Chapter Three
“You’re lost in thought, Pumpkin,” Elliot Parker, her boss and father, said.
She’d been counting the box of screws, and she looked up and shook her head. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted today.”
“Yeah, and I’m worried. This is not sarcasm but you love counting day.”
Freya laughed. “I know.” She did. Even as a kid she loved to count. One day, when she was bored, her father got her to take stock of the kitchen, including cans, and even cutlery. She made a complete and comprehensive list, much to her mother’s dismay. For fun, she loved to work at the DIY store.
Whenever her mother took her to the grocery store, the staff had adored her because she went around putting everything in date order, and she did it for fun.
Where Adele had wanted to be a wife and mother, Freya had wanted to earn her own way, which was strange considering she worked for her father. It had taken her some time over the years to build her reputation as being a reliable source of information, but she had eventually gotten there. In the beginning, men and women would hesitate in accepting her advice when it came to tools and the right materials for each project. Now, she was sought after for advice.
“Does this have something to do with you leaving the bar with a certain mechanic?” Elliot asked.
She stopped and then laughed. “Wow, gossip sure does travel fast, doesn’t it?”
He chuckled. “Well, they wanted to know if I was aware of my daughter’s choices.”
There were only two options here: deny it, and become a liar to her father, or admit to it.
“Are you mad?”
“No, not at all.”
“What about … you know, the fact that he dated Adele?”
“That feels like a lifetime ago, and besides, they were kids back then. Admittedly all of them were going through their rebellious phase, and I’d have panicked if he was like his younger self. Maverick changed.”
“Yeah,” Freya said.
“Losing a parent will do that to you, and, well, he’s taken on his father’s business, and has stayed true to the name Lavin. He’s a good guy.”
“But what about Adele?”
“Your sister? There was no love between the two, and besides, you should probably ask her yourself.”
This was the only problem she had with finally caving to her ginormous crush on Maverick. She’d always had a thing for him, even when he was dating her sister as well. Now that he’d taken her virginity, and they’d enjoyed sex last night, Freya didn’t have a clue what this meant for the two of them.
She didn’t know if they were going steady or just having fun. Then of course, there were the potential problems it could evoke with her sister. Even though Adele had moved on, gotten married and divorced, it didn’t mean anything.
Several customers came in, and Freya got back to work on counting stock. She tried to do this at least once a week, but it tended to be a monthly thing. So far, they were still thriving in their small town and she knew it was because of her father’s persistent work ethic—one she’d also adopted.
By lunchtime, she was starving, and she’d been counting through so many nuts and bolts, her fingers had that metallic smell she’d come to associate with metal. She used to go to the diner for her lunch, but now she packed herself a small lunchbox and headed over to the park.
It was always busy, but no one ever seemed to bother her. She sat beneath a tree, enjoying the shade as well as the sunshine, sticking her legs out to get nice and tan, while the rest of her was in shadow.
She tried not to think about what was on her mind. Knowing her father’s views on Maverick made it a little easier, but it didn’t mean Adele would be the same. Her sister was always a little … unpredictable. She loved Adele and they had a close friendship, but that didn’t mean her sister was always quite so open and willing to listen to her.
It was why Adele had taken her out drinking to celebrate her divorce. She knew it was her sister’s way of saying sorry, without saying the words, which did kind of suck.
Then, of course, there was the fact Maverick was so … him.
He was the only guy that made her question everything. Who even made her think of breaking the sister code. No dating ex-boyfriends. Now, this wasn’t really a code, and it wasn’t something she and Adele had ever agreed on.
Before Adele had settled down in marriage, she’d had a different boyfriend every month.
“You’re deep in thought.”
Freya jolted at the whisper against her ear. She turned to see Maverick, the man himself, sitting close to her.
“Maverick,” she said. “I, uh, I wasn’t expecting you.”
He chuckled. “Saw you heading to the park for your usual lunch. Figured I’d join you. What did you have?” he asked, pointing toward her half-eaten sandwich.
“Cheese and pickle. You?”
“Bacon, cheese, and egg.”
“Right,” she said.
“Wait until I tell you about my everything sandwich,” Maverick said.
“Your everything sandwich?”
“Yep, I take all of my leftovers, dump them between bread, and eat.”
“That sounds pretty disgusting.”
“It can be. Do not mix mashed potatoes and pasta.” He wrinkled his nose. “Bad combination.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “What about tomato sauce and gravy?”
“Done that.”
Again, she couldn’t help but giggle. Now, she felt better.
