Page 2 of The One Who Got Away
The last I’d heard she was in Chicago working for a big gaming company.
And my bestie from high school certainly hadn’t had an ass like that. No, Eloise had been a slight little thing. I’d forever wanted to tuck her into my pocket and hold her close.
Not that I’d had the guts to do so.
Eloise Cross had been on a fast track out of this town and I was just the guy who could sling a hammer and keep pace with her onWorld of Warcraftback in the day.
I pushed out the door and hopped into my truck. The trip to the warehouse was a quick one. We had so many jobs on the go that we needed a spot to house materials and the overflow from things we didn’t use on a jobsite. Waste not want not had been drilled into us from an early age.
My dad had started the legacy of Murdock builders and handiwork. I’d had no choice but to get swept into doing jobs after school or on the weekends. The summers had been long, sweaty mornings and our dad cut us loose to have fun in the afternoons. Having six sons meant there was no shortage of hands to help out, or mouths to feed.
I backed into the loading dock at the rear of the warehouse. Lexi Howard—soon to be Murdock—was talking to Sully on the platform. She was our operations manager and kept all the jobs straight. She was also engaged to my younger brother, Kai. My older brother, Sully, was technically the head of the family since my eldest brother, Ripley, had abdicated running the Murdock Brothers to start his own autobody shop.
Rip jumped in to help when needed, but had his hands full with his own business.
Sully had been born for it anyway. He’d also given me the space to escape Indigo Valley without any guilt. I’d needed to get away from the memories of this damn town when I graduated. And now I was back.
I rolled my shoulders before I hopped out of my truck and ran up the steps.
“There he is.” Sully grinned at me. “Here for the Jennings lumber?”
I nodded. “Cam and the guys went ahead. I was volunteered to be the pack mule and lunch delivery boy.”
Sully snickered. “What you get for being gone so long.” He slapped my arm. “We’re glad to have you back.” His eyebrows knit as he squeezed my shoulder.
I sidestepped him. “Do I need two trips or one?”
“I’ll follow you over with a load.”
“You don’t need to do that.” I knew Sully had a surplus of jobs on deck.
“Saves time. Where are you picking up lunch?”
“Bite Me.”
“I’ll take a What The Actual Cluck with extra sauce.”
I nodded and pulled out my phone adding him to the list. “Got it.” I glanced at Lexi. “Want me to swing back with one for you too?”
She shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I’m bringing Kai some lunch at his Clifton Park job. He needs a little help.” Her cheeks pinked up.
“I just bet.”
She shrugged and gave me a wicked smile. “I approve of an hour lunch when it’s this hot.” She hugged her ever present clip board against her chest. “I’ll go write up an invoice.”
“Cool, thanks.”
Sully folded his arms over his chest. “Everything going okay, Gus?”
“Sure. Why?”
“You haven’t been around much since you’ve been back.” When I opened my mouth to deny it, he held a hand up. “You’ve been working plenty hard, but you have been scarce for the family stuff.”
“Yeah. Sorry, I’ve just been catching up with friends.”
Lies.
I’d been driving around at night, camping out at the nearby Saratoga Lake for some quiet. I didn’t realize coming back here would be so overwhelming. After living in Costa Rica for months, then the accident, the noise of the house seemed so damn loud.
