Page 1 of The One Who Got Away
Chapter 1
Gus
I heftedthe cooler onto the back of the pickup truck. It was mid-September, not that you’d know it with the temperatures soaring into the 80’s in our little town of Indigo Valley. Upstate New York never seemed to let go of summer easily.
Then again, after living in Costa Rica this was a piece of cake. The humidity could sit on you like a thirty-pound wet blanket followed directly by a rainstorm that made the air thick enough to chew. Add in mosquitos that were literally trying to kill you and this little slice of home was better than paradise.
I pushed my hair back. It had gotten long since...well, before.
Since paradise had turned into more of a nightmare. Getting the call from my brother, Sully to come home had nearly ended up with me in an urn. Not that I would let my family know any of that.
“Hey, Gus!”
I turned, pushing my past back where it belonged. “Yeah?”
Cam, my brother, had one of his carpenter pencils behind his ear and a beat-up Blue Jay’s ball cap on his head. “We’re all going in on an order to Bite Me, you want in?”
“Yeah. I’ll go and get the order, just get it together.”
“You’re the best.”
I shoved the cooler deeper into the flatbed of the truck. “You just don’t want to catch the bill.”
Cam grinned. “I’ve got a ten spot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just text me the details. I’ll pick it up on the way back from the warehouse. I gotta pick up the lumber for the Jennings property.”
“Freaking finally.”
Cam was our master carpenter. I’d been bouncing around between the active jobs on the Murdock Brothers slate since I’d come home. I’d seen the worried faces on my brothers faces, and I’d been dodging my mother’s questions by staying out of the house as much as possible.
Luckily, there was no end to work in our family business. Ever since my brother Sully had gone viral on social media he’d been inundated with jobs. To keep the streak alive Cam started filming his carpentry reveals and we’d onboarded higher ticket jobs.
Which was where I came in.
While Cam might be the genius when it came to design, I was the workhorse.
At least I had been until the night on the beach.
And now I was working my ass off to get back to that guy. Maybe even a better one. Costa Rica taught me about endurance and building homes in wild, off path places. I’d hauled lumber and stone up steep paths to the most amazing views for the rich and powerful in that country.
I loved creating something beautiful that suited wild spaces.
And now, I would use all the things I learned to create homes where I grew up. I glanced around Hope Street, the main street in our little town. It was the hub of shops and eateries that made up the heart of Indigo Valley.
I waved to my brother and a few new guys on tap for the Jennings property. The clients were empty nesters andrequested a gut job on two kids’ rooms to take back their house. Cam would be taking on mom, Millie’s, reading and craft room and I was in charge of Bradley’s man cave that had once been a basement bedroom.
It was a big project and we were in the demolition phase which was honestly kicking my ass.
I was about to get in my truck when I noticed a sign: The Hope Street Gym. The place seemed open and well outfitted with a mix of machines and weights. Following instinct, I slipped inside and checked out the new member sign-up. Ten minutes later I had a membership card in my wallet and an appointment with a trainer for strength training.
Three weeks in the damn hospital had done way more damage than I wanted to admit. I hadn’t wanted to scare my family, so I sucked it up and dealt with everything alone. There was nothing I could do now but move forward. And if I wanted to keep up with my brothers, I needed to get my strength back.
I was about to leave when I noticed a redhead in my peripheral view. No, it couldn’t be.
Idiot, there’s more than one redhead in this town. I couldn’t see her face, but the long tail of straight red hair couldn’t be Eloise. Her hair was a riot of sun-shot curls.
My stomach clenched.
