Chapter 5 #2
I jolted back, a sharp breath catching in my throat. Not my finest moment.
“Whoa —” The man caught me by the arms, steadied us both, and immediately held his hands up once I’d found my footing. “Sorry. Didn’t see you.”
My breathing stayed narrowed. I took the new person in.
Late twenties, maybe — my age, close enough. Dark jacket.
He was handsome, in an easy and open way. His eyes regarded me without caution, and his mouth was quick to smile.
“You scared me,” I said.
“I know,” he said, moving a couple steps back to give me space. “I’m so sorry.”
“What are you doing out here?” Even if he didn’t attack me, I still needed to know why he’d jog here of all places.
The guy laughed sheepishly and scratched his head. “This is a little embarrassing,” he said. “But I live around these parts. Further down, but, I don’t dare jog there because trucks pass through.”
“Oh.” I calmed down ever so slightly.
“You can think of me as a neighbor to the Ashwoods,” he said. “In fact, I’ve been meaning to introduce myself for a while. The timing was clearly… not the best.”
He smiled. It was a good smile. Practiced, maybe, but then again so was mine on twelve-hour shifts.
“Elias Voss,” he said.
“Olivia Cruz.”
“The nurse,” he said. Word must have gotten around fast. “The Ashwoods finally let someone in. I was starting to wonder.”
“Starting to wonder what?”
“Whether they were capable of it.”
“You know them well?”
Elias gestured at the view around us. “I know the area. They come with the territory.” He glanced past me, toward the estate, then back. “You’re braver than most, I’ll say.”
He said it lightly. But there was a quality to his attention that made me feel like the answer mattered more than his tone suggested.
“Are you flirting with me or interrogating me?” I asked. “I want to calibrate my responses.”
“A little of both,” he said. “Is it working so far?”
It startled a real smile out of me. I couldn’t help it. After dealing with people constantly skirting around issues, the candidness was refreshing.
I adjusted my shoes and got ready to run again.
“It’s too early to tell,” I said.
Elias grinned even wider. He took a half-step back, giving me the path. “Well, I hope we run into each other again, Olivia.”
“The Ashwoods prefer I don’t wander too far.”
“Well,” he said. He drew closer for just a moment. His voice dropped to a whisper. “That can be our little secret.”
He pulled away before I could respond. He then turned and jogged back through the trees, easy and unhurried, and the fog closed around him like it had been waiting.
I stood there for a moment. Then I ran back the way I came.
I didn't think about Elias again until I was almost at the east door.
Donovan was there, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. He wasn't looking at me. He was looking past me, toward the tree line I'd just come from.
“You were past the perimeter,” he said. It wasn't a question.
“I stayed on the trail,” I said.
Donovan's jaw moved. His eyes finally came to me, and something in them was harder than usual. Not anger exactly. More like someone doing a calculation they didn't like the answer to.
“Did you run into anyone out there?”
I thought about Elias. His easy smile.
“A neighbor,” I said.
Something shifted in Donovan's expression. Controlled, but not fast enough.
Donovan said nothing for a long moment.
“Don't use that trail again,” he said finally.
Later that afternoon, I ran into a little surprise.
I was taking a break when Stella, from The Blackwater Tap, swung through the front door carrying a wooden crate of what looked like alcohol in her hands.
“Stella?” I called out.
Stella beamed the moment she saw me. “There you are!” she said. “God, I’ve been meaning to visit, but you know how barflies are. Can’t live without me, and all that.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked. My voice was louder than it had been in ages.
“I came to say hi,” she said. She tapped at the wooden crate.
“Sorry I haven’t been texting more,” I said.
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Stella looked around the area, and then at me. She smiled. “This place definitely feels livelier,” she said. “No doubt because of you.”
Jake emerged behind me wrapped in a blanket like a large, cheerful burrito. “That’d be correct,” he said. “Hey, Stella.”
“Hey,” she said with a smile.
In a moment, Maureen came in as well and exclaimed, “Stella! Lovely to see you!”
“And you too, as always, Maureen.”
It occurred to me that Stella was more familiar with not only the town, but with the estate itself.
Stella deposited the crate into Maureen’s arms with the confidence of someone who knew exactly how welcome it was. “I bring supplies,” she said. “The estate’s reserve was looking pale.”
“It was perfectly adequate,” Maureen said, already carrying the bag toward the kitchen.
“Maureen. It was a 2019 Cabernet and two-thirds of a bottle of gin.”
“Perfectly—”
“Pale.”
Maureen disappeared, and I could have sworn I heard her laughing.
Stella tapped my shoulder.
“How are you settling in?” she asked, dropping her voice to a register that suggested the question was genuine, not social.
“Genuinely fine,” I said. “Better than I expected.” I thought about Jake in the garden, about the hearth room, about the question I’d asked Caleb and the answer I didn’t get. “It’s a strange place. But it has good parts.”
“So why no visits to town, then?” she asked. “They’re not giving you a hard time, are they?”
Footsteps came from the opposite side. Donovan emerged from another room.
Stella jerked her thumb in his direction. “Is he giving you a hard time?” she asked.
I didn’t answer right away.
Stella rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t tattle,” she said. “Donovan’s always been like this, you know. Pretty sure he thinks fun is a venereal disease.”
“I’m not doing anything,” Donovan called out. He made his way toward us.
Stella stiffened, but she didn’t let her smile fade. Donovan kept his eyes to the ground.
“Jake needs constant care,” Donovan added.
Stella’s grin hardened. “Funny. That's what you said the last time I tried to pry you out of here too."
I caught Donovan flinching. It was the first time I’d ever seen it.
Donovan exhaled sharply.
Stella returned her focus to me. "Anyway. If Olivia can't come down, I'll just have to keep turning up. You don't mind, do you, Donovan?"
Donovan, eyes finally met hers. He frowned. "Would it matter if I did?"
Stella crossed the foyer, and was already halfway out the front door. "Not even a little.”