Page 30 of Stealing Home

When I open the door, Wren is standing there with her friend Bess, and four very good looking men. For a fleeting moment I wish Scott was here, which is crazy. I have to force myself to stop looking for him everywhere I go. He couldn’t be more off limits.

“The apartment is fully furnished, but you’ll need the basics like kitchen items, linens, that sort of thing,” Wren says as she follows me into the house.

“Thank you guys for coming, I think you brought more help than we need though,” I say apologetically. They’ve got a business to run, and yet they all dropped everything to help me out.

Wren’s husband wraps his beefy arms around her waist. “My baby bird isn’t lifting anything.”

He reaches out a hand to me. “We take care of our own, you should know this by now.”

I blink rapidly, my eyes sting from the urge to cry. I don’t cry, ever. Not since my mom’s funeral, and I’m certainly not going to start crying for myself.

Bess lunges forward and hugs me. “What are best friends for if not to help you move away from slime ball ex’s?”

The one man I haven’t gotten to meet yet steps up behind Bess and puts his arm on her shoulder. He smiles at me, and he’s got an easy going disposition that instantly sets me at ease. “I’m Donovan, Bess’s husband. I own a bar down on Main Street.”

I nod. I know which one he’s talking about. It’s got a dive bar feel, but without the seediness of other places. It’s popular with students and staff from the university, and one of the few places you can see them all mix together.

He scratches the side of his head. “Bess says you’re married to the coach?”

I nod. For now I am at least. I plan to change that as soon as I can. Leena chewed my ass out when I broke down and confessed how bad things have gotten. She said, “Stop being a martyr and leave him already. Pierce women aren’t doormats, Low.”

She was right, and I realized I wasn’t doing a good job of setting a good example for her. I wouldn’t want her to tolerate the way I’ve been treated for anyone or any reason. The only way I could make sure she knew she deserved better was to start treating myself the same way. I’d already decided to leave by the time she laid into me, but it did help me reaffirm I am doing the right thing.

Donovan looks at Liam, and shifts his weight from foot to foot. “Since you’re leaving anyway, I don’t know if I should bother to tell you this. But, I’ve kept my mouth shut before, and people ended up getting hurt.” He looks at Wren, and I know he’s referring to the shitty husband from her past.

The way Liam looks at the floor I figure out Donovan must be referring to when Wren caught him cheating. Not that I’m fit to judge anyone. I’ve been lusting after a twenty-year-old pitcher for the last couple of weeks.

Donovan takes a deep breath, and I realize before he speaks what he’s going to tell me. “I’ve seen the coach come into the bar pretty regularly. He’s been there with the same woman a lot for a while now. I think she works with the team.”

I nod. “I’ve suspected for a while he was cheating, and one of the players sent me a photo last night. I’m okay. Really. I mean, it sucks, but I won’t be broken because he is screwing around.”

Stepping back, I make a sweeping gesture with my arm. “Come in for the first and last time. The sooner I’m out of this place forever the better.”

Everyone enters except the other mechanic at the shop, Charlie. He’s Griffin’s best friend, and married to Wren’s aunt. Some might find all the ties this group has to each other as messy or confusing, but I can’t imagine being luckier to have your friends become family.

Liam elbows Charlie in the side, but he keeps his focus on his phone. “You’ll have to excuse his rudeness, he’s busy texting his wife who is ignoring him right now.”

“I really thought a washer and dryer set was a good present. We needed a new one, and our anniversary is coming up,” he mutters distractedly.

We all wince. “When is your anniversary?” I ask.

“This weekend,” he says intently staring at his phone.

I nod. “You can save this. Make it seem like the washer and dryer was a misdirection and you were planning something bigger all along.”

He looks up and smiles. “I like the new girl, Wren.”

I roll my eyes. “You said the same thing when I found the website to order the custom parts you needed for that old car.”

He grumbles something about hating computers and follows everyone else inside.

I laugh. Being with them feels good.

They quickly pack up my meager possessions and load them into the back of Wren and Griffin’s truck. I follow them back to the garage, and they take me up a staircase to a deck off the back of the building.

It’s got an open floor plan with a loft above the living room where the bedroom is. I find a luxurious bathroom next to the living room with a freestanding tub and separate shower. It’s bright in white tiles with soft gray accents. The rest of the apartment is warm wood, and stark white walls. The kitchen has an industrial vibe with concrete countertops and stainless steel appliances.

“This place was built so Charlie would have somewhere to stay when he came up to work on projects at this location, but that was a long time ago. Other than some out of town guests, this place has been sitting empty for years,” Wren explains.

---