Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Elodie
The week goes by so slowly. I’ve counted down each hour of every day. After our lunch, Cruz dropped me off, but he didn’t kiss me. I got a sweltering smile as he opened the passenger door so I could get out, and then he made sure I got inside okay before he drove off.
It was the middle of the day! What was I expecting? A smoldering kiss that would leave me in a puddle of need? As if I need a kiss to turn into needy goo. I should gauge my body’s reaction and backpedal fast and far. I cannot get swept away by thrill and anticipation and misplaced dedication.
I won’t. I’ll be careful. There’s more to Cruz than I thought, and I can’t resist finding out. Nothing might come of a few dates. He might decide I’m not it for him. I might decide he’s a batter I want to lick off the spoon.
I puff out a breath. The bakery closed a couple of hours ago, and I’m finishing up the decorations on the order for Sy’s Water Adventures. They’re offering treats to all the rafters upon their return before they bus them to the distillery.
I made cream cheese candy kayaks to put on the cupcakes, and I’m quite proud of them, but it set me behind. I have to be at Cruz’s in an hour. The frosting decoration on the cupcakes is a simple ombre swirl that goes from dark blue to light toward the top. A nod to the river they just explored.
Finally, the last one is done. I whip through cleaning up the kitchen and run upstairs. It’s hot today, and he’s grilling. That might mean we’re outside.
Chewing on my lip, I evaluate my nicer clothing, things I haven’t worn for a long time. I like my sweatpants and loose linen pants, but I also enjoyed the way Cruz’s hungry gaze ate up my fitted jeans and sandaled feet. Deliberating, I stand at my dresser longer.
Loose shorts, or the booty shorts I used to wear years ago?
Impulsively, I grab the tiny pair. Other girls with my curves might skip them, but once upon a time, I used to use those same dips and valleys to get free food and drinks.
Cruz is already offering free food and drinks before he saw anything but my makeup-free face.
“Ugh.” I’m thinking way too hard about this. I exchange the scrap of fabric for a medium-length pair of shorts, the looser fit easing my mind. I’m not going to think too hard about the pale-blue lace-bra-and-panty set I swapped with my tried-and-true plain-Jane ones.
Instead of putting my hair in a clip, I keep it down, finger-combing the long waves. Having a huge curtain of long hair trapping heat around my neck is a foreign feeling these days, but it’s too late to change. I leave my glasses on instead of changing into contacts.
I race downstairs and out the door. I turn to lock the dead bolt and hear footsteps behind me.
Spinning around, my stomach hits my feet and my world stands still. A man approaches. He’s only a few inches taller than his brother, my ex-fiancé, and he looks so much like him that I want to run. It’s not like I hid after the breakup, and I really should’ve.
I did nothing wrong. Nothing.
Almost nothing. Definitely not as bad as Dwayne.
Then why is my gut churning enough acid to dissolve this whole town?
His lip curls up when he takes in my half-frumpy appearance, but he smothers it quickly.
My ex’s brother flashes the same charming and aloof smile that Dwayne used to wield. “Well, well, well. Long time no see.”
A phone call wasn’t enough?
He looks the same as when I last saw him, asking me to bail out his brother. Same fake gold watch on his wrist, same most likely stolen designer slacks and dress shirt. His boating shoes make him look like he owns a yacht. He probably can’t afford a discount dinghy. “What do you want, Damon?”
“Just making sure you got Dwayne’s letters.”
“You can tell him to lose my address.”
His laugh is barely more than a puff of air. “Sure. I’ll let him know.” He lifts his chin to the bakery. “Nice place.”
“It’s a family building,” I lie as stomach juices wash into my throat and burn, “so don’t think you have any claim to it.”
“Then what was the lovely article about how you bought a treasured part of Huckleberry Springs and gave it new life?”
Shit. I have to hand it to my ex and his brother. They always do their homework. Not enough to keep Dwayne from getting confronted and speeding away from trouble right into a life-altering mistake, but I should’ve taken all that into account when I fled Denver. “What are you doing here, Damon?”
“Looking at the nice place you bought with my brother’s money.”
It wasn’t his. “The account had my name on it.”
His face turns stormy, turning his ruddy expression redder. “You’re a goddamn thief.”
“If you think I took it, why now?” I snap. I’ve had plenty of time to think about why Dwayne would reach out after so many years. I know too much about all the things he didn’t go to prison for, so why risk riling me up?
