I didn’t need any more complications.
By the time the night wound down, my feet ached, and I regretted my shoes. But they made my butt look great, and I felt sexy in them. Sometimes, a girl just needed to feel good. I sat in the passenger seat as Benjamin drove me home. He’d only had one drink for the night, and I’d had three. It only made sense.
“Thanks for being the DD tonight,” I said softly.
“Thank you for not taking off your shoes in my car because I know you want to,” he said wryly. “You know I hate feet.”
He didn’t, but he liked making fun of me. I stuck out my tongue at him. “Weirdo,” I teased.
“Maybe. But as I’m the one who is driving, and it’s my car, you get to follow my rules. And I’ll do you the courtesy of not taking off my shoes in your car when my feet hurt.”
I grinned and shook my head. We pulled into my driveway, and Benjamin looked over at the house to my right. “Looks like your new neighbor moved in.”
I nodded. “These houses get gobbled up fast, even in this housing market.”
“It’s a boom right now, hence why I have a job,” my brother, the landscape architect, said. “But I’m sad your previous neighbor had to move away.”
“Me, too. I liked her. Hopefully, this new person is just as quiet, doesn’t have forty kids that will be in my yard, and is a happy person.”
“You know we’re going to end up becoming those crotchety old people who hold brooms and tell kids to get off their lawns.”
“Well, if they would stop playing in my yard and play in theirs, it wouldn’t be a problem,” I said, laughing.
“You’re talking to a man who works on landscapes for a living, I understand.” He kissed the top of my head before I got out of the car.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Be careful,” Benjamin added, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
My brothers acted like I could be snatched off the street in front of my home while they watched. But I was careful. I put my key in the lock, walked inside, and then turned and waved as Benjamin drove off. I let out a breath and then frowned as I looked over at the phonebook on my driveway. I hadn’t noticed it being delivered earlier, and I didn’t want it outside all night. I sighed and went to pick it up.
“Hey.”
I whirled, dropped my keys, and tripped over my heels. I fell on my ass, the pavement digging into my palms. I looked up at the man silhouetted against the moonlight.
“Crap. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you or freak you out. I was just letting you know that I was out here, headed into my house. But I accidentally scared you anyway.” He held up a hand, and I looked at him, not wanting to go near him. “Seriously, let me help you up. I promise I’ll stand here, and you can go back inside. Only wanted to say hello. I’m your new neighbor.”
I frowned, feeling like I knew that voice, but I didn’t know from where. Or how.
He could be a serial killer. If I kept sitting there, he could still try to kill me. I knew I should at least act like I knew what I was doing and not appear scared. I’d probably be able to fight him off better if I were standing. Maybe. I slid my hand into his and let him help me up. I dusted off my butt and then moved back a few steps, needing space.
My heart thudded, and my ankle hurt more as if I had twisted it.
“I am sorry,” the man repeated. “Anyway, as I said, I’m your new neighbor. Jacob. Jacob Queen.”
Ice slid over me as he stepped into the beam from my porch light. I did the same, my past coming at me full force. I swallowed hard, trying to catch my breath.
No, it couldn’t be this. Not in the house I had built. Not in my family’s neighborhood, the one we’d put our blood, sweat, and tears into.
This couldn’t be Jacob. He couldn’t be back.
But as he looked at me, his face suddenly devoid of color, I knew he recognized me. I knew this was the same Jacob.
“You,” he whispered.
“You,” I echoed.
And then he glowered at me, turned on his heel, and stomped away.
I couldn’t help but look at the back of the man who had grown up with my late husband. His brother. And the one man in the whole world I knew hated me more with each and every breath.
Chapter 2
Jacob
I couldn’t sleep. I stared up at the ceiling, the morning light shining around the closed blinds of my window. My eyes ached, and my heart hurt. Everything was just a little too much at the moment.
And, truthfully, I only had myself to blame.
How could I not have known she would be here?
Fort Collins wasn’t a tiny one-horse town despite the jokes by others in the state and anyone who hadn’t heard of the city. I shouldn’t have ended up next door to the one person I never wanted to see. The one person who grated on me, got under my skin, and made me feel as if I had lost everything all over again. The one person who reminded me that I hadn’t had enough time, and that fate was cruel.
And now, I couldn’t get rid of her. I’d signed on the dotted line of my mortgage, and I owned every inch of the place I lived in. I couldn’t give it back, say the place was faulty and run away.
I should’ve known there’d be a damn Montgomery next door. They were everywhere. They had even done some of my ink. I’d been down in New Orleans, visiting friends and trying to forget who I was, and decided I wanted a new tattoo. I had gone into a shop, found the best artist there, and discovered it was one of Annabelle Montgomery’s cousins. I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was a Montgomery, even in a different damn state.
I wore their ink on my flesh, and their scars on my soul.
I ran a hand over my beard, annoyed with myself, and was grateful when the alarm went off. I groaned, turned off the alert on my phone, and rolled out of bed. My toes pressed against the hardwood, and I stretched my neck, telling myself that an hour here or there was enough sleep to survive. I had a lot of shit to do, including unpacking. First, however, I needed to see my parents and get to work.
I was moving my law practice up north. Maybe not the best business decision, considering I had done pretty damn well for myself down in Denver, but my family needed me. And it was about time I was there for them again after running away so long ago.
I cursed myself once more, unplugged my phone from its charger, and made my way to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, did my business, and headed to the shower, pretending like I wasn’t breaking inside.
I should have known the memories would come at me hard. Every time I closed my eyes these days, I pictured my baby brother, Jonah, grinning up at me. Even when he was in pain.
But the damned woman—girl at the time—was all tangled up in those memories, and I hated her for it. She had no right to be there or in my thoughts. She had no right to be in my past to begin with.
And now she lived next door, and I couldn’t get away from her. I knew she still saw my parents, had wheedled her way into their lives, as well. And given our current situation, I would have to deal with her on an almost daily basis unless I wanted to lose money and sell the house right away. The housing market was doing well enough that I could probably do it and make a couple of bucks. Only not enough to cancel out the pain of moving again, finding another home, and dealing with my parents when they asked why I was picking up and leaving after only staying in my current house for less than a fucking week.