I stood there, watching him. I couldn’t help it. It was as if I were frozen to the spot. Who was he visiting? Who had he lost? Both of his parents were alive, and he had a grandmother. Jensen had mentioned all three in the present tense while we worked. Maybe he was visiting his grandfather’s grave.
Walker pushed to his feet then bent over and did something that stole the breath from my lungs. He kissed the headstone. The gesture was tender and heartbreaking all at once. A sob clogged the back of my throat, and tears pricked at my eyes. I shouldn’t be here. I was trespassing on what was clearly a very private moment.
I turned on my heel to leave but only made it three steps before a voice called out to me. “Taylor?”
I halted my steps and turned to face Walker. I expected his eyes to be sad, his face ravaged by grief and pain, but there was none of that. What I saw was a look of peace and maybe a little curiosity regarding what the hell I was doing at a cemetery on the outskirts of town.
“I’m so sorry.” My cheeks heated. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
A small grin tipped his full lips. “You didn’t. Plus, I’m pretty sure this is public land.”
I twisted the ring on my right finger in circles. “I know. I just… You were having a moment, and it was private.”
Walker’s face softened. “It’s okay, Taylor. I was just visiting with someone.”
My gaze jumped around, not quite sure where to settle. “That’s nice. That’s good that you visit whoever it is.” To my absolute horror, my eyes began to fill with tears.
“Hey, hey now. It’s all right.” Walker strode two steps forward and pulled me into him. His muscled arms held me tightly in what could only be called a bear hug. His embrace didn’t make my skin crawl like so many of the other comforting gestures directed my way had begun to do. Maybe because it was firm and strong when so many of my friends’ affections seemed unsure. Maybe it was because this man clearly knew what it meant to lose someone he loved.
I let myself relax into Walker’s embrace. Just for a few moments. Just so I could pull myself together. I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. The flare of pain helped the tears to recede, and I pushed away from Walker’s hard chest.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, wiping at my tears while I stared at the ground. “I’ve just had a long day. I didn’t mean to get weepy on you. I’ll just get back to my car.”
Walker’s hand caught my elbow as I turned to go. “Slow down.” He turned me back to him, but I refused to meet his eyes. He placed two fingers under my chin and lifted. The pads of his fingertips were rough against my soft skin. I swallowed hard.
His eyes searched mine, looking for something, peering into my soul. “There’s nothing to be ashamed about when it comes to feeling deeply.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded. His hand fell away.
“I’ll walk you back to your car.”
He was too close. He saw too much. “That’s not necessary. I’m fine now. Promise.” I forced a smile that felt wonky.
“I could use an excuse to stretch my legs. Honestly, you’d be doing me a favor.”
My nails dug into my palms. He didn’t play fair. “Fine.”
Walker let out a chuckle that seemed to rumble through my body. “Thank you.”
We were quiet for the first few minutes of our walk, only the wind and the beginnings of the crickets’ evening song keeping us company. Then, Walker had to go and ruin it. “What gave you the tough day?”
My muscles tensed, and I fought to keep my face neutral. “I didn’t say tough, I said long. I’m just tired. I get emotional when I’m tired.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He might as well have said, “bullshit.”
I clenched my fists and picked up my pace. Unfortunately, my short strides, no matter how quick, were no match for Walker’s long ones.
As we approached The Tea Kettle, my buddies from earlier appeared. Arthur and Clint wore mischievous grins, but it was Art who spoke. “Now, Mr. Cole, what are you doing with our Taylor this evening?”
Walker’s brows rose. “Your Taylor?”
“Yes, our Taylor. We’ve taken her under our wing and are going to show her the ropes.”
Walker’s gaze turned to me. “I think that sounds like a great plan.”
My skin began to itch as Art’s and Clint’s gazes traveled from me to Walker and back again. I needed to get out of here. Too many eyes. Too much attention. “It was nice to see you gentlemen again. Great running into you, Walker. I need to get home now. See you later.”
I didn’t wait for an answer, just took off for the parking lot behind the Kettle. I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until there were at least ten blocks between the man who saw too much and me.
13
Walker
Dawn was just beginning to show its first glimmers of light as rocks crunched beneath my sneakers. I loved running in the early light. The air was cool, few cars were on the road, and I often spotted animals that usually liked to avoid human interaction.
Three miles outside the ranch’s main gate, I spotted a small form up ahead. Her strides were strong and purposeful but no match for my own. Before long, she glanced over her shoulder at the sound of my approaching steps, her golden ponytail swinging. Her head swiveled right back around, and she just kept running.
I quickened my pace until I was right beside her. “I thought you promised that you wouldn’t go walking or running while it was dark out.”
Taylor’s jaw tightened. “It was getting light when I left.”
“Bullshit.”
She blew out a harsh breath. “I have reflectors on my shoes and shorts. I even got a mini bear spray at the hardware store. I’ll be fine.”
I fell back a step and let my gaze fall to her delectable, heart-shaped ass. There was indeed a reflector there.
“Happy?” she bit out.
Thoughts of the missing hiker we still had no signs of filled my head. “No, I’m not happy. You shouldn’t be running alone, it’s too risky.”
