Chapter 4
OLIVIA
B eck and Dax watch me like hawks, hunger blazing in their eyes. I feel it, too, swelling in my chest like a hole that needs to be filled. They look particularly handsome in their uniforms, I’ll admit. It adds an extra layer to what I already find difficult to ignore.
At least I know it’s mutual.
Jim comes out of the kitchen; his apron is stained with smudges of red from what I assume is another batch of cherry pies to put in the pie display at the end of the bar.
“How are you coming along, Olivia?” he asks, giving me a subtle frown.
“So far, so good,” I reply with a warm but wary smile. I’m nervous and eager to please, but the idea of three months’ probation still scares me.
I need this job.
“How’s it going, Jim?” Dax asks, giving him a soft nod .
Jim’s grin spreads across his stubbly round face. “You heard the girl. So far, so good!”
“Glad you gave our new neighbor a chance,” he says.
“Oh, you’re neighbors?” Jim replies, sounding rather surprised as he looks back at me. “You’re on the same block, then?”
“Next door,” I say. “Mrs. Jackson’s place. I’m renting it from Chloe.”
“That’s nice. It’s a pretty house. It was a pity it stayed empty for so long.
Well, provided you complete your probationary period, the full-time salary will come with a nice bump, so you can use that to take care of the front garden,” he says.
“Melinda drove past it the other day and said it could do with a bit of tending.”
Beck frowns. “I mowed that lawn last week. What are you talking about?”
“I think she meant the flower beds. Mrs. Jackson loved her roses the best,” Jim replies, but Dax is more interested in the probationary part of his statement.
“Wait, Jim, hold on. Probationary period?” he asks.
“Well, yeah. I need to make sure Olivia can hack it. Oherwise, I can’t risk full-time employment. The taxes are ridiculous,” he says and shrugs in a defensive manner.
Dax doesn’t like it, though. I find myself surprised by his determination to land me a permanent position. I can’t remember the last time a man tried so hard to help me make it on my own.
“Jim, you’ve been flipping through waitresses like crazy over the past few months,” Dax tells him.
“You fired one because she wasn’t clearing the tables quick enough.
You let another one go because you didn’t like that she had to commute from the next town over.
I get that you and Melinda miss Annie but come on. ”
“Wait, who’s Annie?” I ask.
“Our daughter,” Jim replies with a heavy sigh.
“She kept this place together for years until she moved out to Lake Tahoe with her new husband. Melinda was happy for her, and well, so was I, but we haven’t been able to find anyone good enough to replace our little girl. Nobody does service like Annie.”
“I can tell you for a fact that Olivia’s up to the task,” Dax states. “Come on, Jim. Give her the full-time gig. She doesn’t need the uncertainty, and you really don’t need to put another ad in the paper. Pretty sure the ad manager rolls his eyes whenever he gets an email from you.”
Jim lowers his gaze. “Melinda’s fine with that, but I still need to make sure?—”
“Is Melinda aware that you keep a secret stash of chocolate chip cookies hidden in your back office desk drawer?” Dax cuts in with a cool grin.
Jim gasps, then stills. The shock on his face tells me that Dax’s gamble was worth it. “How did you know that?”
In the meantime, my gaze bounces from Dax to Jim as I eagerly await the conclusion while Leo and Beck work overtime to keep their faces straight.
“I’m the one who cleared the back office after that grease fire spread,” Dax cordially reminds him. “At the time, you and Melinda were already on a serious diet. I kept my mouth shut then, but I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t be keeping a chocolate chip cookie stash?—”
“Triple chocolate chip cookie stash,” Beck laughs as he corrects him.
“Triple chocolate chip cookie stash,” Dax echoes for dramatic effect, “while living with diabetes, Jim. I’ll bet you a million bucks that Melinda doesn’t know about it.”
Jim shakes his head slowly. “I don’t keep that stuff anymore. I’m clean.”
“So if I were to go into your office right now,” Leo says, pretending to get up from his seat, “I’m not going to find anything?”
“You can’t go back there,” Jim replies nervously.
“I can. Surprise fire safety inspection,” Leo shoots back. “You know I’m authorized to do that as a lieutenant.”
And there it is. The surrender plastered all over Jim’s sweaty face.
“Olivia deserves the full-time job,” Dax repeats, making my heart grow a couple of sizes. “And you need staff that you can rely on. Keeping people for three months and then letting them go for downright trivial reasons isn’t helping your diner, Jim, admit it.”
