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ChapterOne
Amber McCormick navigatedher rental car onto the side of the road under the sign that announced she was entering Crystal Creek. What the sign didn’t say, but what was evident by the landscape, was that the town was in the middle of nowhere. Or, more specifically, what looked to be the middle of a frosty field in Northern Saskatchewan. She still couldn’t figure out why her best friend had decided this was an up-and-coming market to flip houses, but she wasn’t there to pass judgment. She was there to visit her friend and have a little break from her life.
Amber pulled her cell phone out of her purse and powered it on. She made it a rule never to drive with her phone on in case she was tempted to look at it. Not only was distracted driving incredibly dangerous, it was also against the law in most places now, and Amber was definitely a rule follower. She was proud of the fact that she’d never broken a law. Ever. She didn’t even have a parking ticket on her record. And she would happily keep it that way.
Immediately, the screen lit up with missed texts and calls. No surprise—most of them were from her friend, and former roommate, Josie Price. She ignored the voicemails and dialed Josie’s number.
Her friend answered on the first ring.
“Seriously,” Josie said. “It wouldn’t kill you to keep your phone on.”
“No,” Amber answered smoothly. “But it could kill someone else. What’s up? I just got to town.” It had taken her all day to fly halfway across the country from Toronto, rent a car, and drive out into some farmer’s field, but she’d made it.
“Oh no.” Josie groaned.
“Oh yes.” Amber ignored the prickle of concern that popped up. She wasn’t going to let anything ruin this trip. She’d finally planned something spontaneous and she was going to enjoy every minute of catching up with her friend. The irony that she’dplanneda spontaneous trip wasn’t lost on her, but for Amber, leaving on amostlyunplanned vacation to visit a friend in the middle of nowhere in Saskatchewan, when what she really should be doing was figuring out what firms to apply to if she wasn’t offered the position she was so sure she’d get, was out of character.Wayout of character. Besides, she should have already been offered the job. The panic that she’d been fighting for the last week sincenotgetting the call about the job when she’d expected it started to well up again, but Amber swallowed hard and focused on Josie.
One problem at a time. And it did seem as if Josie were about to present her a problem. She had a feeling she was going to regret her only slightly planned and very spontaneous by her standards trip.
“Remember?” She said the word slowly. “That was the plan.” She took a breath and squeezed her eyes shut tight. “Please tell me you remembered I was coming.” Amber loved Josie like a sister, but to say her friend was a bit scatterbrained would be a major understatement. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time Josie totally spaced on their plans.
“Of course I remembered.”
“Good.” Relief washed over Amber, but it only lasted a moment.
“Only I’m not there.”
Panic punched her in the gut. “What?” Amber took a deep breath and then another. She focused on breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth just like her yoga teacher had taught her. She’d been working hard on not letting herself get worked up by small things. Or any things. It was still a work in progress to be sure, as she still found her stress level rising in the smallest of situations.But this situation isn’t small.She exhaled hard. “Where are you, Josie?”
“Well…here’s the thing.”
“Where are you?”
“Vancouver.”
“Vancouver? Why are you in Vancouver?”
“Well, more specifically, a suburb of Vancouver. And honestly, it’s not that big of a deal. I’ll be back in a few days and we’ll hang out just like we planned. If I could have done anything about it, I would have. But I have a property here that I was renting and the renters left without any notice, and the place is in shambles. I need to fix it up and get it organized to rent again before I lose more money on it. I really am sorry, Amber. I promise I’ll be there in a few days, and—”
“When?” She needed something specific because if it was going to be too long, she could get back on a plane and—do what? For the first time in her life, she had nowhere to go. Without the job offer, there was nothing for her in Toronto. All of her things, what little she had, were in storage. For the first time in her life, Amber didn’t have a plan, and that scared the hell out of her. But she couldn’t get worked up. At least not yet.
“I promise it will only be a few days at most,” Josie was saying. “I have some people lined up to help me out and an agency that will handle the rental. It shouldn’t take too long.”
Josie had been Amber’s roommate for their first two years of college before Josie had dropped out to join the real estate market. She’d actually been fairly successful, even with the bust of the market. She attributed her success to her personal involvement and her knack for finding up-and-coming markets that were mostly overlooked by the bigger firms. Which was why she was in Crystal Creek. The local economy was starting to rebound from the recession and was becoming a hot market for young couples who wanted a small-town feel to raise their families in. She’d found herself a little house in desperate need of a facelift and although the physical labor didn’t appeal to Amber in any way, a tiny town—tucked away from everybody and everything—did. At least for a few days. If you had no place to go, nowhere was a good place to be.
“I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Josie said. “Don’t even think about leaving before I get there.”
How did she know that had been Amber’s first thought?
Because she knows you better than anyone.Amber would have laughed at herself and the situation she found herself in if she wasn’t so freaked out. “Josie, I can’t just stay in a strange town. I don’t even have a—”
“Oh my goodness,” her friend interrupted her. “Of course you can. Crystal Creek is like the safest town ever. There’s zero crime and I bet you’ll be there not even five minutes before someone knocks on the door with fresh baked muffins. The key is under the pot next to the door.”
Amber shook her head and forced herself to bite back the response that was on the tip of her tongue.It wasn’t 1968; you couldn’t just leave your doors open, or keys under flowerpots. There were people who…She forced herself to take another deep breath.
“Don’t be all weird about it, Amber,” Josie continued, as if she could hear Amber’s thoughts.
“I’m not.”