Taylor stopped in the middle of the road and whirled on me. “Oh, but it’s okay for you to run alone? Why? Does you having a dick, magically stop bears from attacking you?”
My frustration bubbled to the surface. “No. This stops bears from attacking me.” I pulled my 9mm out of the specialty athletic shorts I wore that allowed me to carry while running.
Color leached from Taylor’s face, and I immediately regretted my decision. Shit. I slowly slid the gun back into the holster. “Why are you running with a Glock?”
Surprise flared at her correct identification of my weapon. She wasn’t scared of that, but something had her freaked. I crept closer. “Because I’m a cop, and there are wild animals around here that don’t always react kindly when startled.”
Her head bobbed up and down slowly. I slipped a hand around the juncture of her neck and jaw. Fuck, her skin, damp with a sheen of sweat, was one of the softest things I’d ever felt. “Look at me, Taylor.” Her gaze came back to focus on mine. “Everything’s fine, I just don’t want you running alone.”
She made no agreement. I squeezed her neck. “Please. I’ll run with you before or after work, anytime you want. But you could get seriously hurt while you are by yourself, and no one would know because you don’t tell anyone where you’re going.”
Stubbornness came into her eyes. I liked that a hell of a lot more than the fear that had been there earlier. Taylor’s chin raised in defiance. “I’d run with you, but I’m pretty sure you can’t keep up with me.”
“All right, Short-stack, let’s try it out. I’ll take you on my typical morning route.” She’d be begging me to turn back before we reached the halfway point, I just knew it.
“Lead on, Bigfoot.”
I chuckled and took off towards my favorite spot in all of Sutter Lake. Somehow, her quick, short strides matched up perfectly with my slightly slower long ones. There was a peaceful rhythm to our run. Side by side in silence.
I l
ed her through winding dirt roads around the outskirts of my family’s ranch. She was a trooper when we had to scale over a fence to get back onto Cole land, and even as we climbed a hillside. She never tired, never slowed. She was amazing. We went higher and higher until we reached the top of the ridge.
Taylor gasped when she saw the view. All of Sutter Lake—the town and the lake itself—was bathed in the pink light of early morning. I’d never come here with anyone who wasn’t my family. Never even brought Julie here. It had been instinct to bring Taylor here. I hadn’t even really thought about it.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.
“It’s my favorite place in the whole world.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“You’re welcome.”
We stood shoulder-to-shoulder, staring out at the view, neither of us saying anything for a moment. Taylor cleared her throat. I tilted my head to take her in. She was still looking forward, but she rubbed the ring on her right hand with her thumb. She seemed to do that when she was nervous. “I can’t sleep.”
My brows pulled together. “What?”
“I have a hard time sleeping. That’s why I work out so much. It’s the only thing that seems to help.”
My chest felt tight. It was the first thing she had freely told me about herself. It was worth its weight in gold. I was honored that she’d given it to me, but I knew if I made a big deal out of it, she’d shut down. “Makes sense.”
She turned her head so that her gaze met mine. “I’ll text you the next time I want to go running.”
My lips tipped up. “I’d appreciate it. It’d be bad for business if a tenant got mauled by a mountain lion.”
Taylor shoved her shoulder into me, and I wrapped an arm around her. She fit perfectly.
I paused outside Caitlin’s door, my hand hovering just in front of her apartment number. Fuck. I did not want to do this. I knocked three times.
Hurried footsteps sounded, and the door swung open. “Baby. I’m so glad you’re here.” Caitlin’s hair was piled on top of her head in artful curls. Her face was done up to the nines, including her lips with that red stuff I hated because I always came away from kissing her looking like the Joker. She wore a low-cut tank top and shorts so short, they looked more like underwear.
I shuffled my feet. “Hey, Cait.”
She leaned in to kiss me, but I brushed my lips against her cheek instead, then hurried inside. I headed for the couch, patting the seat next to mine. “Come here.”
Caitlin’s lips pressed together in a thin, hard line. “Is something wrong, honey?”
What was with all the pet names all of a sudden? She’d only ever called me Walker before. I steeled my spine. “I think we should stop seeing each other.” I’d thought of at least a dozen different ways to say it. But, at the end of the day, I needed to shut the door, and she needed to know I wasn’t leaving it cracked open for later. Some people might consider me a bastard for just coming right out with it and not tempering the blow, but I’ve always thought honesty is the kindest route you could take.
Caitlin’s mouth opened and closed like a fish on a line. Her lower lip began to tremble as tears filled her eyes. “Why?”
“I’m not the one for you, Cait. You’ll find someone who can’t wait to settle down with you. Get married, have lots of babies. But that just isn’t me.”
She reached out and gripped my hand, hard. “Walker, I’m sorry I pushed about moving in together.”
I fought the grimace that wanted to surface. “It’s not just that—"
Caitlin jumped in before I could continue. “I can wait as long as you need.” Tears spilled over her bottom lids, causing my gut to clench. “Please, Walker. I love you.”
“I’m sorry, Cait. My mind’s made up. I care about you, and you’re a wonderful woman. You’re just not the woman for me.”
