She pretended to inspect them, a small smile tilting her lips. “They look thoroughly cleansed.”
“Glad to have your approval. Now, should we start with Elm or do you just want to go down all the tree streets?”
“Well, the town can’t be that big.”
“It’s not,” I grinned.
“Well, I say we just drive around until we find it then.”
As it turned out, there was no tree in the street name. There was, however, a gigantic tree in her front yard, which is where she somehow conjured up the name. It only took us driving through the whole town slowly, up and down every street to find it.
I pulled into her drive and parked my truck. “Home safe and sound.”
“Thank you so much for everything.”
I nodded. “What are you going to do about your license?”
“Oh, well, I don’t really need it right away. I’ll just wait until my car is fumigated.”
“What about work?”
“I work from home. I’m a virtual assistant.”
“They have those?”
“Well, it is the future. We have cell phones and computers, and many businesses are really moving to online.”
“So, what kind of stuff do you do?”
“Scheduling, marketing, social media…you name it, I do it.”
I titled my head in understanding, but I really didn’t get it. People made money doing that? She opened the door and jumped out, and suddenly, I felt like I needed to get her number or something. I hesitated. It was bad enough that I hugged her twice, but now I was going to get her number? I mean, I could get it to help her out, but if Jack found out, there would be hell to pay. I would never hear the end of her relentless teasing.
So, I let her shut the door, waited until she got inside, and then drove back to the station. By the time I got back, the car had been towed away and the town looked normal again. I walked into the station, nodding at Jack who was doing paperwork, and took my seat at my desk. We sat in silence, both of us working for about three minutes.
“That was a very moving video I saw on Facebook,” Jack said, a grin in his voice. “I especially liked the part where you pulled her in for a hug to console her. Twice. And if I’m correct, because of a spider? I should award you the Legion of Merit Medal.”
9
Ciara
Antonio was upstairs clomping around and annoying the hell out of me. I hadn’t spoken to him since we got back from the hospital, and I had no plans to until he apologized for what he did. Maybe that was petty of me, but I was past the days of letting men speak to me as if I didn’t matter. All I wanted to do was help him through a difficult time, but he shut me out, refusing to open up to me. It was like we had leapt back in time.
Princess ran up to me, barking and spinning around, his sign that he had to go outside. “You want to go for a walk?” He barked once. “We could go visit Jo.” Another two barks. “Okay, go get Max, but don’t tell Daddy.”
He rushed off to the other room, barking for Max. I slipped on my shoes and opened the back door, only to be run over by dogs eager to go out. The kitten rushed out the door, but I quickly snatched her up.
“Just where do you think you’re going?” She swatted at my face, trying to catch my hair between her paws. “Sorry, but you can stay with Daddy.”
I set her down and quickly rushed out the door, slamming it shut before she could sneak out again. I caught up with the dogs over by the barn. Of course, they heard the other dogs barking, so they wanted to check it out. Despite not having a proper animal shelter in place, Jo had already started taking in animals, keeping them in one section of the barn as the other section was being renovated.
“So, how long have you worked for Eric?” I heard Jo’s voice carrying across the open space.
“I moved here about a year ago.”
I peeked around the corner of the barn, spotting Jo talking to a man dressed in plaid. He was hot as hell, and it was clear Jo was already smitten with him. She grinned at him, touched his arm, and if I was correct, she was blushing bright red. He leaned in to say something, making her laugh out loud. She waved to him as he walked away, staring after him and his fine ass.
“Who was that?” I asked, sneaking up behind her.
She jumped about a foot and slapped me on the arm. “His name’s Jake.”
“Ah, Jake, and he works for Eric?”
“Yep,” she said, as if she didn’t really care.
“And he’s single?”
“I wouldn’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“Right, you were just talking to him,” I said knowingly.
“Exactly. We ran into each other and he kept me from falling on my ass. I was just thanking him.”
“I bet he thought of a few ways for you to do that.”
She flushed bright red and walked away to one of the dog kennels.
“Was he wearing a ring?”
“No.”
“Ah-ha! So, you did look!”
She spun around, hands on her hips. “So what if I did look?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me. I was just waiting for you to admit you like him.”
“I can’t like or dislike him. I don’t know him.”
“But you want to know him.”
“Jesus, what does it matter?”
“Because I want to say I told you so when you go out with him.”
She sighed, grabbing food for the dogs and hauling it over to the kennels. She started pouring scoops into the bowls as I grabbed the water to refill for them. “Do you know how long it’s been since I was out on a date? There weren’t exactly a ton of single guys in Black Hawk.”
“What about guys that came in just for the weekend?” I said with a wink.
“There was one…he was older and very experienced.” She sighed longingly. “I saw him maybe once a month. He would take me out for dinner and we’d talk about everything. He was perfect.”
“What happened?”
She snapped out of her dreamy gaze and looked at me. “I found out he was married.”
