Page 19 of More Than Nothing
“I put a new roof on the garage at the back of his house a long time ago now. The business was in its early days, wasn’t it, T?” Luke directed the question to his wife; Thea answered with a nod. She ran the books and dealt with the orders for Luke’s construction company.
“Yes, sometime in the first couple of years,” she confirmed.
“That was enough to tell me I didn’t want to work for him again. I got the job done quickly, he paid me, and I got out. Ioverpriced next time he came back and I didn’t hear from him after that. There’s no way any business he does is legitimate. Everything about him smells off. But he always seems to go under the radar.”
Roman filed the information away with a nod and steered the conversation onward by asking Luke and Thea about their current workload. He’d done more than enough talking for one lunchtime.
When Milo and Caitlyn arrived, the volume dialed up another notch as his mother went into pregnancy interrogation overdrive. Milo gave him a chin lift from the other side of the deck but was stopped on his way over by an embrace from Roman’s dad. His friend had been around so long he was practically a surrogate son, and Elias Martinez had enough warmth and love for a whole host of children. Strong, quiet, loyal, and with a laugh no one could resist, his father had been Roman’s hero from the time he could crawl. He couldn’t imagine being without his unshakable support.
Roman wondered who he would be if he had grown up with a father figure like Frank Dax instead.
He sat back and lost himself in thoughts of work again. However much he might warn his parents off, it seemed there was not a chance in hell that he’d get to keep his distance from the Daxes while he was police chief of Pine Springs. He might only be here on secondment, but Roman wanted calm in the town. A safe space for the families he’d grown up alongside and for the future he hoped to build for his friends. It would take more than a couple of slashed tires to scare him off.
Chapter 9
Elenie
Sliding into one of the booths at the Rusty Barrel, the bench seat cool beneath her thighs, Elenie shot a nervous smile toward the girls and slid off her jacket.
Summer pushed a tall glass filled with a colorful cocktail across the table. The white t-shirt she wore featured the name of a band Elenie hadn’t heard of, with tour dates from two years ago. A miniature silver daisy hung from a thin chain around her neck.
“It’s Purple Rain—vodka, lemonade, blue curaçao, grenadine, and lime—and it’s on Dougie. His treat as a small token of appreciation for your nursing assistance.” Summer’s blond, choppy bob danced as she gave a happy shimmy. Elenie allowed herself a relieved puff of breath that she might escape the evening without being financially embarrassed. There was just enough tip money in her pocket for another round of drinks if needed. “I said he should buy you some new underwear too, but he muttered about us doing a girls’ shopping trip for that, so yay!”
Elenie flushed and caught Caitlyn’s eye.
“I’m on the orange juice and not jealous at all,” said the redhead. Her reserve was still firmly in place, despite Summer’s instantfriendliness. It suggested Elenie was being given a chance, but the outcome, on Caitlyn’s part at least, was currently in the balance.
Despite low expectations, it had been a pleasant surprise when Summer actually followed through on her original invitation, catching Elenie on the way home one afternoon and making her promise she would join them at the Barrel. Tonight, the bar was humming but not packed; it smelled of spilled beer and wood polish. She tried not to check around for unfriendly stares or outward hostility. It’d been a long time since her last night out, and this slim chance of friendship meant the world. She wouldn’t mess it up.
“Is he feeling better?” she asked. Elenie avoided using his name—both “Officer Taggart” and “Dougie” seemed out of place. “How’s the leg?”
“Yeah, loads better, thanks. He’s still got a bit of a sexy limp but he’s back at work and far happier for it.”
“Good.” The conversation lagged for a moment and Elenie felt the stirrings of panic. Why had every iota of small talk she’d ever known disappeared from her head?
“So, this is interesting, isn’t it?” Caitlyn contributed, in what seemed to be her usual dry style. “Here we are—getting to know each other after only, what, ten years or so of living in the same town? Who’d have thought.”
“I’ve been here twelve years.” Elenie made her tone equally dry. So, they weren’t going to dance around the elephant in the room. It was a relief in many ways.
“Wait.” Summer frowned. “Were we at school together? I don’t remember you being there.”
“How old are you?” Caitlyn asked.
“Twenty-seven.”
“We must have been in the grade above then.”
“You probably wouldn’t have noticed me anyway.” Elenie shrugged. “I mainly kept my head down.”
“Because your stepfather is a psycho?” Caitlyn was bold.
“Mostly.” She gave a tight smile. “Don’t forget Tyson and Dean are my stepbrothers and they’ve pissed off everyone Frank’s missed.” Elenie lifted her chin, her fingers white against her glass.
Summer grimaced. “They are pretty gross.”
“I didn’t get to choose or I’d have picked differently.” Eyeing her jacket, Elenie wondered if she should start putting it on.
“It’s fortunate there’s more alcohol where those came from,” said Caitlyn, waving a finger between the glasses on the table. “You’ve got more reason than most for drowning your sorrows.”
