Chapter 12
EVAN
I only had the patience to wait for one full hour before I broke and texted him.
Sweetheart, where are you?
No response. I tried calling. No answer.
After another thirty minutes, I hopped in the truck and made my way to Sugar Britches, wondering if he’d stayed late to work on a cake or something.
But the bakery was closed up for the night, and when I found one of the guys who worked at the tattoo shop upstairs, he said Stevie had left two hours earlier.
Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed he’d come straight from work. But he’d agreed, hadn’t he?
I texted Sassy to ask if she’d seen him, but her response didn’t help.
He’s being weird. It’s not you, it’s him.
I read the text again before responding.
What does that mean? Where is he?
My phone rang.
“Sassy, just tell me if he’s okay,” I said before she could say a word.
“He’s fine. Just a moody bastard,” she grumbled. “He’s upset because he thinks you’re put off by his lack of experience.”
My stomach fell. I needed to find him and make sure he knew how crazy that was.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I hoped he was headed to your place.”
“Any other ideas besides his apartment?”
“Well, Hudson’s in Dallas, so maybe Stevie went to the pub to keep Charlie company?”
I felt my jaw tighten. Hobie was a small town.
I already knew Charlie and Stevie had been out on a date.
Even though Stevie had told me Charlie and Hudson were together, I knew what a flirt Stevie was.
And if he was mad at me, I could see him turning his flirt factor up to a thousand to get back at me.
If he was with Charlie, I was going to have to rein in my jealousy since I didn’t own the poor man. I thanked Sassy and made my way to the unfinished pub, which turned out to be just as dark and empty as Sugar Britches.
I was torn between having to admit he was avoiding me and continuing to look for him like a deranged stalker. What if he just wasn’t that into me?
Twenty minutes later I pulled up outside of his apartment. My compromise with myself was checking one more place only. Not the Wilde Ranch. Not the hospital coffee cart. Just his home. If he wasn’t there, I’d acknowledge defeat and go home.
I strode up the stairs and knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked again. This time a little girl came up to me from the stairs to the parking lot.
“Mrs. Jodi isn’t here,” she said. “I’m not apposed to tell you that, but you’re a firefighter right?”
I looked down at my uniform. “Yes, ma’am. Do you know if Stevie is home?”
She shook her head, braids with little pink plastic clips on the end bounced around her. “No, sir. He went to Dallas for work. Mrs. Jodi was here, but Willow said she left after he did.”
I ignored the comment about Dallas, assuming it was a misunderstanding, and thought of Stevie’s little sister, who couldn’t be more than six or seven. “Is Willow home alone?”
The little girl shrugged. “That’s what she said. My sister said as how she needs to come be with us for supper so’s she’s not all by herself.”
She turned and banged her tiny fist on the door, calling out for Willow. Finally, the door opened a smidge on the chain and a tiny nose peeked out, followed by a pair of eyes the same light purple as Stevie’s. They widened when she recognized me from the times I’d seen her at the bakery.
“Chief Paige,” she cried with a grin, pulling the door open hard only to have it bounce closed again when it hit the end of the chain. We heard the rattle of the chain before she threw the door open again. “Is something on fire?”
I knelt down to her level so I didn’t loom over her. “No, sweetie. I came by to say hi to Stevie, but your friend here said he’s at work.”
She nodded. “Yeah. He said he has to go to his job in Dallas and won’t be home till very late. Past my bedtime. Mama said I have to watch the clock and go to bed when it has a nine and two zeros.”
Dammit. I was a mandatory reporter in the state of Texas. If I suspected child neglect, I was legally bound to report it within forty-eight hours. But if I reported his family to Child Protective Services, Stevie would most likely hate me.
What would he want me to do?
“Willow, do you know the name of the shop where your mama works?”
“The Snake Snake?” she asked. “I think?”
There was a shop attached to a local gas station called the Vape Snake. I pulled out my phone to find their number. Before dialing it, I tried Stevie one last time and left him a voicemail.
“Hi, sweetheart. Listen, I know you’re upset at me, and I’m sorry, but I’m not calling about that. I’m at the apartment, and Willow is home alone. I want to find out what you want me to do besides try to get a hold of your mom.”
After I hung up, I texted him the same basic message and then texted Sassy what was going on in case he’d answer a call from her instead.
Then I called the Vape Snake and discovered she no longer worked there.
I was still staring at the phone when it rang again.
“Chief Paige,” I said out of habit.
“He’s not answering,” Sassy said. “I don’t know where he is.”
“Willow said he has a job in the city?”
There were several beats of silence. “Oh shit.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll come stay with Willow.”
“Sassy, where is he in Dallas? What’s the job?”
“No way. I’m not getting in the middle of this. Best friend trumps fire chief every time.”
“Do I need to remind you I’m also your brother’s boss?” I growled. Now I was really concerned about Stevie, and it wasn’t just his family situation.
“Like I give a shit about Otto’s job. Hell, I’d rather him not walk into any more burning buildings if you want to know the truth. Go ahead, fire him.”
Fuck.
“Sassy—”
“Gimme twenty minutes, Chief. See you soon.”
I hung out on the landing outside the apartment with the girls.
At one point another girl who was a carbon copy of Willow’s friend joined us with a shoebox of sidewalk chalk.
The girls made themselves comfortable drawing pictures of rainbows all over the cement around the apartment door until Sassy pulled up all cheerful and fun like Mary Fucking Poppins.
“Sassy—” I tried again.
“Sorry, Chief! I have to get this sweetie fed and tucked into some homework. Girls,” she said, turning to the twins, “your momma’s probably expecting you home. G’night everyone!” She hustled Willow into the apartment before shutting the door in my face.
It wasn’t until I was halfway back to Hobie I realized it was unlikely a first grader was inundated with homework. Sassy was just as devious as her missing bestie.
By the time morning rolled around, I was sleep-deprived and desperate.
There was still no answer from Stevie, and Sassy was a locked vault who kept reassuring me everything was fine.
It wasn’t fine. I was sick with worry, exhausted after tossing and turning, and distraught from missing the sweet man I’d thought only a week ago might actually be the one.
Regardless of how fucked-up I was, I had to make an appearance at work. I hadn’t been to the fire house since the previous week, and my guys needed to see my face. Halfway through the day, I overheard someone mention seeing Stevie at Sugar Britches that morning.
Knowing he was only blocks away and hadn’t had the common courtesy to call me to reassure me he was okay broke my heart. And honestly, I didn’t have the stomach to go confront him, especially while he was at work.
Finally, later in the afternoon, I agreed to go for a drink with Otto and the sheriff. They wanted to stop by and check on the progress of Hudson’s pub on the way to the Pinecone, so I followed them in my quiet funk.
It wasn’t until I was inside the Fig and Bramble pub that I heard Stevie’s voice from somewhere behind the bar.