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Josie laughed. “Right. Well, trust me. There’s not really even a reason to lock the door at all, but it’s what everyone there does.”
“If everyone does it, you might as well not lock the door at all.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Her friend laughed again. “Look, I have to go, but make yourself at home, okay? I put a pile of blankets on the couch, or you can stay in my room. There are fresh towels in the bathroom. Whatever you need, help yourself.”
Amber sighed. She knew enough to know when she’d been beat. Besides, shewastired and the thought of driving all the way back to the city, sitting at the airport and hoping for another flight out…well, it was just easier to spend the night. “Okay.”
“You’ll be fine, Amber. Besides, I know you, and I know you need a little time to think things through. Consider this time alone a little gift, a chance to sort things out.”
Josie really did know her better than anyone.Amber smiled and nodded. “Love you. See you soon.”
She hung up the phone and immediately powered it off before she stuck it back into her purse. She looked at the directions she’d printed out. Josie’s house was just on the edge of the small town. It shouldn’t take her too long to get there. Thankfully the roads weren’t too snow covered. In fact, there wasn’t much snow at all for the middle of November. Not that Amber had spent much time in Saskatchewan, but she’d anticipated it to be a lot colder, with a lot more snow.
She tilted the rearview mirror down so she could see her reflection. “Pull yourself together, Amber.” She took a deep breath. “You don’t need to be in control. Just trust. You will be fine.”
It was silly. Ridiculous really, but it was a mantra she’d been repeating to herself for the last few days ever since she’d decided to go “off plan” for a little bit. If Josie had heard her, she would have laughed because she’d been telling Amber that for years. But Amber didn’t care. Because as much as she loved her best friend, Josie didn’t understand Amber’s need for control. She never had. But then again, Josie’s whole world hadn’t been blown up when she was young. At a time when her family life was spinning out of control, the only thing she actually had any say in was managing all of the day-to-day details of her life. So she did.
And it had worked, too. For a while.
But more and more, Amber had been feeling as though something needed to change.
She was stuck. She’d been stuck for a long time. And although she had no idea how to get unstuck, she did know that she couldn’t keep doing what she’d been doing.
Something needed to change.
The problem was, she still didn’t know what.
Cole Price wassure his little sister wouldn’t mind if he crashed at her house. Well, he wasprettysure Josie wouldn’t mind. After all, she’d invited him. The fact that he’d screwed up on the dates and was a few weeks earlier than he’d told her he was coming wouldn’t be a big deal.
Probably.
Either way, it didn’t matter because she wasn’t home when he let himself in the front door with the key he’d guessed to be under the flowerpot on the front porch. He’d laughed when Josie told him she was doing a flip in a tiny town in Saskatchewan. It didn’t really seem like a hotbed for real estate, but just driving through the little town of Crystal Creek, even a guy like Cole, who was anti everything quaint and small town, could agree that it was probably a good investment. The town was cute, like a made-for-television movie. There seemed to be a handful of new businesses on the main street and people were walking around everywhere. Picturesque was the word that came to mind—some people liked that. Cole wasn’t one of them, but he did like his little sister and after almost two years of backpacking and working in Australia, he actually missed her.
He unlocked the front door with a click and hauled his backpack and the one small bag of supplies that he’d stopped at the store for inside. Josie told him the house needed a lot of work—most flips did—but she’d insisted that this one was livable. Her plan was to live in the house for a few months while she did the needed repairs. Cole had only taken a total of three steps into the house, but that was all he needed to see to know that the work would take longer than a few months.
The exterior paint was peeling badly, and he’d counted more than one shutter hanging askew. Never mind what he’d find when he looked a little closer at the roof and gutters. Although the outside was one thing, the inside was a whole other thing altogether.
Cole didn’t bother to take his boots off as he walked across the seventies gold-flecked linoleum into the kitchen, where he was greeted with more seventies influence in the way of mustard-yellow appliances and matching golden oak cupboards and Formica countertops.
“Wow.” He shook his head with a laugh as he opened the fridge to put his beer inside. “At least it works,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than warm beer.” And since he was on the subject…he grabbed a can from the six-pack before he put it on the empty shelf inside.
He’d already been back in Canada, traveling for almost two weeks. He’d spent his time visiting old friends and paid an obligatory visit to his parents. He suffered through the guilt-filled conversations about how Dad was slowing down and could really use some help in the shop so he didn’t have to work so hard. Just like every time he spoke with his parents, he tried to plant the suggestion that they just go ahead and sell the family store. Hell, it was more than suggestion, he’d come right out and said it more than once.
Mostly, Cole just wanted to visit with Josie. Despite their two-year age difference, they’d always been close. He would have been happier to spend more time with his little sister, but she’d been so busy with her flipping business. He’d take what he could get before he headed back to Sydney, hopefully before Christmas. Australia would be even better than it already was if it wasn’t so damned far away. Although, the fact that it was on the other side of the world had definitely been one of the selling features of buying the original plane ticket almost two years earlier. The farther he could get from his family, their expectations, and a life of responsibility and predictability, the better. And it had worked, too.
The irony of it was that now that Cole’s parents had finally started to accept that he was never going to live the life that they wanted him to, he was starting to change his mind. Living and working in Australia had been everything Cole thought it would be. He worked when he needed to, loved when he wanted to, and moved on when it was time. But more and more, he’d been thinking that maybe there was something more out there.
He just didn’t know what it was.
Hopefully a little time with his sister would help him sort out what his next step would be. He hadn’t seen her since the last time he’d crashed on her couch when she was still in college, right before he’d left. They were definitely overdue for a catch-up. And by the looks of things, Josie would be able to use his help for a few days, too.
With his beer in hand, Cole walked through the house, taking a mental inventory of what needed to be done. The tour didn’t take long, and when he was done investigating the upstairs, which really only had one usable room at the moment considering the others were full of fixtures, boxes, and cans of paint, he plopped down on the couch. At least Josie had a little bit of furniture and a TV. He flicked on the television and flipped through the channels until he found a football game. It didn’t matter who was playing, especially because within thirty minutes, he could barely keep his eyes open. He managed to flick the television off before he stretched out and fell asleep in the dark room.
ChapterTwo
Despite the early evening hour,it was already dark by the time Amber pulled up to the little house. She’d made the last-minute decision to stop at the grocery store in town to pick up a few supplies to get her through the night. She was looking forward to a hot shower and a quiet night in.
With the grocery bag balanced in one arm, she pulled her suitcase behind her and up onto the porch. Using the light from her cell phone, Amber found the key under the flowerpot, just the way Josie said she would. She opened the door and tucked the key back into her pocket. There was no way she was putting it back under there. It was ridiculous to leave a key to your home right there on the porch where anyone who happened to be walking by could get it. Especially considering Josie said everyone in town did it.
