Page 34 of Lucky in Love
“Oh.” Alex felt her cheeks heat. “Said he was just checking on me.”
“You mean because of your ankle injury?” Juliet said.
“Nah. He heard about the accident and knew I’d be on that road coming back from the clinic.”
“Re-hee-hee-heelly?” Tess dragged out the word and waggled her eyebrows.
“Stop it,” Alex said. “He just stopped by on his way home.”
“We rushed over here as soon as we found out.” Juliet cocked her head. “He must have sped like a bat out of hell to beat us here.”
“Let’s not make this a thing,” Alex said. “He’s just a nice guy. A nice guy Ibarely knowwho’s leaving on Wednesday.”
Tess and Juliet gave her matching looks.
“Seriously,” Alex insisted. “Yesterday, he met Pops at the hardware store and five seconds later was installing his deadbolt for him. He’s nice to everybody.”
“Chivalry’s not dead then,” Juliet said. “Good to know.”
The dinner plans fell apart with the news of their friend, so they made scrambled eggs and turkey bacon—pretty much the only food in Alex’s refrigerator. Juliet had to get back to her dogs, but Tess spent the night.
Alex took some ibuprofen for her ankle pain and fell asleep with several things on her mind. Somewhere amid the grief of her friend’s death was a handsome travel writer who’d been in the right place at the right time to help hertwicetoday. She refused to read too much into it. Like she told her friends, he was just a nice guy.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Monday morning, Brody slept in. He thought about hitting the diner for breakfast, but out of respect for the townspeople and their tragic loss, decided to keep to himself.
As welcoming as they were, he was still an outsider. And he’d visited enough small towns to know interlopers were tolerated more than wanted.
He poured a cup of coffee, took it and his camera out onto the porch, and sat in his new rocking chair. It was a chilly fall morning, and his view was nothing short of spectacular.
Twisting the lens of his Nikon, he framed the lake with the surrounding mountains. Fiery treetops poked through patchy fog that hung delicately over the glassy cobalt water.
It was a terrible injustice that pictures couldn’t convey sounds. The wind whispering to the trees, the errant call of a bird, and the gentle rhythm of water lapping at the shore only feet from his front porch made the whole scene idyllic. Very conducive to self-reflection. If only he still had his beard to stroke.
He’d been avoiding things—his situation, his problems, his need to make some hard decisions—procrastinating by drinking beers with the locals, installing locks for strangers, and comforting feisty cabin managers, but he’d put it off long enough.
His first decision was logistical and needed to be made quickly. Where was he going to stay? He had no place to call hisown. Traveling so much made home ownership impractical. Not to mention, financially irresponsible.
He was scheduled to check out on Wednesday, but the longer he soaked in the calming beauty surrounding him, the more sure he became thatthiswas the ideal setting to lick his wounds, regroup, and make a new life plan.
One decision under his belt, it was time to tackle another to-do item he’d been putting off—come clean with his mom.
“Honey,” she greeted. “How are you? I saw the news last night. Looks like you don’t have to worry about that fugitive anymore. That must be a relief.”
“I suppose. Unfortunately, the bastard killed a local woman too.”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “Very sad. Did you know her?”
“I met her. In a town like this, everyone knows everyone.”
“I’m sure. How much longer are you there? What’s your next trip?”
“That’s kind of what I’m calling about.” He paused. Better to just get it over with. “I got let go from the magazine. This is my last assignment.”
“What? How could they? You’re their best journalist.” She was indignant on his behalf, which he knew she would be. They probably taught that in Momming 101.
“As my mom, you’re obligated to say that,” Brody said. “But in this case, you wouldn’t be wrong. I think it’sbecauseof that actually. I cost too much. They can pay some twenty-year-old kid to do the same thing for half the salary.”
