Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
Present Day
Aaron
I walked by the clothing boutique on Main Street and looked to catch a glimpse of Valerie just like I'd done every day for months.
She was my drug of choice and one hit was never enough.
Unfortunately she must've been in the back because I couldn't see her through the large glass windows of her shop.
"Aaron? Aaron are you still there?"
I shook my head and focused back on the conversation I was having. "Sorry, Ma. I'm on my way to work. I got distracted."
My mother huffed and called me out on my bullshit.
"You mean you got distracted looking for Valerie.
" I could practically see her shaking her head even though she was on the other end of the phone.
"Why don't you just ask her out already?
The two of you would be the perfect couple.
I said it when you were back in high school and I'm saying it again now. "
Yeah, and if I was smart, I would've listened to my mother back then.
Instead I joined the Marines and assumed Valerie felt the same way I did and would wait around—an arrogant thought for sure.
I guess she got sick of waiting; one day she stopped writing me and it was then I decided to re-enlist and go from being just a four-year recruit to a lifer.
A decision I regretted every day since I got back to town and saw how much Valerie hated me.
"I tried asking her out. She hates me." I flashed back to the night of the speed dating and some of the things she said to me. Maybe hate was a strong word but she definitely wasn't interested in dating, that was for sure.
"Oh, my silly boy," my mother clucked the way she did often when I was a child. "There's a fine line between love and hate. You just think she hates you but I bet it's really love."
Maybe there was but right now Valerie was firmly on the hate side. "I gotta go, Ma. I'm supposed to meet Maverick here in a few minutes."
"Fine," she huffed. "But tell the boys I want to see them this weekend for dinner. It's been too long."
Only Ms. Hill could get away with calling seven grown Marines “boys.” And each one of them humored her.
Once I got to work, I would tell them what she said and each of them would make the time to go see her.
Even Lex had a soft spot for my mother and that man didn't have a spot for anyone but Nancy and her kids.
"Will do." After saying goodbye, I hung up the phone and proceeded to stare like a stalker inside Sophisticated Sheen. The boutique was Valerie's pride and joy according to my mother, and every other woman in town.
"Take a picture. It’ll last longer." I jumped nearly ten feet in the air at Maisie's sarcastic tone.
I turned to her with a glare. "It's not nice to sneak up on people."
Maisie merely rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "It's not cool to stalk a woman either."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I tried to keep the guilt out of my tone, but based on the look Maisie gave me, I missed the mark by a mile.
"Bullshit. Everyone in town knows about your fascination with Valerie."
"I don't have a fascination with her," I lied out my ass.
"We're old friends." Maisie didn't look like she believed the words any more than I did.
"Okay, fine." I crossed my arms over my chest. "I like to check up on her, so what? It’s not a crime to make sure someone I cared about was safe, is it?”
"I wouldn't care but I know for a fact that Valerie doesn't want you checking in on her." The pity on Maisie's face when she said that gutted me. I didn't want to be pitied when it came to Valerie, or anything else for that matter.
"She said that to you?" She’d told me plenty of times but was she now telling other people the same thing?
How the hell did we get to this point? There had been a time in our lives when we did everything together and were inseparable, a time when I thought we had a future together that involved more than just friendship.
"No, Hendrix told me and I'm guessing it's because you told him. Valerie and I aren't that close. Yet," she clarified. "But us business owners need to stick together and that means if you're bothering her, then you have a problem with me."
I blew out a frustrated breath. The last person I wanted to have a problem with was Maisie.
The woman was deadly with a knife. Literally.
She stabbed a man not too long ago protecting Annalee and that wasn't even the first time she’d murdered someone.
Maisie was next-level crazy and absolutely perfect for Hendrix.
I didn't want to get on her bad side, but it was clear when it came to Valerie, I didn't always make the best choices.
"I'm not bothering her. I walk by her shop just like I do yours and everyone else's on Main Street. I care about this town and the people in it. That's all." I was practically begging for Maisie to understand my side of things.
"You could've fooled me."
Those words and that voice had me dropping my chin to my chest in defeat.