My jaw practically dropped to the floor. “He didn’t tell you he was married?”
“Well, in all fairness, most guys that are philandering assholes don’t usually tell the women they’re sleeping with that they’re married.”
“Yeah, but…you make it sound like you guys were like, falling in love or something.”
“I was, but I was too stupid to see the signs. He never wore a wedding ring, and he didn’t have that white line. I just never saw it coming.”
“How did you find out?”
“His wife accompanied him on one of his trips. I ran into them in town, and I was so happy to see him. Usually he called first to let me know he was coming, and then he would stay with me. So, when I saw him in town, I figured he was there on business or something.”
I winced, trying not to show it. But if she was in love, she only saw what she wanted to.
“I walked right up to him with a smile on my face and asked how he was. Then his wife opened her mouth and asked who I was, which got really awkward when I told her I was his girlfriend.”
I gasped, leaning back in shock. “No.”
“Yep, and the scene that followed wasn’t very pretty. Everyone in town was watching.”
“Not everyone.”
“Remember, small town…it was pretty much everyone. God, I was so mortified. Half the town thought I was a slut, and the other half thought I was just sad.”
“Is that why you didn’t really care that you were leaving?”
“Partly. I grew up there, so I still love it there, but my friends all scattered after high school.”
“And your parents?”
“They died in a skiing accident the winter before I graduated high school.”
“Both of them?”
“It was an avalanche. So, I’m not really that fond of Colorado anymore. Being here with no mountains helps me to get away from all that.”
I nodded, understanding what she was saying. Though I wasn’t very far from my family, I didn’t live in the city either. I helped her finish up with getting all the animals fed, and then headed back to the house with the dogs. I spotted the guy in the plaid shirt, the one she had been flirting with, and checked him out. I’d have to talk to Eric behind her back, just to make sure he was a good enough guy for her.
I flipped through my book, not really reading, as I sat in the living room. Most of the house had come together. There was still work to be done, but I decided I just didn’t feel like doing it today. Jo was busy with the animal shelter, and Antonio was busy walking in and out of the room, trying to get my attention without actually speaking.
He’d walked up and down the stairs about twenty times, each time his footsteps growing louder and louder. For some reason, he seemed to think that would make me ask him what was wrong. I flipped another page, having no idea what I had supposedly just read, when he walked into the room and heaved a big sigh. I didn’t look up.
“Are you ever going to talk to me again?”
I flipped the page and continued to pretend to read.
“We already have a TV.”
I knew that. I had watched it several times since moving in here. Why was he telling me this?
“And we already have two dogs and a cat.”
Again, I knew this. I lived with them, took them on walks, and fed them. This wasn’t news to me.
“And you have your tea kettle.”
I flipped the page again.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said through gritted teeth. “ I know I fucked up.”
I finally looked up from my book and stared at him, waiting for whatever else he would say. If he thought saying I’m sorry was enough to make me fall back into his arms, he would be wrong.
“Look, the dogs are having sex every night…”
I tilted my head and studied him. Did he think he could get to me through sex? We’d already been through this once before.
“Ciara, are you gonna talk to me?” he asked frustratedly.
I heard the back door open and footsteps move across the back of the house. “Hey, hey,” Jo’s voice rang out. “Are you guys eating lunch?”
Antonio rolled his eyes. “We’re in here.”
Jo appeared just moments later, a big grin on her face. “So, lunch?”
“Sure,” I said, hopping up from my spot on the couch. “But let’s go into town.”
“I’ll come too,” Antonio said quickly.
“We should have a girls day,” I said with pep in my step. “Maybe go shopping after lunch. We could get shoes.”
“You don’t like going shopping,” Jo said in confusion. “And won’t Antonio be bored if he has to go shoe shopping?”
“I don’t mind,” Antonio said quickly, making me even more irritable than before.
“Antonio is busy with the dogs. He said he wanted to give them a bath.”
“I already did it.”
“Then he has to install the new dishwasher.”
“Did it an hour ago.”
“And the back screen door needs new hinges.”
“I have to pick up new hinges in town.”
“Okay,” Jo held up her hands. “What’s going on here?”
“What do you mean?” I asked brightly.
“Antonio wants to go shopping and you want to get away from Antonio. Something’s going on here. You guys are inseparable.”
“Well, sometimes people just piss you off and you’d rather be anywhere but with them.”
“And sometimes people make mistakes and say stupid things,” Antonio grumbled.
“And sometimes men don’t know when to shut the fuck up, or when to share.”
“And sometimes women don’t know how to accept that men can’t always be an open book.”
“And—”
Joe held up her hand. “If I have to hear one more ‘and’ out of either of you, I’m not speaking to you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared off into space.
“Okay, what’s really going on here?” Jo asked.
Neither of us said anything. It wasn’t any of her business.
“Fine, I’ll just leave the two of you here together to work out your issues.” Jo turned to walk out the door.
Well, I couldn’t have that. “He’s an ass.”
