AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s bad,” Mrs. Howard interrupted him. “Always was.”
“Well now, I guess that’s a matter of perspective then, isn’t it,” Bailey said.
“And what does that mean?”
“Perspective? Let me see if I remember what the dictionary definition is.”
Joe snorted.
“I know what it means!”
Bailey’s expression was innocent. “Excuse me, but didn’t you just ask me what it meant?”
Joe wondered if the top of Mary Howard’s head was about to blow off. He really shouldn’t be enjoying her discomfort so much, and especially not as it would put Bailey into her firing line, but hell, he was only human, and this woman was a bitch with a great big fuck off capitalB.
“You just watch yourself, girl. I have weight in this town,” Mary Howard snarled. Then glaring at both him and Bailey, she turned, looked down at her shoelace, and bent to do it up. Joe wasn’t entirely dismissing the fact that it was a deliberate act on her part to do this; Buzz, however, never missed an opportunity, and wandered on up and put his nose where it shouldn’t be.
“Argh!” Mary Howard was once again upright. “That dog just violated me.”
“Naughty boy,” Joe said in the tone he used to order supplies for the bar. Bailey giggled, which earned her a glare. Mrs. Howard then stomped away.
“I’m sorry you had to be part of that, Bailey, but thank you for saying what you did.” He turned to face her, now only a foot separated them. Her eyes looked blue more than gray out here in the sun. She was still pale, and to his eyes tired, but for all that, she was beautiful. He found the scar on her cheek again.What put that there?
“I don’t like mean people, and she’s always been one.”
“With a long memory.”
“We all have those,” she said in a quiet voice. “Goodbye, Joe.”
Before he could stop her, she moved around him to give Buzz’s head a scratch, and tell him he was a good boy, then she’d walked away. Resisting the urge to follow, Joe made himself head in the opposite direction, wondering what Bailey Jones remembered from those two years they’d been in each other’s lives.
What did she remember? Like him, was it everything?
Chapter 4
Ryker Falls was at the foot of two huge mountains, and Joe took a few seconds to look at them, to steady himself, before heading back to work.
The twins, the locals called them. The Ryker family who founded the town had two children, twins, Roxanne and Phillip, so the left-hand mountain was called Roxy, and the right Phil. Identical in height and breadth, they could be seen from miles away. They were a year-round tourist town, because when people weren’t skiing down them, they were tramping up them to see the falls. A river ran down two sides of the town, and met the sea. This allowed more activity for those keen on water sports, or fishing.
“Afternoon, Joe, Buzz.” An elderly man appeared at his side. “That she-devil, Mary Howard, been giving you trouble again?”
“Hey, Mr. Goldhirsh. Nothing I can’t handle,” Joe said. “When’s the race?”
Tall and thin, Frederick Goldhirsh had lived in Ryker for fifty years, and his age was as yet unknown. He never told anyone, no matter how often he was asked. “Age,” he said, “is just a number.” Of Jewish descent, he started his life in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, and considering how he had suffered by losing his entire family, the man was the most positive person Joe knew. He ran marathons year-round in every corner of the globe. He was jogging on the spot before Joe now.
“Six weeks on Sunday, and I expect your support, as it’s the annual Ryker Falls run.”
“I’ll be at the end clapping like every other sane person. Aunt Jess will be back too.”
The man’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he barked out a laugh. He’d been in love with Joe’s aunt for at least ten years.
Mr. Goldhirsh was dressed in a tank top that said London Marathon, and a pair of blue shorts. On his head was a red cap. Joe watched as he dug around in the pocket at the back of his shirt and pulled out a biscuit.
“You have to be kidding me.”
“He expects it,” Mr. Goldhirsh said, handing Buzz the biscuit.
“He’s going to be the size of a grizzly soon.”
