Page 4 of Finding Noah
Christian arched an eyebrow. “I don’t see why not. He keeps it with his sex toys, right?”
“I cannot believe I told you that.” Whether I meant about the sex toys, the baseball card collection, or the fact they shared a drawer, I wasn’t certain.
He sighed dramatically. “These are the things we must bear. Charity shop opens at ten—it’ll be our last stop on the way out of town. If Leroy moves fast enough, he might be able to rescue the collection before they sell it. Regardless, I’d say you’re good.”
We both knew I wasn’t…but I honestly didn’t care. I’d staked my future on Leroy—and he’d gone and cheated on me. In our bed. Sleazy didn’t begin to cover it. And anyway, he didn’t have any particularly valuable cards—he just liked to boast hehad a collection. A claim about as vacuous as he was. “Let’s do this.” I patted Christian’s thigh. “You’re a good friend.”
“Your best friend,” he reminded me.
“Yeah, that.” We’d been besties since the first day of first grade.
Some third-grade bully had been trying to steal Christian’s expensive sneakers.
I’d fought the kid off and had earned a bloody nose for my trouble. To this day, I kept thinkinghow did that kid think he’d get away with stealing sneakers and no one would notice? Even hearing this was something he did often didn’t square. Defied logic.
That said, no one ever tried to pick on Christian again. Being the only son of one of the factory owners made him different.
His parents, and their business partners, controlled much of what happened in town. Fortunes were made and destroyed based on who was favored. Losing one’s job could destroy a family. Getting a promotion could lead to prosperity.
And yet Christian was walking away from his inheritance. Frankston and Carter was an institution in our town. Christian was the Carter legacy.
“Okay, I’ll drive to the bank right now and tender my resignation.”
“Make sure they give you the full vacation you’re entitled to. It would be unfortunate if I were to withdraw all my money this afternoon.” He winked.
“We’ll need to find a bank in California. Or a credit union. Once we have a place to live. Oh shit, what if—”
He pressed a finger to my lips. “While you’re finding creative ways to make Leroy pay for his betrayal, I’ll search for rentals in Foggy Basin. We’ll have something lined up before we cross the state line.”
I didn’t ask whether he meant Tennessee or California, because it didn’t matter. If Christian said something was going to happen, then it did. Simple as that. “Okay.”
He patted my shoulder. “Go forth and get it done.”
“Yeah.”
Just over twelve hours later, we pulled out of our town and headed toward a new beginning.
Chapter One
Christian
“This is so quaint.” I grinned as I examined the two-story white house with gingerbread accents. Well, the cut-wood trim probably had a more official name but, to me, the house looked like a gingerbread house would—only white instead of light brown.
Noah leaned against my SUV next to me as we surveyed our new home. We’d driven through the heart of Foggy Basin to get here—which had only been a few square blocks. This town was tiny. So much smaller than the town we’d come from.
This house stood on several acres of fenced, flat grassland. Perfect for running a dog-training center. Our landlady, a charming woman named Miss Esmeralda, had lived here her entire life, but recently had fallen, broken her hip, and been forced to move into a nursing home. She knew she was likely never coming back to her childhood home, but she also couldn’t bear to part with it. She had enoughin her inheritance to cover her nursing-care home costs, but a little rental income would help ease things. More importantly, she wanted to know her home was well-cared-for.
Two enterprising young men, one of whom was starting a business, were just the sort of tenants she was looking for.
Personally, I’d question two single dudes from out of state with no references, but something about me reassured her. Or so she’d claimed during our three-hour marathon conversation while I’d been hunkered down in a cheap motel in Texas. I’d tried not to let desperation leach into my voice. Just…I promised Noah I’d take care of this. That everything would be perfect.
So it just had to be.
Because I was sort of in love with Noah and wanted the best for him.
Sort of? Sheesh, who are you trying to deceive?
Yeah, no two ways about it. I was head over heels in love with Noah Gainey.
