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Something about her doing her research first made me nod with approval.

Easton

I’ll be there tomorrow morning and when Max takes his nap, I’ll be sure to take a break. See you then.

If she had to work, or there was somewhere she had to be, she could just tell me no, but when she sent me a thumbs up, I knew that was all I was going to get from her as a confirmation. And that was all I needed.

The smile I had been sporting returned to my face as I took a final swig of the beer. There were a million things I needed to do around my own house, and since I had the rest of the evening to get it done, I stood up and readied myself for caulking the extra bathroom.

“Ugh!” My door flew open, and Miles walked in, heading straight to my fridge for a beer. “Fuck this day.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged. “Literally nothing. I took this job to serve and protect, but there’s no one to serve and protect.”

Miles had already changed from his uniform and looked as though he could do wonders with a caulking gun, so I nodded for him to keep talking while I readied him for work. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he sighed, mindlessly taking the caulk from my hand and following me to the bathroom. “I just got bored. There are only so many times I can tell the Murphy twins to stop throwing their beer steins before I lose my shit. Today was my limit.”

“Why hasn’t Jeff pressed charges? At this rate, those boys probably owe him a small fortune in steins.” Jeff was the owner of Fiddler’s, and everyone knew he didn’t care enough about the place to protect it.

“Jeff doesn’t give a fuck. No one gives a fuck. They show up at three in the afternoon, and by four, I’m called there to take their drunk asses home. The sergeant doesn’t even want me bringing them in to sleep it off. I’m basically a glorified taxi driver with a gun I never use.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” I warned while pointing to the bathtub and suggesting he take aim with his caulking gun. “Don’t even think about leaving me for the big city.”

He got to work, so frustrated that I still wasn’t sure if he realized what he was doing. Miles was inoneof his moods, which seemed to be happening more frequently. Just like I had, Miles chose to do something to serve his town and give back to the area and the people who had helped raise us. It meant we didn’t get paid much, but we were also never in any imminent danger. It should have been a fair trade, but at times, it felt like a waste.

“I’m not going to leave,” Miles growled. “I don’t have a helicopter to get to Sunday dinners.”

The small jab at our older brother’s life of luxury made me laugh, which made Miles laugh as well. He sat back on his heels and shook his head before raising his caulking gunupand staring at me.

“What am I doing?”

“Look,” I shrugged. “You just came in here complaining because you didn’t get to use your gun enough, so I gave you a gun. Keep going. You’re not done.”

He laughed at my logic and got back to work, making the menial project go by even faster. His presence helped me keep my mind off Jesse, and resist the urge to call West again to ask more questions. But the second he left for the night, I immediately returned to thoughts of those bright eyes and how, with just one look, I had become a different person.

Chapter Seven

JESSE

Mrs. Ellison sather empty coffee cup down and stood, walking herself to the door. She had shown up first thing, asking if I’d like to have another chat, and I couldn’t say no. As much as I hated talking to anyone before coffee, there was something nice about getting to know more about my neighbor—a former school teacher who lost her husband and missed her kids.

“I won’t bother you tomorrow,” she laughed. “I promise.”

“Oh you’re no bother. I love hearing stories about you and Mr. Ellison.”

“It’s just so nice talking about him. Memories are all I have left, and I’m thankful to have them.” She opened the door and turned back, a twisted gleam in her eye. “Easton Brooks is here again. Are you two…?”

“What? No!” I stood and joined her at the door, watching Easton unloading some tools from the back of his truck. “He’s just doing some work to the house. His brother owns this house, ya know?”

“Oh, I know,” she smirked. “I know all about those Brooks boys.”

If she knew all about them, then we definitely needed to chat again, because I was intrigued. I had spent almost the entire night looking them up on the internet, only finding articles about the rich oldest brother, Westley. I tried to rationalize that it was okay, because I had a right to know who owned my home, and what his brother had to do with it. Other than confirming who owned the home and that they knew who Easton was, the rental company didn’t tell me anything else.

Even though I had agreed to let Easton fix the fence, I was still wary. He was a stranger, and I was in a new town. It would be just my luck to survive the big city my entire life without an incident and then be tied up in a basement a few weeks after moving to Harmony Haven.

“Don’t run her out of town,” Ms. Ellison yelled and waved at Easton. I stepped onto the porch, just as Easton smiled and opened his arms up, embracing the old woman as if he had known her for years.

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