Page 5 of Arrow

“You always have a choice, Emilee. Sometimes it might not be what you want, but there's always a choice.” Arrow said. “This time, you made the right one.”

Emilee followed Arrow's motorcycle to his house on the outskirts of town. It was an older, but well maintained, two-story farmhouse on what appeared to be a large lot of land. He pulled into his garage and she parked directly behind him on the driveway.

She couldn’t help but notice how sexy Arrow looked straddling the Harley. She watched as he glided one leg over and stood. He hung his helmet up and turned and walked towards Emilee. Not wanting to make him wait, she quickly exited the car.

“Home sweet home,” Arrow said, motioning to the door. “Let’s get you inside and settled.” Emilee grabbed her duffle bag from the front seat and followed him inside. The house was clean, and the furniture looked comfortable. He led her through the main floor, up the stairs and to the first door on the left. He went in and flipped on the light switch.

The guest room was beautiful. A pale-yellow handmade quilt on the large bed paired well with the robin blue walls. The room reminded her of her great grammy’s house. Not for the first time did she wish Grammy was still alive. Of course, if she were, Emilee would be snuggled into her room there.

“The bathroom is through there,” Arrow said, interrupting her thoughts as he pointed to the door at the other end of the wall. “There are towels and everything you might need in the closet. Feel free to take a shower or bath, whatever. Do you need anything from me?”

Emilee suddenly felt overcome with shyness. “No, thank you.”

“I'll see you in the morning. Don't take off without talking to me first,” he ordered.

Sheesh. He was one bossy man, and if she were to be honest, she kind of liked it.

You're not my type.

His words from earlier echoed in her memory. Shaking her head, she put her duffle bag on the top of the large dresser and opened it. She debated on whether she wanted to crawl into bed and return to sleep or bathe. The last shower she had was a quick five-minute wash three days ago. Since then, she’d been relying on adult baby wipes to clean herself. Deciding to take advantage of the free hot water, she removed a pair of clean underwear and headed into the bathroom. It wasn't anything fancy, but the oversized soaking tub and shower combination called her name. She turned the water on and shimmied out of her clothes. Opening the small closet door, she found the towels Arrow had mentioned, along with several bottles of shampoo and body wash. She picked out what she needed and slipped under the hot water.

As the warm water cascaded over her skin, Emilee let out a contented sigh, relishing the simple luxury of a shower in Arrow's home. Taking a shower inside of a clean, safe house was a stark contrast to the days she spent scraping by, struggling to find her next fix, and the nights she spent shivering in her car, the cold seeping into her bones.

Now, two years sober, she was grateful for every small pleasure, every moment of peace. As she lathered up her hair, Emilee's thoughts drifted to her new job at the rehab center in town. It had only been a few days since she started, but already it felt like she had found her purpose. Helping others navigate the treacherous path of addiction recovery gave her a sense of fulfillment she hadn't known was possible.You’ve come full circle,the owner of the center, Samantha had said.

Samantha O'Reily was an ER charge nurse at St. Mary's Hospital. She ran a local community health clinic called Community Hope for underprivileged and financially challenged citizens, and recently, she’d founded the only drug and alcohol treatment center in the area. She’d converted a large old house into a sanctuary of hope and promise. Samantha was the one who'd interviewed and hired Emilee.

During the interview, Sam spoke about being taken hostage by a veteran with PTSD a few years back, and how not too long after, she’d found herself as a hostage a second time, by a drug trafficker wanting her to cut drugs out of a poor girl's stomach. Sam's eyes were opened to the part of Grand Ridge that wasn't the idyllic downtown area. With help from her friends and her boyfriend, Sam expanded the mission and recently opened a Drug & Alcohol Addiction Treatment Center called Renewed Hope. Emilee had been honest with Sam about her own recovery, expecting judgment. Instead, Sam showed her compassion and empathy.

Emilee's job at Renewed Hope wasn't glamorous. She was doing administrative work and some light cleaning, but she hoped to eventually become a peer support specialist. Sam was worried about the possibility of her relapsing being around other addicts, but they'd worked out a plan to help lower her risks. Unfortunately, the job was only part time and Emilee was going to need to find another one if she hoped to move out of her car and into a small apartment of her own.

She closed her eyes, letting the steam envelop her, feeling a sense of gratitude wash over her. Despite the hardships she had faced, she was alive, she was another day clean, and for tonight, she was safe. She'd learned how to count her blessings as they came.

CHAPTER 2

ARROW

How the fuck did he end up with a homeless woman sleeping in the bed on the other side of his wall? Arrow didn't mind her being there, as long as she wouldn’t try to slit his throat in the middle of the night.

Nah.

She wouldn't reach his bed without him knowing. He was a light sleeper, trained by the military to always be on alert. He wished he could fall asleep and knock out without every little sound having him reaching for a rifle that wasn’t there.

His gut told him there was more to Miss Emilee than met the eye, and his gut hadn't failed him yet. Not in two decades of combat, nor with women or friendships. His gut was the one thing he had that he could always rely on.

His gut told him that pain motivated her defiance. Pain mixed with a healthy dose of defensiveness. A deep-rooted pain that had taken years to get to this point. He'd noticed it the last couple of times he'd seen her at The Citadel. Her smile never quite made it to her eyes. He'd wanted to talk to her when he'd seen her playing by herself, but he didn't want to make things awkward for her. Had she been sleeping in her car for the last couple of months? Surely, someone in Grand Ridge would havenoticed and said something. It wasn't safe and none of the men he knew would have allowed it, even if she wasn’t on the top of the friends list.

And he couldn't allow her to return to sleeping in her car, either. His house would be open to her as long as she needed, if she could follow his rules. He wouldn't charge rent, but he sure as hell wouldn't allow her to run amok or cause chaos, either.

Glancing down at his phone, he saw it was almost three a.m. now and knew Jay would be asleep. Dax, on the other hand, would be on shift for another five hours, so he called him.

“What do you know about Emilee?” Arrow asked as soon as he picked up.

“Why? What did she do? Did she sneak out? Not follow you?” Dax asked, clearly alarmed.

“No. Nothing like that. But, if she's going to stay in my house, I need to know if I should be worried about anything.”

“I don't think there's anything to be worried about. From what I can gather, she's been working hard to not only stay clean but make amends. She's trying to fix her reputation,” Dax said slowly.

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