CHAPTER THREE
Nova
IFELT EYES ON ME. AGAIN.
I ignored the sensation. Even though it was like nails on a chalkboard. I stayed focused on the wind drifting in through the open window as Brae made the turn onto Mountain View Way, the street that would lead us directly into downtown Starlight Grove.
The main drag through town was aptly named because the moment we turned onto the street, Mount Lupine came into view, popping up in the distance. Snow already dotted its craggy peak, and the bracketing forests made it seem even more imposing.
But there was something about its beauty. The largeness of it. It reminded me that there were forces out there so much bigger than me.
I relished the realization that those forces ruled the world. They weren’t good or evil; they were simply life. And life went on. Just like my breath did.
I felt eyes on me again, those nails scraping down the chalkboard.
“How are you feeling?” Brae asked as the sensation abated and she turned her gaze back to the road.
“Good.” The answer came automatically, with zero check-in as to how I was actually feeling. An easy lie. Or maybe not. Though compared to what I’d been through, I was good.
Brae was quiet for a moment—the kind of silence that made me realize a chasm had erupted between me and my best friend. The one who used to know me better than anyone. Now, it felt like no one knew me … not even myself.
“Your eyes?” Brae pressed.
My sunglasses were firmly in place at the moment, but they still allowed me to take in the town around me.
There were about twenty or so shops and restaurants in the downtown area.
Starlight Grove was an old mining town that had made the switch to ranches when the gold dried up, but it still kept some of that Old-West aesthetic.
There was a mix of that western vibe, with aged brick buildings and ones that had an antique farmhouse feel. But all of it carried a clear sense of pride in the décor. Flowerpots and baskets. Some fall designs with leaves and pumpkins. Plenty of advertisements for town events.
The bookstore had a sign for an upcoming book club meeting. Several tourist shops advertised the homecoming football game. The bakery told folks that their s’mores pie was back.
“We should hit up the bakery after work,” I said.
Brae’s brow furrowed at my abrupt change of subject. “The bakery?”
“It says they have s’mores pie. I’m down for that.”
Her mouth pursed, lines of disapproval etching themselves there. “Maybe.”
Brae had transitioned from best friend to mother somewhere along the line, and I missed the hell out of my bestie. We’d worked summers at the same bar and grill in Rhode Island and had a blast. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to say the same about working with her at the Boot. But I had to try.
“Or we could do boysenberry milkshakes at the Grove Griddle.” There was a hint of desperation in my tone that had nothing to do with wanting to visit the town diner and everything to do with missing my partner in crime.
Brae made a humming noise as she pulled into a parking lot behind the Boot.
The building itself was a stunner. It was made of aged wood so dark that it was almost black, but that only made the flowers potted in water troughs pop all the more.
And the swinging doors on the front made it look like an honest-to-goodness saloon.
Brae swung into an empty parking spot but didn’t turn off the engine.
I braced as she turned to face me. She reached out as if she was going to place a hand on my forearm, and my breath caught in my lungs.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to touch me or if I was terrified by the idea of it.
But it didn’t matter because as quickly as she reached out, she snatched her hand back.
It hurt.
Even knowing why she’d retreated, it still felt like a dagger to the ribs. Dex had let it slip that I’d screamed bloody murder when Brae tried to hug me in the hospital and hadn’t stopped until they sedated me.
I had no memory of the incident. Not even a flicker. That time was spotty at best. And I wasn’t sure what was the truth and what was my imagination. Just like my time in captivity.
Now, no one touched me.
It only added to the tally of how long it had been since I had felt any sort physical kindness: A pat on the back. Fingers woven through mine. A hug.
I missed it.
But I was too scared to ask for it all the same. Because what if I freaked out again? That would seriously hinder my I’m totally fine and don’t need to be sent back to therapy story.
“Nova?”
I jolted in my seat. “Sorry. Space cadet city.”
Brae frowned. I swore she’d donned that expression more in the four months I’d been back than during the rest of her life combined. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
The doubt etched into her face hurt just as much as her pulling back from the touch, but I just battled it with a smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Brae only stared back at me.
The blank stare hurt, too. More evidence of the distance between us.
