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“Well, it’s not my grandmother who expects anything of me right now,” I said. She was the only one who ever made me feel like I actually did anything right. It was everyone else I had to answer to now. “The dead rarely ever have any expectations for us.”
“No, I suppose they don’t.” He laughed lightly, his gaze falling down to his hands.
I knew that look. He was getting ready to ask me something. Something I wasn’t sure I could commit to at that moment. He made me feel warm and fuzzy in all the ways I never thought a man could. He also made me feel hot and bothered in all the ways I definitely knew a man could, which was enough to remind me I couldn’t play this game for much longer.
I had too much on my plate as it was. There was the house, and the new job, and figuring out my life. There was also finding out a way to get out of this town as quickly as possible, which meant that starting something I couldn’t finish was out of the question.
“Look, would you like to—”
“Pick up order for Elizabeth.” The woman behind the counter popped up just in time.
“Thank you.” I sighed, the sound leaving my lungs in a flood of air and desperation. I turned to face Hunter, his eyes searching mine with a curious understanding. As if he knew how hard I was already trying to push him away. “I really should...I should get going.”
“Right.” He nodded, then stepped off to the side to let me pass. “Well, see you around.”
A part of me hoped I would see him, that eventually the universe would throw us back into another situation—or give me some sort of sign that we were meant to be together.
If only for just one moment in time.
And so, I resolved myself.
The next time I saw Hunter, if I ever did, I would know exactly what the universe had in store for us.
Chapter Six
Lyndsey
My first day of work finally arrived, and I was as nervous as if facing my own execution.
Mama and Daddy decided to go on ahead of me to meet with my cousins as sort of a way to soften the blow before my intrusion on the happy little business they’d carved out for themselves. It was also an unpleasant reminder of who was in charge of the business now and how Kyle and Vanessa would be stuck with me, whether they liked it or not.
Despite the whole conversation of needing to grow up and become a responsible adult, I felt as though I’d been brought on as a spy for the opposing team. Kyle and his wife would undoubtedly think so, and I would be further entrenched in this stupid feud started by my parents and my father’s siblings long before I was even born.
I gave them about an hour to prime my cousins for the whirlwind about to take hold. I had my own errands to run, after all. Ones that included getting my life back on track and getting me the hell out of this town as soon as possible.
So, when I walked into that police station, I should’ve felt a sense of empowerment and excitement—anything beyond the sheer dread I felt at that moment. Why did entering the police station feel so awkward? Why did it feel wrong somehow? I had never been in trouble with the law before. And while I may have been a little bit of a wild child growing up, it was not in the sense of committing vandalism or petty crimes.
Yet, I still felt completely out of place. Was I choosing the right path for this arson case? Or was there something else I should be focusing on when it came to rebuilding my grandmother’s home?
“Well, as I live and breathe.”
The voice stole into my thoughts like a whisper from the past. All the apprehension taking hold of me after entering the station melted away, reminding me why I came to this particular one in the first place and exactly who I wanted to see.
I turned toward Flynn, unable to hide the smile stretching across my face.
“That wouldn’t be Lyndsey Saunders, now would it?” Flynn said, continuing to speak as though he’d suddenly seen an apparition. “It’s been so long since you’ve been back, folks ‘round here were beginning to think you were dead.”
I cocked my head to the side, regarding him with one of my most teasing glares. It may have been a while since I’d seen my old high school friend, but he hadn’t changed much over the years. “It’s only been three years.”
“That’s a long time in the rumor mill,” he explained, closing the distance between us and standing well within range for me to reach him.
So, like any good friend I’d known since I was a child, I smacked him in the arm to make my point. He deserved it. I’d been back almost a week, and he hadn’t called. Hell, he hadn’t even come to the funeral! Of all the people in this town, he was the one I’d have expected to see first after the news of my grandmother’s death.
“Ow!” Flynn rubbed at the place where I hit him. “You know assaulting a police officer is a crime, right?”
“Where were you?” I asked, feeling the humor flee from my face.
He clearly noticed it, too, for he put up no fight at all and simply sighed in defeat. “I had to work. I tried to get time off for the funeral, but there was no working around it. My mother sent over her world-famous lasagna though, and I sent over a flower arrangement with your grandma’s favorites.”
