“Yeah,” I said, since I’d been thinking the very same thing myself not two minutes ago.
“Oh, hey, I need to go see if Doc checked over some lab results. You okay?”
I nodded. “My lips are sealed,” I said, because I knew that was really what she wanted to know. She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder.
“Sorry, Oz, I wish I could tell you what you want to hear, but truth is, no one knows anything about Jake.”
I knew what she was talking about. I wanted to tell her that I already knew the answer to the question others were undoubtedly asking.
Jake’s straight.
Very much so.
“No worries,” I said. “I’m only in town for a couple months anyway.”
Yeah, like that was the only thing standing in the way. Becky patted my shoulder and wandered off. I spared Jake another quick glance. He was watching me with a weird expression on his face. I would have said it was concern, but I knew better. I forced myself to get back to work and spent the rest of the afternoon working to keep the mystery that surrounded Jake from invading my thoughts.
When I was finished for the day, I made my way to Bennett and Xander’s lodge and fessed up about leaving the Jeep in town the night before. They were kind enough to help me get both vehicles up the mountain, and Bennett even gave me a stick shift lesson while Xander installed the new breaker in my cabin.
Once they were done, I followed them back to town in the Jeep to pick up Boo. I found her being utterly and shamelessly spoiled by Bennett and Xander’s son Lucky, who looked at me long enough to have me worried that he recognized me as Laird. But when he didn’t say anything, I let it go. My little princess had also managed to find herself a new boy toy in the form of Bear, the family’s huge Newfoundland mix. The big dog outweighed Boo by a good hundred pounds, but had docilely followed my girl wherever she went, and when it came time for a nap, he curled his big body around her tiny one. I was both amused and oddly envious.
After hanging around getting to know the three of them better, I accepted their invitation to stay for dinner, since my cabin needed some time to warm up. It was a casual affair, just soup and homemade bread, but it was the company that was divine. The three of them were clearly a loving family, and just being in the presence of their inside jokes and ribbing made me feel warm and full.
I’d missed that. After being forced to leave home at sixteen, the closest thing to family I had was Zoey.
Before I left, Xander and Bennett presented me with a gift bag. Inside was a thick leather tool belt complete with hammer, screwdriver, and whatever other shit I didn’t recognize in it. When I looked up at them in confusion, they burst into laughter. Xander spoke first.
“I noticed you don’t even have the basic shit up there to hang pictures and stuff, so I figured we’d give you the bare minimum. This doesn’t mean you can’t call us for help, of course. It’s more of a housewarming present.”
I buckled it on around my Balmain skinny jeans and felt the satisfying weight land on my hips.
“Does this make me a real man now? Am I in the club?” I asked with a wink.
Lucky’s laughter filled the lobby of the lodge. “Damned straight.”
“Oh shit!” I said with mock horror. “It doesn’t make me straight, does it?”
With a full belly and an even fuller heart, I hopped in the Jeep with Boo to head home. When I powered that sucker up the mountain with no problems, I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d been seen as a pretty-faced pampered diva for years, and I had to wonder what the world would think if they could see me in my fucking badass tool belt, giant parka, and new utilitarian snow boots manhandling a beat-up Jeep Wrangler on steroids up a craggy, snow-filled mountain.
I rolled down the window in the ink-black night and whooped at the top of my lungs.
Chapter 8
Jake
He was fucking another guy.
I didn’t want to believe it, but there was no denying what the presence of the bright orange Jeep parked next to Oz’s flashy red Jag in front of his cabin meant.
Two mornings in a row.
Two mornings and two nights–two whole nights.
Well, happy fucking Thanksgiving.
What’d you expect, asshole?
I told my inner voice to shove it and shrugged on my jacket as I made my way down the porch steps to my truck, trying really hard to ignore the Jeep next door.
But it was like a fucking beacon, and I ended up looking at it anyway.