Her jaw got hard, and her tears seemed to evaporate into thin air. “It’s not you, it’s me.”
I cringed. It was cliched, but true. There was nothing wrong with Caitlin, we just weren’t right for each other. “We’re just not the right match.”
“And who are you the right match with? That new bitch renting your parents’ cabin?” My eyes widened. Where had that come from? “Oh, didn’t think I knew about her, did you? Bridgette saw you walking with her in town last night when you were supposed to be with your family.” Caitlin stood, throwing her hands wide. “How long have you been cheating on me?”
I pushed to my feet, my gaze going hard. “Hey, now. I have never been unfaithful to you. That’s not the kind of man I am, and you know it. I ran into Taylor and was walking her to her car. We’re friends.” Friends seemed like a bit of a stretch, but she’d told me something about herself that morning. Something it was clear she didn’t tell many people.
“Oh, well thank you, Mr. High And Mighty Walker Cole, for breaking up with me before you went out and screwed the new girl.”
“I’m not going out and screwing anyone right now. I’m just saying we aren’t the right match. I don’t know that I’ll ever find that.” An image flashed in my mind of Taylor’s compact curves as she ran through the morning air. So, I was attracted to her. That didn’t mean I was going to act on it. She was fragile right now. She needed a friend, not some guy trying to get his rocks off with no ability to love her the way she deserved.
“Everyone thinks you’re such a great guy. Let’s see what happens when they find out what a heartless bastard you really are.”
Great, just what I needed. Caitlin was going to spread her lies, and in a town the size of Sutter Lake, they’d spread like wildfire. I couldn’t believe I’d never seen this side of her before. Jensen had warned me that Cait had a vicious streak, but I’d thought she was exaggerating. Apparently, not. “Caitlin. We were friends before we started dating, can’t we just go back to that?”
She picked up an empty wine glass that had been sitting on the coffee table waiting to be filled and threw it at the wall. Glass flew in every direction. “I don’t want to be your fucking friend, Walker! I was to be your wife!”
My eyes bugged out just a bit. My wife? We’d been seeing each other exclusively for three months. How did three months of seeing each other a couple of times a week equate to getting married? I swallowed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that.”
“Get out!” she shrieked.
I didn’t have to be told twice. I headed for the door.
“And you are going to have to fucking grovel when you come crawling back to me. Because you will come crawling back, Walker Cole.”
Dear God, I hoped not.
14
Taylor
I hoisted a bag of groceries from my cart into the back of my SUV. It was lucky my wheels had arrived when they did, I’d been running out of food.
“Taylor! Did your car arrive?” I turned to see Sarah and an elderly woman walking towards me. “Walker said you were waiting on it, and I’ve been meaning to stop by to see if I could take you anywhere.”
“It came the other morning, just in time for me to start work.”
“Oh, good. Now you won’t have to run into town.”
I chuckled. “Well, I still might do that.”
Sarah shook her head and smiled. “Taylor, this is my mother-in-law, Irma Cole. Mom, this is Taylor Lawson.”
Irma gave me a toothy grin. “Ah, the infamous Taylor. Young Noah has been talking about you and your friends nonstop.”
“That’s sweet.”
“I’ve also been hearing lots about you from Jensen and Walker. It’s nice to officially meet you.” There was a mischievous glint in the woman’s eyes that put me on alert.
It would make sense for Jensen to mention me since we worked together now, but what reason did Walker have to talk about me? I toyed with the ring on my finger. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
The smile deepened on Irma’s lined face. “I think you and Walker would be just the right fit. I can tell you’re
someone who won’t let him steamroll you. You’ll stand your ground. I know these kinds of things because I’m a little psychic.”
A flash of panic seared through me. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I barely know Walker.”
“You will,” Irma said with a cackling laugh.
“Mom, quit it, you’re scaring the girl.” Sarah turned towards me. “She’s an instigator, this one. Just giving you a hard time because Walker came home fit to be tied that you were planning on walking back to the guest cabin alone. You shouldn’t do that, by the way. He’s right about the cougars.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I won’t. Now that I have my car, I won’t walk or run anywhere when it’s dark out.” Walker’s frustration and concern from the morning before flashed in my mind.
“I’m relieved to hear it,” Sarah said, reaching out to pat my hand. The gesture was so familiar, something my mom used to do constantly when we talked. A pang of loneliness hit me in that spot right between the breasts. “Listen, why don’t you come to dinner tonight. We’re making a pot roast and all the fixings, with marionberry pie for dessert.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say no. To make up an excuse. I’d planned to microwave some mac and cheese. But Sarah’s phantom familiarity made it difficult to refuse. That trickle of loneliness flowing through my veins pushed me into agreeing to something I’d sworn to avoid.
I cleared my throat. “I’d love to.”
Sarah clasped her hands in front of her chest. “Wonderful.”
“Can I bring a couple bottles of wine? I’d offer to cook something, but I’m afraid I’m pretty hopeless in that department.” One of my goals for this year was to learn to cook. I’d done a search for beginner recipes and printed a few things out but hadn’t moved past the planning stage.
Beautifully Broken Pieces (The Sutter Lake Series Book 1) Page 7