“I happen to have a business venture, and that capital you stole from my brother would go far.”
“Listen, Einstein.” My temper’s shot. I always thought Damon was trouble, even before I figured out that Dwayne was not my type of bad boy, but they were a package deal.
If I wanted to date Dwayne—and I did for no good reason other than I thought he was everything I wasn’t—then I had to tolerate Damon.
“You two weren’t as good as you thought you were.
There wasn’t much money, and I only put in a down payment on this place.
Read between the lines, dumbass—I have monthly mortgage payments.
So if you think I’m some gold mine, you’d have better luck digging around these hills. ”
He crowds closer, but I slip out the side and move closer to my car. He spins with me but doesn’t advance. “I came to make sure your payment’s on time.”
Bullshit. I glare at him.
Smugness fills his expression. “I’d hate for your loved ones to find out what a little thieving whore you were.”
I bristle and my gut twists. I was not a whore, but there were times I felt like it. As for the thieving . . . I can’t fully absolve myself. There are a few wrongs I can’t make right, but I tried.
I can picture my parents’ faces when they learn the things I did, all because I thought I was in love. They’d blame themselves, but I flung myself at Dwayne. He seemed so refined and worldly, and I fell under his spell with little more than some flirtation and charm.
Now that I’ve gotten to know Cruz, I can see how false my ex was from the get-go. If only I’d had the experience to know back then.
He thinks he can make me feel bad for what I already hate myself for every day? I was nothing compared to him. “I’d hate for you to get arrested for blackmail.”
His smile is all Cheshire cat. “I don’t recall signing any letters. And I’d still hate for you to reassure this town that you won’t cheat them out of their hard-earned money.”
I work for every cent. “I’ll pay before the deadline. So you can kindly fuck off.” I get into my car.
“Until next month.” His words drift in just as I shut the door.
Spinning out of the alley, I have to force myself to slow down. My night might be ruined before it starts, but if my cousin pulls me over, then my family might hear about it. I don’t need them worrying about me. I put them through enough after moving away.
What would they do if they heard about what I was like with my ex? Mom would blame herself and her health takes enough dips as it is. Then Dad would stress about Mom, and no. I can’t be the reason they don’t enjoy their hard-earned retirement.
What about Cruz? The urge to cry haunts me. I judged him so damn hard, all because I was a stupid, stupid girl.
If the town heard about me, I could lose everything.
Another thought hits me in the sternum. What if Damon fucks with the bakery?
He won’t. I can’t pay him and Dwayne without it. But what if he tampers just a little? I can’t afford a setback.
I punch in my cousin’s number.
“Palmer,” he answers. Wind buffets across the line.
He didn’t answer in the middle of a traffic stop, did he? “Are you busy?”
“Just grabbing a bite before my shift starts. What’s up?”
“Do you mind patrolling by the bakery in a few minutes? There was a guy wandering by. He’s probably a tourist, but he saw me locking up and looked too interested.”
“Got anything else on him?”
“You know the type. Bland. It’s probably nothing.” I hate lying to my family, but it’s better than getting them embroiled in the mess I caused.
“I’ll text you when I do.”
My stomach finally calms down. “Thank you.”
Damon and Dwayne didn’t vandalize businesses, but they also didn’t blackmail before.
Pushing my hair off my face, I steer in the direction of Cruz’s place. I’ve never been there, but he lives right next to Lane.
Instead of turning onto the road cutting through the trees to Foster House’s parking lot, I go in the other direction, where the land spreads out into the valley.
Two houses are separated by pines. The shop where Lane repaired my car is visible beyond some of the younger trees.
His house is a sprawling log cabin, and it has a statelier presence than Cruz’s simpler home.
I coast down Cruz’s driveway, and the butterflies in my belly overcome the surge of acid from earlier to unfurl and swirl around, growing frenzied. More dread piles in and my gut squeezes those butterflies until a stone sits heavy in my gut.
After Damon’s visit, I really should put my head down and figure out how to get myself out of this mess.
I don’t need this complication right now—the dating or the blackmail.
But I’m tired of missing out on life, and I don’t want to miss out on tonight.
I was finally looking forward to something that wasn’t related to my job.
I was finally wondering if maybe I could find that man who’d change my mind about relationships.
Cruz