into detail about a design, I had a little difficulty.
I wasn’t artistic by any means, but I'd learned that having Lynx take those calls worked well. He could draw something up in a few strokes of the pencil, then he’d pass it along to Wolfe for more detail if needed.
The quick tutorial I received from Lynx in regard to the accounting software had been the hardest part. He promised he’d only show me the things I would need to do when the time came, so I'd get plenty of practice.
Other than that, I’d spent the past week organizing things on the second floor. I'd quickly learned that the Caines didn’t utilize an alphabetized filing system, so I'd implemented one and gotten to work.
Which was what I was still doing now when I heard the sound of footsteps outside the door.
“It’s about quittin’ time,” Wolfe informed me.
Sitting up straight, I stretched my neck.
I had actually been dreading this part. I didn’t want the day to end, preferring to do the mindless task of alphabetizing paperwork instead of going home and pacing the floor.
Every day this week, I had bolted out of bed before my alarm, eager and excited to spend the day at the shop.
With something constructive to do, I found I spent far less time worrying.
“Okay,” I finally said, pushing to my feet. “I’ll finish this up on Monday?”
“It’ll be here waitin’ for ya,” he said, grinning.
Smiling, I moved past Wolfe, knowing he was waiting so he could close the door behind me.
I'd gotten used to his gentlemanly gestures. Opening doors, walking me to my car, bringing me coffee or water during the day. One day he picked up lunch and brought me a hamburger without even asking. He made being around him comfortable. So much so, I wasn’t looking forward to going home to an empty house.
Granted, I did have to work at Reagan’s tonight, but I didn’t have to be there until seven, which meant I had about four hours to kill.
“You ever shoot a gun?”
Jerking around to face him, I stared at Wolfe, shocked by his question. “I … uh … no.”
“You wanna learn?”
Swallowing, I found myself nodding. I wasn’t sure if Wolfe was offering because he could sense the terror that lurked just beneath the surface, or if that was simply something they did here in Embers Ridge during their downtime.
I knew the cousins were comfortable with firearms. Namely shotguns.
It seemed they had one everywhere I turned.
“You got any plans now?”
I shook my head.
Wolfe jerked his chin in the direction of the stairs. “Come on. I’ll drive.”
I had to hold back the words that hung on the tip of my tongue.
I was going to say that I could drive myself, but I didn’t want to.
I needed to prove to myself that I really could trust this man.
He’d given me a job and hadn’t questioned me about anything.
Even when I'd turned in my paperwork, although some of the information was missing, he hadn’t asked about it.
Oh, I knew I would have to provide my social security number, birthdate, and all that crap in order to receive a paycheck, but I was hesitant.
Being paid biweekly meant I had a little time.
If it meant I worked for two weeks for free, so be it.
At the end of next week, if I felt comfortable enough, I'd give it to him.
If not, then I'd walk away. It was that simple.
“Okay,” I agreed, turning toward the stairs.
I waited while Wolfe closed up the shop, setting the alarm and locking the doors before he made his way to his truck. He walked me around to the passenger door and opened it, lingering there while I climbed inside.
The truck was a beast. Thank goodness for step bars or I never would’ve managed to get inside without help.
“Buckle up,” he said, closing the door and then moving around to the driver’s side.
When he joined me, I had the seat belt locked into place.
I scanned the interior of the truck, not at all surprised to see it was clean.
Wolfe’s office was unorganized, but I had to say, everything was always spotless.
That characteristic carried over to his vehicle as well.
It made me wonder what his house looked like.
As Wolfe steered the truck out of the lot, he picked up his phone and hit a button.
“Hey, Sheriff. Thought I’d let you know that I’m takin’ Amy out to the range behind my house. Gonna teach her how to shoot a gun.”
There was a brief pause. Wolfe glanced both ways at a stop sign, his expression unchanged.
“Yep. Just thought you should know. Later.”
I got the feeling that it wasn’t customary for residents to inform the sheriff when they were going to be shooting on their own land.
I was pretty sure Wolfe had done it for my benefit.