Shoving open the SUV’s door, I stepped into the sunlight. It still felt decently warm for late in September, but there was the slightest bite to the air that hadn’t been there even a week ago. “Come on, these tips aren’t going to earn themselves.”
Brae hurried out of the vehicle. “You know I can cover you.”
I hated the annoyance that flickered deep. Brae couldn’t cover me. But Dex could. And that somehow made it worse, that this person who barely knew me had been paying my way. Pity money.
Heap it onto the pity job his eldest brother, Wylder, was giving me, and I owed the Archer brothers big-time. The family might’ve had a reputation around town, but they were all generous to a fault. One more generous than all the rest. The one who had given me hope when all of mine had vanished.
I turned to face my best friend, trying like hell to make her see. “I want to work. I’m ready. And if I have to sit in that house one more day twiddling my thumbs, I’m going to lose it.”
“You don’t sit in the house. You disappear and don’t tell anyone where you’re going.”
There was an edge to Brae’s words that hadn’t been there since my return. But I understood. My disappearing acts had to be triggering. But sometimes, I needed to breathe. And I couldn’t do that at the cabin, surrounded by people who were constantly wondering if I was okay.
She reeled in her reaction. “I’m sorry. I—”
“Don’t apologize,” I said quickly. “I get it.”
But I didn’t tell her that I wouldn’t do it again. Because I knew I would. It was the only thing holding me together at the moment. Instead, I headed toward the back door with a Staff Only sign above it.
As I walked, I tugged on the sleeves of my blouse, making sure they covered my wrists—skin littered with scars. Marks left behind from shackles. At least, that’s what the doctor had told me.
They ringed my wrists and ankles, evidence of what had happened to me. Proof that it hadn’t been a nightmare. But it was just one more reason for people to wonder if I was okay. So I hid them the best I could.
My fingers closed around the door handle, and I pulled hard.
My biceps struggled with the effort, but the door gave way, and I stepped inside, holding it for Brae.
Her face was a careful mask now, but I did my best to ignore it.
Instead, I followed her down the dimly lit hall, passing a stockroom, an office, and two bathrooms before stepping into the bar and grill’s main room.
I wasn’t sure if Wylder had had a hand in the décor or if he’d inherited the place as it was, but if he had been a part of it, he had a gift.
The large space had booths lining three walls and tables in the middle, all of which were made from dark, warm wood similar to that on the outside of the building.
The walls were dotted with local signs and posters on two sides, most of which had a vintage feel to them.
Another wall was covered in license plates from all over the country.
I even saw Hawaii represented. And finally, there was the bar.
It was a stop-you-in-your-tracks piece of woodworking, a true art form, made all the more striking by the beautiful array of bottles lining the shelves behind it.
Music filtered out through the speakers and into the mostly empty space, a blend of country and rock that fit the patrons I assumed would be there. It was my first time inside, so I couldn’t be completely sure, but it fit with the locals I was starting to get to know.
“Nova.” A deep voice greeted me.
I turned to see the eldest Archer brother striding across the space. Wylder didn’t exactly fit his name. There was a quiet steadiness to him. He certainly wasn’t shy, but he also didn’t speak unless he had something he truly considered worth saying.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention.
I’d learned over dozens of family dinners, movie nights, and other occasions that Wylder’s brain worked faster than the rest of ours.
It made connections many of us missed. I’d be sitting around a dinner table with him not saying a word, and then he’d come out of left field with a zinger that said he’d been following the whole convo.
I grinned at him as he approached. “Hi. Thanks for hiring me.”
“You don’t have to keep thanking me,” he grumbled as he ran a hand through his rumpled, dark hair.
My lips twitched. “I like to thank people for the nice things they do.”
“I needed another waitress,” Wylder argued.
“It’s still nice that you let me be that waitress,” I shot back.
“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled.
My brow arched. “Not one for thank-yous?”
A hand slapped down on Wylder’s shoulder as a man in his mid-thirties appeared at his side.
“Hates thank-yous and praise of any sort. But I’m going to thank him anyway.
” The man turned to Wylder. “Thank you for hiring this absolute bombshell of a babe, boss. Especially since Brae got engaged to your brother and broke my damn heart.”
“Aidan …” Wylder warned.
But I couldn’t help but laugh.