Chapter Eight
Beck
“Did the UPS guy say anything?” Finn asks, and I feel Kelsey shake her head.
She’s still wrapped in my arms and although her body’s finally stopped shaking, I’m reluctant to let her go.
As soon as I saw the package and read the note, I knew this little fucker was upping his game.
I also knew that this wasn’t going to be a simple weekend trip after all and after I wrap things up with Finn here, I’m going to have to call Ryan and let him know I won’t be back tomorrow as I’d originally planned.
“What are you going to do?” I ask my brother.
“What, you don’t have any bright ideas, city boy?” Finn shoots back.
“Finn…” Kelsey says straightening in my arms.
“Don’t, Kels, I deserve that,” I tell her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “And you are the chief, Finn,” I say, turning to my brother. “You’re the one in charge here.”
Finn says nothing, just stands there staring at us, a look of surprise on his face.
“What?” I ask, suddenly annoyed.
“This morning you two were ready to rip each other’s heads off,” he says, gesturing to us. “And now, what, you’ve suddenly kissed and made up?”
I can hear the annoyance in his voice and even though I know it’s not because he’s in love with my girl, it still pisses me off. I open my mouth, ready to tell him to mind his own fucking business when Kelsey speaks.
“Finn,” she says softly, stepping away from me.
I have an overwhelming urge to pull her back into my arms and keep her there.
I know now, I was a fucking idiot for ever walking away from this woman.
Of course I’m still in love with her, I never fucking stopped loving her and right now, Boston and everything I thought I’d find by moving there, feels a million miles away.
But when she says her next words, all of the blood in my veins turns to ice. “It’s not like that,” she says.
Her words stab me through the heart, mainly because I know how true they are. Nothing’s changed between us, no matter how much I might want it to. “No,” I say, staring at the back of her head. “It’s not.”
Kelsey turns to look at me and I can see the hurt written all over her face.
The hurt that I put there for leaving, but the hurt I know she has because of all the reasons she knows I’m going to leave again.
I suddenly want to tell her that I won’t, that I’ll stay this time.
That I’m all hers because that’s all I’ve ever been. But I know it’s not as simple as that.
She swallows and the hurt look disappears before she takes a step towards me and puts a hand on my cheek. I automatically lean into it. “Thank you for being here, Beck,” she whispers. “Really.”
I’m staring into her gorgeous blue eyes and as much as our future is a complication that neither of us can sort out, in this second, I don’t fucking care.
Right now, the only thing I want to do is drag her back up to the room we were cleaning thirty minutes ago and finish what we started.
Make a whole new bunch of memories between those sheets.
Memories that wipe away all of the shit that happened ten years ago; all of the shit that’s happening now.
Finn clears his throat, ruining the fantasy running through my head. “I’m going to have to do a sweep over at your house, Kels,” he says before turning to me. “Can you keep an eye on her while we do that?”
I stand up straighter knowing I’m not letting Kelsey out of my sight until this fucker is behind bars or has a bullet in him. “Of course I can,” I say. “And you can forget about the detail on her, Finn, she won’t need it while I’m around.”
“Beck,” Kelsey says.
“What?”
“Don’t you have to go back to Boston.”
It’s the way she says it that kills me. It’s not malicious and it’s not a question, just a statement of fact. It’s the resignation she has because she knows I left her once and can easily do it again.
“No,” I spit out, as I take a step towards the counter and the package from her ex-boyfriend. “I’m not going anywhere until this fucking asshole is caught.”
I hear Kelsey gasp and I force myself not to look at her. I don’t want to see the question that I know will be written all over her face.
But what happens after that?
Two hours later and Finn has called to say the house is clean and there’s still no sign of Jason.
Kelsey has tried to keep busy throughout the day, running the inn and looking after the full load of customers she has here for the summer.
The whole place is buzzing and I meant what I said to her earlier, the place does look amazing and her dad would be proud of her.
She’s added a lot of extra features, along with fishing and whale sightseeing tours.
I can’t help but be impressed at everything she’s done, at how successful she’s made this place.
I’ve tried to help her out as much as I can, fixing stuff that she’s been putting off or finding jobs she hasn’t even noticed.
