33. Haven
Chapter Thirty-Three
Haven
I jogged down the steps, catching up to Elsa in a few strides. She spun back.
“I just need some time to myself. It’s fine, I promise. I’m fine,” she insisted.
It was all I could do not to reach for her arm, but I just chased off a guy who grabbed her arm, so I wasn’t about to do that.
I watched quietly as she turned and hurried away.
One of the goats had gotten loose and trotted over to her, headbutting her in the knee.
She leaned down to pet Dolly before walking off.
I stood there, looking toward that vehicle that just left, shiny and black. Maybe a little dusty from the drive down our road, but that was it.
Cole’s voice reached me. “What’s up?” he asked as he approached.
I pondered Brad, Elsa’s ex. I didn’t know what the hell to think about that. We hadn’t defined anything, but I knew my feelings. I sensed Elsa had no idea how much she meant to me.
Over the following days, it became clear that whatever happened with that guy built a wall between Elsa and me. Oh, she didn’t stay out of our nights. We were still tangled up in the sheets every night, but I could feel the distance. When we were skin to skin, her heart was barricaded away.
As usual, I was so busy I barely had time to breathe, much less ask her what the hell was going on.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tommy asked one morning.
“What do you mean?”
He rolled his eyes dramatically. “Well, ever since that day that guy came, you’ve been weird. You’re not as nice as you were with Elsa. What happened?”
He wasn’t wrong on that count.
I tried to talk to Elsa a few times, but she didn’t let any conversation go past the surface. A few days passed, and I stopped in at Firehouse Café with Jude to check on Janet and see how things were going after the fire upstairs. A hint of smoke lingered in the lower part of the café.
Luna glanced up as she handed me a donut. “For you.”
“I didn’t order one.”
“I know, but you helped Janet and her cat. So free donuts forever.”
I chuckled. “Luna, I can’t take free donuts forever.”
“Why the hell not?” Jude asked from my side.
I slid my gaze to my brother. “Because if I have free donuts forever, you guys are going to be on me all the time to bring them to you by the dozen.”
Luna’s lips curled in a bemused smile. “Fair point. Okay, one single free donut for you only , whenever you come in.”
Jude narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you serious?”
She rested a hand on her hip. “Absolutely. Did you carry Janet and Chunky out?”
Jude rolled his eyes with a bemused smile. “I wasn’t here, so I don’t think it can be held against me that I didn’t.”
Luna gave a saucy shrug. “Just tell me your favorite, Haven, and I’ll make sure to set one aside for you.”
“How is Janet?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” Janet replied in a singsong voice as she came out from the back and rounded the counter to pull me into a lung-squeezing hug. When she stepped back, her eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile. “Haven Silver, my hero.”
I thought Jude might choke. “God help us. Please don’t call him a hero.”
“He is my hero, though,” Janet said with a wide grin. “He’s your hero too, you know.”
Jude let out a sigh. “I know.”
Jude didn’t talk about it much. Hell, we all hated talking about the fire, but I had actually dragged him out during the wildfire at the resort. We chatted briefly before I asked, “Any updates on what caused the fire upstairs here?”
“Electrical,” Janet said simply. “This building is old and while I’ve updated just about everything downstairs, I haven’t updated anything up there.
An old fuse blew and set it off.” She paused and shrugged.
“No one got hurt, so it’s my reminder to get things taken care of.
” Janet’s ability to roll with the punches of life was legendary and she didn’t even dwell.
She shifted topics and tossed some unwelcome gossip at my feet. “So some guy’s nosing around about Elsa’s property.”
“Some guy named Brad?” I countered quickly because I knew exactly who it had to be. “How did you hear about that?”
“I hear about everything, Haven,” Janet said matter-of-factly. “And of course, I’m old friends with one of the attorneys at Blackthorne Law. He doesn’t handle my cases, but he let me know that it came out of nowhere. Who is this Brad guy?”
“Haven refers to him as the asshole ,” Jude offered.
“I’ll agree on that count because unless Elsa wants to sell—” Janet began.
“Elsa doesn’t want to sell,” I ground out. “To make it really brief, he’s her ex, and for some reason, he wants that property for collateral. I have no idea why.”
“It’s not the property here. She owns a piece of property in Anchorage.” Janet narrowed her eyes. “My lawyer friend told him Elsa isn’t interested.”
“Dude, don’t crack a tooth,” Jude said from my side.
I had to consciously unclench my jaw. I didn’t know exactly what this guy had done to Elsa, but I knew he had hurt her. I was sure she was well over him, but I didn’t like him showing up like this.
My train of thought was interrupted by Jude. “Haven might be jealous.”
“I’m not fucking jealous,” I muttered.
“Testy?” Jude clucked at my side.
“What? Just, ugh.” I let out a groan, pinching the bridge of my nose briefly. “I’ll handle it.”
“Handle what? There’s nothing to handle,” Jude pointed out.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do me a favor, Janet. If you can scrounge up that guy’s number, I’d appreciate it.”
Jude walked out with me a few minutes later, stopping at the back of my truck. “I’d like to point out that I don’t think Elsa would like you handling her business like this.”
“There is no business to handle. I’m just making sure he leaves her the fuck alone,” I said.
Although his comment gave me a twinge of hesitation, I was too pissed off about Brad to listen to that twinge.
Hours later, in the resort kitchen
“What?” she yelped, spinning around. “Haven, why would you do that?” She held her phone in her hand, her eyes scanning the screen.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Jude muttered from my side.
“I’m not talking to him, but Brad left a message that you called him.” Elsa pinned her gaze on me.
“Elsa, you made it clear you weren’t interested in selling whatever it is that you own in Anchorage.”
“I just own a rental property. I got it from my mom. It was my dad’s. I guess it was in a trust with her for years, and now it’s mine. I don’t do anything. There’s a property management company that handles it.” She blinked and shook her head.
“You made it clear to Brad—” Defensiveness rose like a blind wall inside me. “Look, I don’t like that guy.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t either. But what the hell are you doing, Haven? I can handle my own stuff.” She let out something between a growl and a groan and narrowed her eyes at me before flinging the dish towel on the counter. “I need some space.”
“Elsa.” I started to chase her, but fucking Jude and Cole were right there.
“Wouldn’t do that, man. Told you,” Jude said from behind.