Page 77 of Wish You Were Mine

“Excuse me a minute,” I said to Liam, ducking into a storeroom off the corridor. I called Summer back and waited for her to answer.

“Ash,” she exclaimed, breathless as though she’d run to the phone. “What happened earlier? Nate didn’t arrest you, did he?”

“He didn’t,” I assured her, the note of concern in her voice warming me all the way through. I briefly explained my confrontation with James, and what had led to it. By the time I finished, she was cursing him more creatively than I would have expected.

“He shouldn’t have cheated if he wasn’t willing to risk his relationship,” she said, followed by a string of grumbling about cheaters, dirtbags, and jerks who gave men a bad name.

“I know.” I sighed. “I’ve got to be on my best behavior now though.”

“You did the right thing,” she said in consternation. “You shouldn’t be punished for it.”

“But I did break the rules,” I reminded her. “It’s fine. Parks will forget eventually.”

Someone spoke to her down the other end of the line.

“I’ve got to go,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

I smiled. “I’d like that.”

I ended the call and left the storeroom. Liam had vanished, so instead of continuing on to the staff room, I backtracked to the garage. If I had to clean the engine, I might as well get started on it now. After all, I could use a distraction, and the manual labor would wear me out enough that it might calm my whirling thoughts.

I debated whether to change my pants but decided there was no point if I was only going to get them dirty and wet again anyway. I backed the engine out of the garage, hooked up a hose, and got to work.

Hours later, my muscles ached, and my fingers were numb, but unfortunately, the workout hadn’t cleared my mind as much as I’d hoped it would. The shift was over, having been thankfully uneventful after the drama of the morning, but I knew if I returned home, I wouldn’t get any peace.

Instead, I said my goodbyes and went home only long enough to collect my bike. I took it to the trails that began behind Destiny Fibers and cycled until my legs and lungs burned.

Darkness descended, and I switched on the lights attached to the front and rear frame of the bike. I stuck to the main trails as I pedaled, trying and failing to outrun my swirling thoughts.

Was the chaos from my personal life spilling over into my professional life?

Was Lionel Lowry right to call me out? Should I have done more to help him?

I’d done what I could, but what if that wasn’t enough?

Sometimes, it didn’t matter how hard you tried, only what you accomplished. My best efforts had landed him with a severely injured leg, and he wasn’t the only one I hadn’t been able to help as much as I’d have liked. There were so many.

Faces flashed through my mind. I pedaled harder, but I couldn’t outrun them.

Somehow, I found myself back outside my house. My subconscious had steered me home even though I was nowhere near ready to sleep.

Still, I got off the bike, and was putting it away in the garage when my phone rang. I withdrew it from my pocket.

“Hello?”

“Hey.” Summer’s voice warmed me inside. “I just wanted to see how you are.”

“As good as I can be.” It wouldn’t do either of us any good if I just dumped my problems on her.

“Have you eaten?” she asked as I closed the garage door and jogged up the front steps.

The porch light came on, driven by its movement sensor, and I froze.

“Holy shit.”

“What is it?” she demanded.

I didn’t answer immediately, too busy staring at the front window beside the door. It had been smashed, a jagged hole in the center, sharp glass edges ready to cut anyone stupid enough to touch them.

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