Chapter 2
two
. . .
Wren
I knew he wouldn’t make this easy for me. I hadn’t expected him to, but a small part of me hoped that he’d be able to look at me and know that I needed a break right now.
I was at the lowest point of my life.
Axel Chadwick knew me better than anyone.
But he just stood there, arms crossed over his chest, as his gaze hardened when it met mine.
“I didn’t know the details about the job.
I certainly didn’t know that I’d be working for you.
” I shrugged. “I did a remote interview with Brenner Layton. I signed on with a temp agency, and I was only given the details about the actual job requirements. How was I supposed to know that it was your company?”
“And when you got the address, it didn’t sound familiar? I believe the last time you were here, you were sitting right there in that barn making plans with me. I’d say that you’ve spent enough damn time on this property to know that the address was mine.”
I squared my shoulders. I was not going to let him see how difficult this was for me. I hated asking anyone for help. I always had. I made a point to never put myself in a position to have to do it.
But desperate times called for desperate measures.
Otherwise, I would have bailed on this job the minute I saw who I’d be working for.
“I recognized the address last night. Would you have preferred that I just no-show for the job?” I cleared my throat, trying to keep my composure.
“That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it?” He gave me a look. “It’s not like it would be the first time you bailed on me.”
His words were a punch to the gut.
Bailing on him? He was the one who’d given me no choice.
Leaving Axel, leaving this town for so long—it was the hardest thing I’d ever done. And I’d been doing hard things for most of my life, so that was saying a lot.
He knew why I’d left.
If he wanted to point fingers at me, knowing what he’d done, then that was his choice.
I was here because I needed something temporary at the moment while I figured my life out.
“I had my reasons for leaving, and if you don’t know what they are, perhaps you should take a look in the mirror before you start pointing your finger at me.”
“Listen, Wren, I’d love to sit here arguing about how pissed off I am at you, but I don’t have the time.
I’m sure you can understand that, since you didn’t have the time to say goodbye to me back then.
Nor did you find even ten fucking seconds to unblock my phone number in the two years since you left.
So, I need to get back to work.” He started walking backward toward his huge warehouse beside the barn.
He wasn’t turning his back on me, his gaze still locked with mine.
I had a flashback to when we were young. I’d just fallen off my horse, and Axel was the first one there to pick me up. He helped me get back on that horse and then sat with me afterward, making sure I iced my knees.
In a heartbeat.
He’d always been my safe place.
And it hurt like hell that all of that was just gone.
So many things were just gone now.
“I need the job, Axel.” The words left my lips before I could stop them.
He paused, his head cocking to the side as he studied me. “Come on, Wren. You and I both know you have more money than you know what to do with. Aren’t you supposed to be training to make the Olympic team? What are you even doing here?”
There’d never been a time in my life when Axel hadn’t known every single thing going on in my world, and vice versa. And now neither one of us knew anything about the other.
I didn’t know where to start.
I couldn’t trust him anymore.
He’d betrayed me.
Hell, everyone had betrayed me.
I’d never felt so alone. I’d never felt so exhausted.
So broken.
I blew out a breath.
I will not cry.
I could count on one hand how many times I’d cried in front of another human in my life. And they’d all been in front of Axel. He was there to pick me up after my worst accidents during competitions, and he was there when I’d had some dark times with my family.
But I would not break down in front of this man now.
Not anymore.
“Do you think I’d actually be here if I didn’t need to be?” I said, because it was the truth.
“You got your degree from Stanford. Don’t you think you’re slightly overqualified for a temp job?”
“Well, if you remember, my degree is in business, with a minor in finance. Seems like the perfect qualifications to get your books in order,” I said with a shrug. “And it’s a three-month contract, and then I’ll be gone.”
“And you couldn’t find anywhere else but here, huh?”
Like it or not, this was where I needed to be at the moment.
