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River’s Bend was finally where I wanted it to be.
Or—I felt my eyes begin to burn—ithadbeen.
Because, right along with my heels and suits, all of my hard work in town had been reduced to ash.
The ceiling overhead went watery, and I blinked that bullshit right away.
Enough thinking and moping and wishing.
I needed to keep moving forward.
Starting with getting my ass out of this cot.
Rolling to the side, I pushed up to sitting—
And froze.
Joel was next to me. On the next cot over. Close enough for me to see the slight scar just in front of his ear.
From a puck? A stick? A—my heart convulsed—skate blade?
I wouldn’t know.
Not now. Not ever.
Thatshould be the motto of my life.
Not now, Billie Rose, I’m busy.
Which meant, in Mom Speak, not ever.
Not now, Billie Rose. I’m not looking for anything serious.
Which meant, in Man Speak, not ever—at least not for me.
I jerked my eyes away from that scar. This wasn’t the time. I wouldn’t find out the story behind that scar and I didn’twantto. I had enough on my plate, and I didn’t even like Joel Marshall, magical dick or not.
He was a troublemaker.
A pain in my ass.
Andhe thought I was disgusting.
So…there we go.
A trifecta of hurt and a man I needed to stop thinking about.
Work.Work.
Thatwas what I needed to focus on. The town needed me and, frankly,Ineeded to get lost in it.
So, moving as silently as I could, I carefully folded the blanket, grabbed my shoes, tiptoed through the cots, and slipped out the side door.
The night was cool and there was a breeze in the air.
Not strong enough to whip the flames of the huge blaze the firefighters were just beginning to get under control—last I heard, it was thirty percent contained. But there was enough movement in the air so that I didn’t get a full inhale of smoke standing and breathing under that night sky.
It was still otherworldly, the moon and stars obscured.
