Page 3 of The One Who Got Away
My parents meant well, but living home again felt a little too much like getting catapulted back in time. My old bedroom was still the same for God’s sake. My mother had taken over Rip’s bedroom years ago and made it into her craft room, but left the rest of the bedrooms as a time capsule.
The Murdock boys came and went from the big farmhouse. Cam, Kai, and I had been bitten by wanderlust while the rest of my brothers had stayed.
I followed Sully inside and we both took a rolling cart to fill up with the ash wood for the built in bookcases Cam was designing. I pulled down MDF boards and wall brackets for the electronics for my job.
My arms were burning from pulling down all the materials.
When the fuck would I get my strength back?
Frustration rode me as I hauled two full carts of shit to my truck. I swear, the shocks on my truck were going to need to be checked. Sully’s Silverado took the brunt of the load. He waved as he took off to the suburbs.
I jumped in my cab and checked my phone, wincing at the order. I hoped Jessie over at Bite Me didn’t hate me too much. I found a spot close to the sandwich shop.
I hopped out and slipped through the fire engine red door. The punk lettering on the window made me grin. Jessie Wilson had taken over the faltering sandwich shop ten years ago when the previous owners wanted to retire. It had gone from simple no nonsense subs to punny, sarcasm charged sandwich names with an emphasis on taste.
A large chalkboard with the names of the specials hung above the counter. A drawing of a cell phone invited people to download the new app for faster ordering. The shop was empty of customers with Avril Lavigne jamming through the speakers. Jessie’s love of nineties and the early aughts added to the ambiance.
While I waited, I lifted my phone to use the QR code to snag the app.
“Sorry! I didn’t hear the bell.”
“No problem,” I said not looking up as I typed my info in. “The app looks pretty cool.”
“Thanks, I designed it.”
My stomach jittered as my gaze lifted. The familiar tail of red hair from the gym earlier today swished over the woman’s shoulder. But the rest of the image didn’t compute.
The explosion of freckles that I knew so well were a little lighter now, dusted with some sort of female make up trickery, but those huge honey gold eyes were the same. Still tilted up at the corners ever so slightly. Her nose was small and had the cutest little slope at the tip. But damn that mouth always killed me.
The bow of her upper lip a little sharp and fuller than the lower lip. No amount of lip gloss could hide the fact that her freckles bled into her lips. Even the deep red that accentuated them couldn’t mask the constellation of three freckles that I never could quite ignore.
“Eloise?”
Chapter 2
Eloise
“Been a while, Gus.”
I shoved my shaking fingers into my apron pockets.
Seeing my high school best friend today had not been on my to-do list. I knew I’d eventually run into him, but the days had turned into weeks since I’d been called back home.
Since my mom had thrown up the Batman beacon to help put her life back together.
I’d been happy in Chicago at Everest Games. My dream job of being on the main coding team for one of the biggest video games of this decade had been a reality. I’d worked my ass off to get there.
Now I was working at Bite Me like I had in the summers during college.
I tucked away the frustration. My mom needed me, so I was here. I just had to accept that. I pasted on a smile I didn’t feel. “What can I get you?”
His eyes were still wide and those familiar deep brown eyes had a few more crinkles at the corners. His skin was a lot darker, but the rest was pure Angus Murdock. The only man I’d ever loved.
I bit back a sigh. Even if he only saw me as his cute, platonic bestie.
“What are you doing home?”
“That’s a longer story than I can tell in twenty minutes from the lunch rush.” I pulled a pencil out of my ponytail. “Little order, or a big one?”