“Fine.” He exhales sharply and forces himself to smile. “Congratulations, Olivia. The full-time gig is yours. But I expect you to really rise to the occasion here.”
I light up with excitement and suck in a deep breath before I respond. “Thank you, Jim. I promise you won’t regret it. I’ll work twice as hard to prove myself. ”
“I better not regret it,” he mutters, giving the guys a slight nod before he heads back into the kitchen. “We’re taking breakfast orders until eleven. Not a minute after that!”
“Got it!”
I laugh lightly once he’s out of sight, then turn to look at the three handsome gentlemen who literally just made my life a lot easier. Permanent employment has some perks that I will need in the long run, especially after the years I spent under Marcus’s heavy boot.
“I cannot thank you enough,” I tell Dax.
“You can, actually,” he replies. His phone rings, and he looks at the screen, the joy fleeing from his chiseled features. “We have to go back to the fire house. Car fire.”
Beck jumps from his seat. “On it.”
“Right behind you,” Leo says, then gives me a wink and follows Beck outside.
I can hear the fire siren sounding as Leo and Beck open the door to head back to the station. But Dax lingers for an extra second, giving me the most intense look.
“Drinks tomorrow evening? We can celebrate your new position,” he says, his tone not leaving much room for me to say no.
Not that I can find a reason to anyway.
“I’d love that,” I reply with a soft smile, then watch him head out to save another life.
How did I get here so fast? It’s like Ember Ridge was waiting for me somehow, with a fresh start, a decent job, and three gorgeous men eager to get close to me .
I’d say it’s all moving too fast, but after the years I spent in an emotional paralysis, I don’t know if that’s correct.
I think I’m going to welcome these overlapping changes. I just need to make sure my past doesn’t come back to haunt me—or worse—hurt me or anyone near me. I would never forgive myself.
I can’t remember the last time I was this nervous.
I’m sitting across the table from Dax in a dimly lit corner of The Butterfly, Ember Ridge’s upscale cocktail bar with a gorgeous view of the mountains.
My breath is uneven, and I have to think twice before I say anything because this man looks exceptionally dashing in his dark gray slacks and black shirt.
The top two buttons of his shirt are open, giving me a subtle view of his sculpted chest. Shadows clash with specks of silver in his beard. His eyes seem to burn into my very soul as I take a sip from my drink.
“This is really good,” I say. “What’s it called again?”
“Hugo,” he replies. “They use elderflower syrup, hence the particular taste.”
“Ah, that’s why the waiter called this a ‘summer darling’—”
I glance to the side and my stomach lurches. A man at a nearby table has Marcus’s profile—sharp jaw, dark hair. For a split second my throat closes and my pulse ricochets. It isn’t him. Wrong posture, wrong suit. But the effect is the same, making me want to curl in on myself and disappear.
“What’s wrong?” Dax asks .
“Nothing. I guess I’m just tired. The morning shift at Melinda’s can really knock the wind out of you if you’re not used to being on your feet all day.” I smile nervously.
His eyes narrow with curiosity. “What kind of work did you do before?”
“Computers, mostly. IT, finance, fintech, bits of everything, really,” I reply, trying to keep my account as general and as untraceable as possible.
“Where? In Devon?”
“Mostly in the city.”
That’s a lie, and I hate lying. But we’re at the stage of a first date where he actually wants to get to know me while I’m desperately trying to let my past die a slow and permanent death.
I lean forward and give him a broad smile.
“What about you?” I ask. “The fire department. The Marines. Is there anything else?”
“No, I knew what I wanted from day one,” he says, his gaze intensifying. “I usually set my sights on something and stop at nothing until I get it.”
“That’s perseverance.”
“My family is considered one of the settler dynasties of Wyoming,” he adds. “They made their fortune in gold, oil, and lumber, anything they could extract or produce, anything they could sell… over the centuries, they amassed a fortune.”
“Wow, that’s impressive. ”
He shrugs. “My father expected me to take over the business, but I never felt like it was part of me, if that makes sense. I wanted to do something I felt was worthy, something great, something that would, I don’t know, change the course of history.”
I can’t help but stare at him in genuine fascination, soaking in his every word. He’s dark and handsome, mysterious and often brooding, yet when he smiles, it’s as if the entire sky lights up.
“And did you? Change the course of history?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure I did much on a global scale, but the lives I saved, the lives I changed… the lives I took,” he pauses, glancing away for a moment, “that must count for something, right?”
“Thank you for your service,” I tell him. “I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like.”