Page 10 of Christmas Home

I took the opportunity to study him close-up. Cropped chestnut brown hair curled stubbornly against his head, makingme wonder what it would be like to see those locks grown out. That made me think about running my fingers through them, and just as the heat of the day got significantly hotter, he pulled away and all but ran toward the motel.

“Crap,” I said to myself—way to be a creep. I didn’t really have control over my attraction to him. He was handsome and in every way my type, but he was certainly not looking to get involved. Based on his reaction to me, though, I was almost sure the server had been correct in that he played for my team.

I watched him rush away, then realizing I was still being creepy, I forced myself to move on. The man had not left my thoughts as I entered the condo to see Corey working on his laptop. “Hey, I’ve got a question.”

Corey looked up, and his eyes narrowed again. “You’ve got that look,” he said. I laughed. There was no use denying it. Corey had worked with me long enough to know when I’d found an interesting project.

“Just ask Jake if we can keep the condo longer, and before you get upset, you don’t have to stay. Corey, I need to make peace with this place, and a project will help me do that. Crawford City holds absolute horrors for me. I need to replace that with something else, something good.”

Corey nodded. “I’ll make inquiries, but, boss, if you’re staying, I’ll be here for you.”

My assistant seldom showed anything but professionalism in his demeanor, but for a brief second, I could see his concern. Corey had become so much more to me than an assistant over the years. He’d dealt with my father’s narcissism while he was still alive, helped me through the loss of my cousin, and now, well, Corey was family.

Yes, that was sad because I paid the only person I considered family besides Yamato, who was actually a cousin-in-law, but I knew that relationship would change now too. Yamato was stilla young man. He’d been significantly younger than my cousin, and I knew he’d eventually remarry.

Maybe knowing how little family I had left—well, family I associated with—was another reason I needed to come to terms with my childhood. I needed to fill in the gaps in my past so I could move toward my future. Whatever that might look like.

ten

Clyde

The week went byfast, faster than I’d anticipated. I got my former employer’s final paycheck in the mail and only had a brief pang of worry that my ex might find me and haul my ass back to Georgia. Then I got too busy to even think about it.

I honestly don’t know what got into me. I never put down roots in a new town. I usually don’t stay in one place long enough. But, in a moment of weakness, I set up a checking account.

Banking, really? Me? I chalked it up to my brain not being quite right. Besides, if my money wasn’t sitting around, Lewellen, who still had a key to the room, couldn’t steal it when I was at work. And the heifer would. Shetotallywould.

The silver fox slipped up on me almost daily, and, each time, my heart began beating a mile a minute before I could remind the treacherous thing that men and I didn’t mix. Luckily, he’d stopped looking my way, and even the few times he showed up when I was bussing tables, he didn’t ask questions or leer at me.

Although, I’ll admit I liked the idea of him leering. Well, no, that’d be too much. Looking my way, though. Dang it, there I went again. I was a weak man. For the hundredth time this week alone, I asked myself why I was so bad at ignoring handsome men.

I finally shrugged it off as an internal flaw or something. I had Monday and Tuesday off and had no idea what I would do with myself. Honestly, I could use a day outdoors getting some fresh air. I didn’t mind hanging around the motel, so long as I kept to my room. Too many unsavory folks lurked around the place, especially in the evenings. More than once, the sheriff had shown up and hauled someone off. I needed to stay off her radar if at all possible.

I laughed at that. Staying off anyone’s radar in this tiny town was impossible. Already, I’d met the sheriff and her deputies, and truth be known, I liked them. They were funny and got along with everyone. Still, I had impending legal troubles south of here, so it’d be best if she only saw me as the guy that worked at the Crawford City Café and not the guy living among what I assumed were meth heads at the Daylight Motel.

I slept in on Monday and ignored the jibes from my coworkers when I came into the café on my day off to eat. The food was too good to pass up, and I was getting used to a big breakfast early in the mornings.

Trails wound into the woods from the motel, and I hadn’t been hiking in years. I always did like exploring, though, and having been at the motel for over a week, I knew none of the regulars ever went back there. The only reason the trails were there was because a family of deer showed up in the evenings around dusk.

So, after breakfast, I dashed over to the drugstore where Mrs. Cole’s husband worked, found some bug spray that hopefully might keep the ticks at bay, and then went for a walk.

The smell and quiet of the woods hit me the moment I slipped through the undergrowth. Damn, I had forgotten how healing this kind of place was for me. The trails were open and clear, which I was thankful for.

I was reticent to walk in heavy underbrush, though, knowing copperheads liked this terrain, especially with all the mice the downtown buildings must attract.

I’d only gone a short distance when I heard someone shout, “Shit!” and then yelled, “Ouch!”

He said a lot more, but even I didn’t want to acknowledge when someone used the Lord’s name in vain. I could do without any bad luck brought my way.

“You okay?” I asked, then immediately regretted saying it, thinking I might’ve accidentally run up on one of the meth heads doing a backwoods deal.

“Hey, over here!” I heard, and the educated accent eased my concerns about running into a thug.

I pushed my way down the path that wound along the side of a gully and into the ravine. I’d only gone a few feet when I spotted my silver fox—yeah, like he was mine—sitting on the ground.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked when I saw him holding his ankle.

He shook his head. “No, I tripped trying to step over that fallen log. I think I sprained my ankle.”

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