It hasn’t escaped either of our attention that this is just like when we were kids.
A part of me wonders whether I really could give up everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve, just so I could stay here and be with her.
“I’m going to head home,” Kelsey says, breaking my train of thought.
I look up and see her leaning against the front desk, arms crossed over her chest and Bella sitting patiently at her feet.
“No you’re not,” I tell her.
“What?” she says, straightening a little.
“No, you’re not,” I say, walking towards her. “First of all, we’re going to go and have some dinner. Then I’m going to grab my bag from Pop’s place, and then, we are both going to go back to your place.”
“Beck,” she says, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“I don’t give a shit what you think you need, Kels. You’re getting one,” I tell her, crossing my arms to indicate I’m not budging on this. “You think this little fucker’s suddenly going to stop if you ignore him? That sending you dead squirrels is just a fucking joke or something?”
“Beck, come on,” she says, shaking her head. “Yeah it’s gross, but it’s basically harmless.”
“Kelsey,” I say firmly, as I look her right in the eye.
“You might think it’s harmless, but let me tell you this.
That squirrel, the one you say Bella’s been chasing, means this guy has been watching you.
He’s seen your dog playing with it, he’s been at your house, fuck knows how many times.
He was there today, killing the fucking thing,” I add quietly. “And he knows Bella wasn’t there.”
“Shit…” she whispers, understanding where I’m going with all of this.
“Yeah,” I say, stepping closer. “And let’s not forget the last time he showed up, and you were there. Alone.”
Kelsey stares back at me and for the first time, I can see the fear in her eyes.
I have no idea how far this guy’s prepared to go, but I’m not willing to risk anything when it comes to this woman.
Finn might be the chief in this town and he might be the one leading the investigation, but it doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit here with my thumb up my ass and do nothing. Not when it comes to this woman.
“Right,” I say nodding at her. “So let me buy you some dinner first, and then you’ll let me take you home.”
Kelsey stares at me as though she’s trying to work out what let me take you home really means.
I’m not gonna lie, the thought of taking her home and peeling off those clothes of hers so I can fuck her all night, is the number one thought running through my mind right now.
But I also know how scared she is, that she’s finally realizing this might be a lot more serious than she first thought.
So I mentally tell my dick to stop with all the fantasies as I stare back at Kelsey to let her know I’m not dropping this.
“Okay,” she eventually says. “Let’s go.”
I nod and we head outside, leaving our cars at the inn as we make the short walk down Main Street to Pop’s pub, sitting on the main jetty at the end.
“You want to eat here?” she asks, surprised as I hold the door open for her.
“Can you suggest anywhere else that might be open on a Sunday night in this godforsaken place?”
Kelsey shakes her head at me as she walks past. “It’s not that bad, Beck.”
I have to bite my tongue before I point out that actually, it’s a lot worse.
This place is like a fucking ghost town at the best of times.
And even though it’s the start of summer, everyone, tourists included, seem to be tucked up in their beds for the night.
Actually, thinking about it, maybe that’s exactly where Kelsey and I should be too.
“Well look who it fucking is,” I hear booming across the pub.
I shake my head, smiling, as I look over at Brad, my best friend from high school.
Unlike me, he stayed in Rockport after we graduated.
Unlike everyone else, he didn’t hate me for leaving.
We’ve stayed in touch over the years and he’s even come down to visit once or twice.
That hasn’t happened so much since he went and got himself a serious girlfriend, but I’m okay with that.
“Brad,” I say, walking over to shake his hand. “Good to see you, man.”
“What, no heads up you were coming back?” he says, his eyes flicking between me and Kelsey, who’s now at the bar talking to Pop.
I glance over at her, watch as she smiles and laughs with him.
They always did get along well, Kelsey practically a surrogate daughter to him.
I imagine their relationship has only gotten stronger since her dad died.
I’m glad Pop looks out for her. I hope he somehow explained to Kelsey why I was never able to come back for her dad’s funeral.
I know I could have picked up the phone and done it myself, but somehow I knew that the second I heard her voice and she asked me to come home, I’d do it and I’d probably never leave.
“Nah,” I say, turning back to Brad. “It was kind of a last minute decision.”