“Just a dog. He’s a medium mixed breed, long-ish fur but I keep him groomed.”
“Oh sure, one dog is fine. If you want, I can meet you there tomorrow so you can take a look. Or later in the week if tomorrow doesn’t work for you.”
“I don’t need to see it first. I’ll take it.”
She paused. “Are you sure?”
“If it allows my dog and isn’t in Pinecrest, it’s perfect.”
“Oh, okay,” she said with a laugh. “If you could text me your email address to this number, I’ll send you a link to our online rental application. Go ahead and fill that out to get things started. When were you hoping to move in?”
“As soon as possible. I’m temporarily living with my mother and my dog and her cat aren’t exactly best friends. Well, my dog thinks the cat is his new best friend—or more accurately, his chew toy—but the cat has other ideas. It’s getting stressful.”
“I totally understand. The application process won’t take long. Just make sure to fill it out completely and that will give me everything I need. Assuming it all checks out, we can get you moved in soon.”
I sighed with relief. “Thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver.”
“No problem. I’ll give you a call when things are good to go on our end and we can meet to finalize the rental agreement and get you the keys.”
“Thank you,” I said again. “So much.”
I ended the call and immediately texted her my email address. About two minutes and too much fidgeting later, an email from Annika Bailey appeared with the subject line: rental application.
Bingo.
I filled it out, hoping nothing unexpected would come up that would prevent me from renting this house. I had a feeling it was going to be perfect.
And if not, at least there wouldn’t be a cat to worry about. As for the rest, I’d make the best of it. I was pretty good at that.
June 8th
I saw her today.
Yes, her.
I’d managed to scrub her from my mind. That took a lot of hard work. It took discipline. I was proud of that. Proud of how I didn’t think of her at all.
How I’d made her nothing.
Apparently her memory wasn’t buried as deep as I’d thought. Just seeing her brought it all back.
It made me angry to see her. So fucking angry. And I don’t like it when I’m angry. Anger is too raw and uncontrolled.
Perhaps she’s here to test me. That’s an interesting idea. Test my discipline. My strength.
Or maybe it’s time I consider settling the score, once and for all.
CHAPTER 6
Josiah
The Timberbeast Tavern was half-empty. Odd for a Friday, although it was early. Not quite six. It would fill up as the night wore on. Especially because Rocco, the longtime owner, had inexplicably started doing karaoke on Fridays. I’d be out of there well before that mess started.
I went in and took a seat at the bar, next to a couple of regulars nursing regrets along with their beers. A few locals had claimed spots at the tall tables and a group of women—definitely tourists—took up a large table on the right. They were late-twenties, maybe early thirties, probably in town for a girls’ weekend. They were doing a lot of laughing and posing for selfies.
I ignored them. Girls like that were Luke and Zachary’s thing. Not mine.
Hayden came out from the back. “What can I get you? The usual?”
“Yeah.”
He grabbed a glass and poured me a beer, then slid it across the bar. Hayden wasn’t really the new guy anymore, although I still thought of him that way. Rocco had brought him on a year or two ago. Or was it three? Hell, I didn’t know. Younger guy, maybe thirty at most, with shaggy dark hair. He had kind of an emo vibe, but he was a good enough bartender—served drinks without making pointless conversation. Worked for me.
I took a sip and glanced at the time on my phone. I was a bit early, there to meet Dad. One of the perks of partnering with my father was having our business meetings over a couple of beers at the Timberbeast. Mom teased us that it was just an excuse to go to the tavern. Maybe. But we actually got a lot done.
The door opened and I glanced over my shoulder. It wasn’t my dad, but I nodded at the guy who walked in. No one batted an eyelash at his entrance, but not that long ago, he wouldn’t have set foot in here.
Asher Bailey was a big guy who had a look of danger about him. And rightly so. He was a jiu jitsu coach who’d done time in federal prison for killing the guy who tried to assault his then-fiancée, Grace. I’d never understood how they could have put him away for that. Any man would have done what he did.