The water rippled serenely as my gaze went toward the place I’d just been—my brother’s house, too far to see from this distance. Archer owned and ran the town of Pelion, but I had this. In addition to the town, that eventually—rightly—went to Archer years before, my mother had been willed this plot of land from my father. Because it wasn’t part of Pelion, she’d been able to keep it. I’d given my mother every cent of my savings and purchased it from her. I’d received something important to me—something that was only mine—and I’d given her a lump sum of cash that she’d desperately needed since everything else—again, rightly—had been stripped from her. Archer might have gotten the lion’s share of the Hale inheritance, and it had always been obvious he had the lion’s share of our father’s heart because his mother had been the love of his life, while my own mother was a conniving manipulator who tricked him into impregnating her, but this plot of land belonged to me and no one else. Here, I wasn’t second best to anyone.
I couldn’t afford to build on it yet, but I was almost there. Someday . . . someday I’d raise a family on this land. Someday I’d live the life our father had wanted for himself. He’d loved Pelion, and he’d been the chief of police just like I was, but he’d wanted the distance from his brothers and, as a matter of fact, even though I only had one, I did too. There was only so much sainthood, so much look-what-a-perfect-family-we-are moments I could handle.
I sat there in the quiet peace of the evening for a moment, listening to the water lap the shore, and inhaling the fragrance of sweet, summer fruit.
Could I see Phoebe on this land? Pregnant? Walking out onto a dock that overlooked the water? A house with a porch shining in the sunlight rising above the trees behind her?
I squinted, focusing so hard I winced, trying to visualize it but coming up short. The misty image of a woman wavered, faded, and disappeared. I rubbed my temple. Did Phoebe even want kids? We hadn’t talked about it. Maybe I needed to start asking. Of course, if I did start talking about it, that was a move forward in itself. My breath suddenly felt constricted and I pulled idly at the seatbelt still strapped around my body as though it’d somehow, inexplicably, grown tighter.
When you know, you know.
Bree’s assertion came back to me. But what had I ever known? The truth was, I still wasn’t sure I could trust what I knew. The things I’d thought I was sure about had been lies, many of which I’d told myself. In the end, I hadn’t really known crap. So maybe other people knew, but me? In some ways I was still flying by the seat of my pants when it came to being a person others might be proud to know.
The sun dipped further, the sky streaked in orange, the tall grass moving languidly in the breeze. I smiled, the peace of this place, the pride that it was mine, cresting inside and helping to dispel the negative direction of my thoughts. I rolled up the window, cranking the air conditioner as I turned my truck and headed toward Phoebe’s.
CHAPTER TWO
Travis
Phoebe lived in an upscale neighborhood on the other side of Calliope, mostly consisting of modern condominiums. The citizens of Pelion had almost unanimously resisted this kind of new construction, opting instead for charming B&Bs and quaint vacation cottages that flanked the shore. What they lost in younger tourism and big-money communities, they made up for in the many families and older people who returned year after year, some of them becoming almost as much a part of the community as those who lived in Pelion year-round.
I stopped at a small grocery store and ran inside for a bouquet of flowers, whistling as I got back in my truck.
Evening was just settling in as I approached Phoebe’s condo, the flowers clutched in my hand. I drew back slightly when I noticed that her door was opened a crack, my cop instincts causing the hairs on the nape of my neck to bristle. She’d planned on going to a golf tournament on a nearby course with her friends, but she should have gotten home hours before. I pushed the door open very slightly with my finger, leaning to the side and peering in. Phoebe’s purse was on the floor of the foyer, the contents spilled across the tile. Shit.
What the hell? Soundlessly, I set the flowers on the ground and walked to my truck as quickly as possible with minimal noise and retrieved the weapon in my center console. I returned to Phoebe’s open door and slipped inside.
A soft cry came from upstairs and my heart began drumming, moving swiftly to the base of the stairs, my back to the wall as I climbed to the second floor. There was a mirror on the landing between the two flights and I caught a glimpse of myself in my peripheral vision, jaw tense, shoulders held rigid. Another pained cry and the thud of something hitting the floor.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I’m coming, Phoebe.
I’d killed for someone I cared about before. I’d do it again if necessary.
The bedroom door was slightly ajar too and I stood next to it, attempting to peer in, my chest rising and falling. A lamp was lit and in the shadows on the wall, I could see what looked like a man holding Phoebe down. Molesting her as she struggled. Adrenalin pumped through my veins and in one swift movement, I opened the door, raised my weapon, and headed straight for the attacker.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I’m coming, Phoebe!” A male voice. Not my own, although the words were somehow familiar.
“Oh God! You’re the best! The best!” Phoebe screamed back.
In that split second, my fear and reality collided, a harsh internal smack. I drew back just in time to avoid putting a bullet in the back of the head of the guy—I blinked, swallowed—fucking my girlfriend in her bed. The room wobbled. The gun did not.
Phoebe’s eyes flew open and my gaze locked with hers. Her expression morphed from bliss to horror and she screamed, the guy on top of her jolting and scrabbling off, getting tangled in the sheets so that he flipped out of the bed, dangling over the side naked. As he tried desperately to extricate himself from the tangled bedding, his expression filled with shocked terror, his—now—flaccid penis flopped limply from one thigh to the other. To his credit, he’d worn a condom.
It would have been hilarious if I was someone different, watching the whole scene unfold on a movie screen.
I lowered my gun slowly as he managed to unbind himself, jumping to his feet, tripping over the contents of the bedside table that must have been knocked over during their—evidently—frenzied fucking, but catching himself before he pitched over again.
Ice water was slowly filling my veins, dulling any emotion. The guy, who looked to be barely legal, froze, clapping his hands over his groin.
“Why bother?” I asked. We’d both already gotten an eyeful.
The guy’s gaze darted to Phoebe who was now sitting up in bed, the sheet pulled up to her neck demurely, eyes wide, mouth slack, then to the other bedside table where countless pictures of me and Phoebe rested, back to my face, and finally landing on the gun. “Uhhh . . .” he gurgled.
“I think you better go, Easton,” Phoebe said softly, her lashes lowering, her skin smooth and tan against the pale pink sheets.
Easton. My humiliation had a name.
Easton didn’t hesitate. He dove for his clothing, pulling on his pants, stepping into one shoe, before he again, glanced at me, the gun, and then did a half limping-running gait toward the door, dropping his shirt, scooping it up, and then practically throwing himself out of the room as if he expected a bullet to slam into the back of his skull at any moment.