“Listen, you need help, and I need a job. I’m plenty qualified, as you just pointed out, and I’ll stay out of your hair, and you already know I’m a hard worker.”
“And what about training for the Olympics? Are you going to do that in the evenings?”
I looked away for a moment before gathering myself. “You don’t need to worry about it. I’m not riding right now, and I give you my word that I will show up every day and work hard.”
His eyebrows cinched together as he studied me, as if he was trying to figure me out. “And you’ll stay out of my hair.”
“I will. I’m here for the job and nothing more.”
His jaw clenched at my words, and he gave me a slight nod. “Follow me.”
I tucked the keys to my Bronco in my small crossbody bag and walked behind him as he entered the large warehouse. Axel paused and pointed to the office in the back corner. “You’ll be back there.”
“Holy shit. Is that Wren Waterstone?” Coby Johnson wiped his hands on a towel and jogged toward me. He’d grown up in Rosewood River and we’d gone to school together, though he was a few years younger than me.
“Oh, hey, Coby. Long time no see.”
“Congrats on winning the world championships. That was something,” he said, shaking his head with a goofy smile on his face. “I heard you had a pretty nasty accident recently, though, huh? You all right?”
I didn’t miss the way Axel’s eyes scanned me from head to toe, as if he was silently assessing my injuries.
I was fine now.
It had been a few weeks.
I’d won the Eventing World Championships just a few months ago, but then I’d followed up my win at the Worlds with a pretty disastrous fall at another major event last month. I’d spent five days in the hospital, and I was still recovering.
It was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that I’d been on such a high not that long ago, and now everything had changed.
“Thank you.”
“Get back to work, Coby.” Axel’s voice had a bite to it, and Coby nodded and waved a quick goodbye to me before walking away.
Axel led us to the back corner, and my eyes bulged at the mess. A small oak desk with a computer monitor had a pile of papers stacked on it, and a chair in the corner held a basket of files. The small window was covered with dark navy curtains with only a sliver of light coming through.
“Loraine left me in a mess when she took off without warning. I don’t even know where to tell you to start.
I’ve had some help from family—they were pulling those files on the chair to try to get things organized and in some sort of system.
That’s as far as we’ve gotten. The computer login info is in the top desk drawer. ”
“Not a problem. I’ll figure it out.” I shoved my hands in the back pockets of my jean skirt as I glanced around.
“You know your way around, so I probably don’t need to tell you the kitchen is on the other side of the warehouse.
There’s coffee and snacks. Everyone usually brings their own lunch, but if you need to leave to grab lunch, that’s fine.
There are a few checkbooks in the top drawer if you want to go through those bills and get them paid.
Just let me know at the end of the day what it amounts to and what our balance is.
I like to keep on top of that. Let’s see, what else?
” I waited for him to continue. “The hours are standard, eight to five. Did Brenner fill you in on all that and go over the pay with you?”
“He did.” I cleared my throat. “I brought a lunch, so I’m good to go.”
“All right.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. He turned and walked out of the office.
What more was there to say?
We were the best of friends our entire lives, until we weren’t.
And now we were complete strangers.
It was equal parts painful and comforting to be around Axel again.
I moved across the small space and yanked the curtains open, allowing the natural light to flood the room. I reached up and unlocked the window, pulling it open. The smell of pine and lavender flooded my senses and comforted me immediately.
I spent the next four hours going through the files in the basket, and then I got started on the pile of papers on the desk.
Thankfully it was mostly just bills that had already been paid, along with a few unopened bills that would need to be taken care of.
I spent several hours getting everything separated, and I’d work on sorting it all this afternoon.
It didn’t make sense to pay by check in this day and age, so I’d have to see if he’d give me access to his bank account so I could set up bill pay.
I pulled open the top drawer on the right-hand side of the desk and found a bunch of office supplies and stamps and more checkbooks.
I pulled everything out and started cleaning it up.
The left-hand side had some drawers, so I moved all the files into them and labeled them to make things easier to find.