She stopped and turned back around. “Okay, can you be more specific?”
“I was trying to help him when we rushed into town the other day. He was all freaked out about Carly and I was trying to reassure him everything would be fine. He told me to shut up.”
“And I told you that I was sorry.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, three days later when you finally couldn’t take not having sex anymore.”
“How do you know it’s about sex?” Jo shrugged. “Maybe he’s just really emotionally stunted.”
“Well, of course he is,” I snapped. “He’s a man. Before he apologized to me, he listed off all the things he’d already bought me, like that somehow expresses how sorry he is.”
“I was trying to say I didn’t know how to make it up to you,” Antonio muttered.
“Well, here’s a hint, genius, you’re not going to make it up to me by buying me presents.”
“Then what the fuck do you want?”
“I want to not wait three days for an apology after you tell me to shut up.”
“I was stressed.”
Jo snorted. “Yeah, that’s not the excuse I would go with.”
Antonio took a deep breath, closing his eyes before blowing it out. It seemed to be how he handled dealing with me. “Look, I’m an ass. I know it. And I don’t know how to trust people yet.”
“Right, because me saving your ass after you got shot isn’t enough.”
“Are we back to that again? Am I going to have to hear about it for the rest of my life?”
“No, but at least the rest of this year. I’m sure you’ll do something else stupid by next year. Then we can move on to that.”
“Right, because I’m the only one that makes mistakes.”
“Who hid whose memory from them? Who hid whose necklace? Who hid whose identity from…who?” I frowned, thinking that over in my head. “Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“Good God,” Jo groaned. “How do you two live together? It’s painful to listen to you two argue.”
I glanced at Antonio and sighed. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t bring our problems to you and put you in the middle.”
“Oh, I don’t care about that part. I just literally feel like my ears are bleeding after you two argue. Seriously, you guys need a therapist or something. I hear there’s a woman in town.”
“I’m not seeing a therapist,” Antonio growled.
“Yeah, I’m with Cujo.” He glared at me and I glared back.
“Well, you’ll have to figure something out,” Jo muttered. “I don’t know how the dogs stand living with you.”
“We’re not that bad,” I muttered.
“Oh please,” Jo laughed. “I’ve heard people argue who actually hate each other and it’s not as bad as this. Look, Antonio, she’s the only one that’s always going to be on your side, because she’s your girlfriend. And he’s always going to be an idiot. All men are, but he’s also going to always protect you with everything in him, because he loves you.”
“He has a great way of showing it,” I muttered.
“Well, if you weren’t so damn pushy all the time,” he snapped.
“When do I ever push?”
“Oh, please. Up on the mountain, you were always talking, always…opening your mouth. You just can’t stand to sit in silence.”
“Is that what you want? For me not to talk?”
“Don’t answer that,” Jo said quickly.
“What I want is for you to respect the fact that sometimes I need the silence. I’m not like you. I don’t like to talk about my feelings all the time, and if you gav
e me a little fucking time to actually work out what’s going on in my head, then I would come talk to you.”
“How am I supposed to know that you’re not thinking about leaving? Am I just supposed to wait around until you’re actually gone?”
He flinched slightly, telling me all I needed to know.
“Oh my God. You were thinking of leaving.”
“Ciara—”
“Seriously? You were going to leave?” Jo asked. “What about the dogs?”
“What about me?” I screeched. “After everything we’ve been through, you were just going to leave me?”
“It’s not like I had a plan.”
“Oh,” I said, blowing out a breath and wiping my forehead like I was relieved. “Thank God you didn’t have a plan, because then you never would have gone through with it.”
He clenched his jaw, his fists balled up. “I was scared I was ruining my sister’s life by staying. I came here and made her life worse with the sheriff. And then when he came to tell me that she was in the hospital, I was more worried about him tricking me than whether or not my sister was worse.”
“And that gives you the right to just walk away from me, from Jo? After all we’ve gone through together, after you told me you loved me, you couldn’t talk to me about how you were feeling? What the hell am I supposed to do if you leave me?”
“You’d be better off,” he snapped.
“According to who? I wouldn’t have you. I have no money. My father is only staying away because of the power you hold over him. If you leave, he’ll swoop back in and get me.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“You wouldn’t be here to stop him,” I spat.
“I would always look out for you, and as for the money thing, do you really think I would leave you here and not provide for you?”
I flinched back, hurt that his leaving would be as easy as putting some money on the table for me. For the first time since being with Antonio, he really cut me deep. I couldn’t even look at him. Tears filled my eyes and I had to leave before I lost it in front of him.
I pushed past him and flung open the back door, rushing outside to breathe in the fresh air. The man I loved basically just told me I wasn’t good enough to stick around for, but he’d be sure to leave some money on the table for me. It made me feel even more worthless than anything my father could have said or done to me. My father was a monster, but Antonio was supposed to love me.
Drawing Dead: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck) Page 8