Suddenly feeling defensive of our little town.
Yeah, it’s not much. But I was born and raised here. And I don’t think it’s the type of place that should be used like currency.
It’s people, including me being treated and traded like cattle.
“Is that what yesterday was all about?” I ask, not even trying to hide my anger anymore.
“What?” Kyle asks before groaning as it dawns on him I’m not upset over nothing.
But my anger only grows as I realize he’s just been using me for his own end.
Give him the scoop on the town and pave the way for his investment.
Even though there’s a part of me that won’t accept that, it’s all I’ve ever known. Pranks and betrayals.
But he wouldn’t do that.
Would he?
“Jacinta?” He sighs, looking serious now. “You’ve got it all wrong.”
But something in me doesn’t want to hear it.
Maybe mom’s right.
Maybe I do belong here.
Maybe I do need to go let the sheriff know I’m alright, as well as maybe give mom the heads up that there’s someone in town who’s maybe not all they seem.
“Jacinta!” Kyle calls after me, cursing under his breath as he tries to find his clothes.
But I’m already dressed and out the door before he can stop me.
Even though there’s a voice screaming at me to stop.
What the hell are you doing? Kyle, Mr. Wonderful is in the other direction… Where are you running to?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kyle
That went well.
Not.
I figured after yesterday, after last night, it’s pretty clear that I’m taking Jacinta as my girl.
That we’re a thing now.
A permanent thing. Like I explained to her.
But if this is our first fight I’m taught a swift lesson in watching my mouth. Thinking before I speak because before I can even try to stop her, she’s gone.
My bombastic approach might work with my employees, but Jacinta is still her own person and not one who likes being told what to do or how things are gonna be.
A lot like me really.
Racing to get dressed, to follow her, I huff it past the front desk, but it’s not like I can ask the manager if he’s just seen the hastily dressed girl that’s been reported missing just running from my suite now, can I?
Grumbling to myself I try to figure out what I said or did that made her so mad.
I thought she hated the town, couldn’t wait to leave?
Surely anyone would be glad to see their town offered a future life instead of just watching it decay and rot. But that’s a question for another time. Right now I just want, need to get Jacinta back.
Everything else can wait.
But apart from not having time to find my underwear, catching my junk on my zipper, and confirming to the hotel manager I really am crazy, today has a few more surprises in store for me yet.
Just as I start scouting the parking lot and then the road leading away from the inn, a large, dark sedan pulls up.
The smoky tinted window slides down silently and I see a familiar face.
Rick.
Goddammit!
Of all the people.
“I thought I told you to call before turning up?” I snap, grinding my teeth as I struggle to keep calm.
My eyes dart around still, hoping in vain to catch a glimpse of the only person I need to see right now.
But she’s gone, taken off again.
Jacinta would know Cherry better than I do, and there’s sure to be side trails and paths to get her away from me quicker than I could ever find her.
And that’s why it cuts me up. The fact she’d want to run.
The fact she’d take off, rather than sitting down and talking through any problems she has with me or my business model.
Rick’s face falls. The self-assured look he had when he pulled up, was full of good news about the project no doubt.
Gone once my own mood registers.
A mood I seldom broadcast to anyone else because I don’t usually get worked up over anything.
I bark orders, but I don’t get upset.
I’m Kyle Lundstrom, not some amateur hack.
But today I am an amateur.
A novice in the game of love and I’m getting my first steep learning curve by having the floor wiped with me by a girl who’s not even here.
“You didn’t see anyone when you were driving up?” I ask him, making him do a double-take, looking at me like I have a screw loose or two.
“A girl, blond hair,” I add, hoping he’ll say he saw her just a few hundred yards away, but Rick only shakes his head.
Looking concerned now.
“You okay, Kyle?”
The only time anyone calls me by my first name is when they think I’ve lost my reason, which doesn’t happen often, if ever but I guess in a way, I have now.
“No. No, I’m not okay,” I bark back at him, moving to get a better view of the road, scanning the scenery, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.