Page 25 of Unspoken Promises

With. Notfor. I try not to let it mean something, but it does anyway.

“Ranch or GhostEye?” Julia asks me.

Enzo answers for me. “GhostEye. She’s living on the complex for the time being as well.”

She wanders closer and extends her hand. “Julia. Pleasure to meet you.”

She shakes my hand and gazes into my eyes as if trying to figure me out. She’s welcoming but discerning, and I have to say that’s how I think of myself, and apart from hoping she doesn’t have telepathy, I don’t mind a person being curious.

Thankfully, she ends her assessment with a warm smile.

“Well, you two are in for a treat tonight. I hope you’re open-minded.” She leans over and says to Enzo, “Arthur is on the schedule for a presentation.”

Julia threads her arm through Enzo’s, and he seemssurprisingly comfortable despite all the stiffness I’ve witnessed.

“Who’s Arthur?” Luis asks.

She squints one eye, concentrating as if trying to figure out a way to put it. “Let’s just say he’s Echo Valley’s most infamous artist.” She leans in on me again. “What do you do at GhostEye, hon?”

“I…” I glance to Enzo for an answer because I sure as hell don’t want to define myself as a PowerPoint creator. And hacker isn’t the best title either.

Enzo comes to the rescue. “Ava is in cybersecurity.”

Julia makes anah-haface and peers at me down her nose like she knows exactly what he’s getting at. I get the impression there’s no pulling a fast one on her but also see Enzo wasn’t trying to, just make it easier for me, which I appreciate.

Julia moves on to a typical line of questioning. “Where is home then, Ava?”

“Oregon.” I scrunch my nose. “But I hated it there.”

I know it’s natural to ask people where they’re from and get a little backstory but it wasn’t easy in the car. Thinking about my past. My mom. Anton… And how to explain how I speak Spanish? Loads of my teachers over the years were from Mexico and Columbia, so computer programming wasn’t the only language I needed to master. But how the hell could I explain that? I hope I did a good job keeping heat off me. I’m pretty sure it will take ages to pass Enzo’s sniff test as it is.

Thankfully, a tap on the shoulder saves me from coming up with more answers. Or lies.

“Hey there, pretty lady…”

I turn to see my new friend from the grocery store, Penelope, with a very tall, handsome man next to her withpiercing blue eyes that could make a woman weep. Guess she has a boyfriend…

She wraps her arms around me with a hug then pulls back, hands still on my arms. “There’s the official welcome to Echo Valley.”

Funny, Enzo didn’t give me one of those when I arrived.

“Glad you made it. And this,” she gestures to Blue Eyes, “is Callum. My best friend. And the youngest ever chief of police in Echo Valley.”

He gives a humble smile and a salute, and I return the gesture. Behind me, Julia and Enzo have gone off to prepare the tables with pastries and other nibbles. I struggle to keep my eyes off him with Julia. He was doting. Caring. Genuinely concerned about her lifting that massive jug. Damn, I wish I could have seen him take it from her with his shirt off. He’s filling out that polo like it’s two sizes too small.

Now I’m with Pen and Callum, Luis is on his own, so I haul him to my side.

“This is Luis Mendez. My neighbor. Also new to the town like me.”

He waves to them both.

Penelope bats her eyelashes at Luis. “Oooh. Another Mendez boy in town? Lucky us. Also, call me Pen. A four-syllable name is just extra.”

For the second time in five minutes, Luis hides a bashful smile, and I love it. I’m hopeful about my fresh start here in Echo Valley. I hope he can be, too.

The four of us get to talking about how Penelope and Callum became friends listening for police signals with their ham radios but how they can’t anymore because most police signals are encrypted. I’m tempted to level up my friendship status by having a go at decrypting them, but I decide laying low is a better idea. Plus, Callum is the chief ofpolice after all. I know lots of them are corrupt, but there’s something about him that tells me he’s not. And he might even report me.

Anyway, I’m here to be a normal girl doing an abnormal job. The job I’m given at GhostEye. I need to keep my nose clean if I’m to get Enzo to keep me on after three months. Three months is all I’ve got, so I can’t get caught finding out what kind of boxers Callum wears or where that car chase is headed. Thankfully, between UFO talk and Luis’ new book club that Penelope offered to host at the bookstore, there will be no shortage of conversation.

---