She looked into Maverick’s blue eyes, and it was kind of scary to her, because she knew she had loved this man for a long time, since she was a little girl. It didn’t matter to her that he was older by a few years.
He’d been her only crush back then, and now, well, he certainly lived up to the expectations she had of him.
****
Maverick couldn’t stand to see Freya looking so sad, and since they had unprotected sex a couple of times now, it seemed only right to make everything work. Which was why before lunch, he went to the DIY store to speak to Elliot.
Back when he was a punk-ass kid who thought he knew all the answers, he and Elliot didn’t quite get along. It didn’t matter seeing as he and Adele didn’t exactly last. Adele was not known for being committed. He’d been shocked to learn it was the husband who had cheated, not Adele.
She moved from guy to guy, leaving when the boredom sank in.
“What can I do for you, son?” Elliot asked as he stepped through the DIY store. There were no customers and he saw Elliot enjoying his lunch.
“I, uh, actually came to see you today,” he said.
“This have anything to do with you and Freya leaving the bar together last night, and a few nights ago?”
Maverick smiled. He didn’t know if he should just start running in the hope he could distance himself between him and Elliot’s shotgun.
“Yeah,” Maverick said.
“Good. I thought you would have the sense to come and see me. Now, like I told Freya, I’ve got no problem with the two of you, so long as you deal with Adele. I don’t want my daughters bickering. I’ve already had to deal with them not seeing eye to eye about Adele’s husband. Just so happens Freya was right all along, but even still, I don’t have to like it.” He shook his head. “So, whatever is going on between the two of you, fix everything else, got it?”
And then he got to spend lunch with Freya, which was fun, and before returning to work, he made his way over to Adele’s house. He stepped over the small gate and walked up the garden path, leading to her pristine white front door, to which he gave a knock.
The divorce between Adele and her husband hadn’t been a good one. The rumor mill had suggested it had been messy. Adele had fought for half of everything, and since she was still living in the marital home, he had a feeling she’d won.
Seconds passed, then a minute, and he banged on the door, determined not to leave. When there was still no answer, he decided to come back another day, but then Adele opened the door, and she didn’t exactly look her best. Her hair was messed up, and her lipstick smudged, and she was also wearing a robe. Everything about her appearance screamed that she’d been fucking.
“Maverick, this is a pleasant surprise,” she said, glancing behind her, and then holding the door closed.
“This a bad time?”
“Yeah, yep, it is. What do you want?” Adele asked.
“To talk,” Maverick said.
Adele frowned. “We’ve got nothing to talk about. I don’t know why you’re here.”
He didn’t want to have this conversation on the front porch. “You heard the gossip?” he asked.
“About you and Freya?” Adele asked.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, is that what you’ve come to tell me?” Adele giggled, and clearly someone else was behind the door as she wriggled, clearly trying to get away. “Uh, what about it?”
“Do you have a problem with it?”
“Why would I have a problem with it?”
“Because of us.”
Adele suddenly pulled away, and then quickly stepped out, closing the door behind her. Her face was bright red. “Us? That was like … another time in our lives. Why would that even bother me?” She stopped and then laughed. “Are you asking for permission to date my sister?”
“Look, I like Freya, and I want to see where this goes, but I don’t want you and her to have any trouble.”
“Wow, you really did turn into a nice guy, didn’t you?” Adele asked.
He glared at Adele.
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You turned into the good guy to the right people. I remember when you’d have taken what you wanted and said fuck it to all the problems it would cause.”
“I have taken what I wanted, only now I deal with the consequences. I don’t want you and Freya to be … fighting.”
“Me and Freya are good. Trust me, I should have listened to her long ago. I’ve got no problem with you and Freya enjoying each other. It will be good. I don’t like that Freya just works and doesn’t do anything fun or exciting. This is going to be totally fun. Don’t tell her I know.”
He frowned. “I’m not going to lie to her, and I’m certainly not going to hurt her.”
Adele sighed. “Fine. I’m glad you’re not going to hurt her. Please, make sure she has some fun, though, right? She is always so serious, and I could never get her to let her hair down, you know? She needs to, and trust me, life sucks enough as it is.”
There was a sudden banging on the door and Adele smiled.
“I’ll let you get back to whoever you’re doing.”
“See you later,” Adele said.
She was gone before he’d even left her property.
He and Adele hadn’t been serious, but now that he had resolved any potential problems between sisters, he didn’t see a reason to hold back. He didn’t just like Freya, he’d fallen in love with her a long time ago. There was never a time to act on those feelings, until now.
Freya belonged to him, and there was no way he was going to let her go. He’d had a taste, and he wanted so much more.