It did make me feel better knowing that someone was aware of where I was going, although, if I was completely honest, I wasn’t worried that Wolfe would hurt me. In fact, I felt safe with him.
Safer than I had in a long, long time.
And I wasn’t sure what to think about that yet.
Wolfe
I disconnected the call and tossed my phone into the center console.
I could feel Amy’s eyes on me.
“Do you always call the sheriff when you’re gonna be shooting?”
The doubt in her tone told me she knew better.
I smirked, cutting my eyes to her briefly. “Not usually, no.”
A smile formed on her face, and I could see that she had relaxed somewhat.
My reasons for calling Rhys had been twofold.
Mainly to put Amy at ease. I figured she’d be more comfortable knowing that the sheriff was aware of where she was and who she was with.
And two, because I'd wanted to entice the sheriff to show up. I didn’t bother to mention to Amy that Rhys wasn’t on duty at the moment.
Nor did I share with her what Rhys had said.
“You callin’ to brag? Or is that an invitation?”
“Yep. Just thought you should know. Later.”
I would let him figure out which question I'd been answering. Either the sheriff would show up or he wouldn’t.
Knowing Rhys, he’d be there. Since he had avoided me since the day I confronted him outside the shop, I figured it was time for me to make a move.
It wasn’t like me not to go after what I wanted, and since I had half of what I wanted right here in the truck with me, I simply needed to get Rhys on board for everything to fall into place. I had waited long enough.
“Where do you live?” Amy asked, her attention fixed on the scenery passing by the truck.
“My family’s got about two hundred acres out on the edge of town.”
“Two hundred?” Her eyes were wide when she looked over at me.
“Yeah. We lease about half of it out for cattle. Another portion is used for hay. The rest we live on.”
“And play on?”
Was she teasing me?
Smiling, I nodded. “And play on.”
“My aunt and uncle had some land.” She didn’t look at me as she spoke. “I lived with them for a brief amount of time. They didn’t have a lot, only eight acres, but it was wooded and I spent some time wandering.”
I could’ve sat right there in my truck all damn day if she would simply talk about herself more.
I was still amazed that she’d agreed to come with me.
And I had more than one reason for inviting her.
Sure, I wanted to spend some time with her, get to know her.
Not only because I was curious about what she was running from, either.
I'd come to like the woman. A lot. But I figured if she wanted me to know about her past, she’d tell me.
In the meantime, I could be her friend, teach her how to defend herself if it was necessary.
“In case you couldn’t tell, I’m close to my family,” I told her.
“The Caines have lived on that land for generations. My grandparents’ house has sat empty since they passed, but Lynx usually takes care of it.
I’m still out there, though. In my own house.
I built it out on the northeast corner a few years ago.
It keeps me out of sight of everyone. Lynx’s dad’s got a place, too, but he’s a shut-in now. Never leaves.”
“And your dad? Does he live out there?”
I shook my head. “Nah. After my mother died two years ago, he moved into the apartment above the store. He said he didn’t need much space, was tired of havin’ to deal with upkeep around his house.”
“I’m sorry about your mom.” Amy continued to stare out the window.
“Thanks.”
“Did he sell his house?”
“Nope. Lynx decided to move in there. He’d been rentin’ a house in town when he was with his … ex-wife. He hauled ass back as fast as he could.”
“Do you have horses?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Not enough time to take care of ’em. Cooter had some at one point. Ended up sellin’ ’em about six years ago. Couldn’t handle all the work on his own.”
When Amy didn’t shoot off another question, I thought of the million I had spinning around in my head, but I held them all back.
If she wanted to ask me about my family, I was more than willing to share the details.
I loved my family. Didn’t matter how fucking crazy they were.
And I hoped one day she’d feel comfortable enough to share a bit of herself with me.
When we reached the Circle C Ranch, I pulled up to the gate and hit the button in my truck that would open it electronically.
“It’s solar-powered,” Amy said softly. “That seems to be a thing now.”
I didn’t respond, figuring it didn’t require me to.