“You don’t need to bring a thing. And how about eleven?”
“Sure, just text me your address.” All of the shelter volunteers had my phone number in case they ever needed to change shifts or ran into an emergency. But having Mason text me for personal reasons made me twitchy.
“See you then.” He gave Justin a knuckle bump and Lyla a high-five and then headed for the parking lot.
Justin gave me a pleading look. “Can I have a snack?”
My eyes bugged. “Are you about to have a growth spurt? I swear you need to be fed every hour.”
He grinned. “Mom says I’m definitely going to be over six feet.”
He was already well on his way. I waved them inside. “Come on. Can’t have you wasting away on my watch.”
The kids ran ahead, and Kennedy fell into step beside me, bumping her shoulder against mine. “I see what you mean. He’s scary-friendly. Definite serial killer vibes.”
“Shut up.”
She wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Love you, Anna. But at some point, you’re going to have to realize that there are good people out there. Ones who simply want to help or make a difference.”
I knew she was right. I’d seen it in the group of friends I’d started to build here. In the way the town supported our work at the shelter and the community center. But I couldn’t simply turn off the little voice inside me that told me to be on guard. And if I felt chemistry with someone? That alert was on in full force.
2
Mason
“How was everything at the center?” Cain asked as I slid into a chair opposite his desk.
“Good. Sorry I’m late getting back. I got caught up.”
“You never have to apologize about that.” He leaned back in his chair. “Anna tear you a new one this time?”
The corner of my mouth kicked up as I pictured Anna’s annoyed expression. “I’ve never known a woman who got so frustrated by me trying to be helpful.”
“What’s even more interesting is why you find that so compelling.”
He had a point. I had no idea why Anna was so fascinating to me, but she had been from the first day I started volunteering at the shelter. And the pricklier she was with me, the more I wanted to know what lay beneath that spiny exterior. “I admire her.”
That much was true. She ran Hope House with a mixture of drill-sergeant exactness and empathetic kindness. I’d seen her put a burly man three times her size in his place and hold a young mother as she cried after leaving an abusive marriage. It was a heady combination.
Cain arched a brow. “Admire her? Attraction has nothing to do with it?”
Heat crept up the back of my neck. The fact that I could imagine just how well Anna’s petite, curvy form would fit against me might have a little to do with it. “Can we get back to the business at hand?”
Cain chuckled. “All the answer I need.” He sobered. “Just tread carefully there. I don’t know her whole story, but I don’t think it’s an easy one.”
I swallowed against the burn in my throat. I’d gotten the same feeling. Anna hadn’t shared anything about her past around me. Not even where she’d grown up. All I knew was that she’d been a shelter resident for years before taking on a managerial role. Justin and Lyla had let a few things slip, but it wasn’t anything that helped me put together the pieces of who Anna really was.
“I’m just trying to get her to see I’m not an ax murderer.”
Cain barked out a laugh. “That’s where Anna and I are of the same mind. Suspect everyone. Maybe if I showed her your extensive background check, she’d let up a little.”
“It’s not a bad idea. I’ll sign off on you taking it public.”
“I’ll find a way to slip it onto her desk.”
“You’re a true friend.” I slid my phone out of my pocket and opened my notes app. “Now, let’s talk about phase two.”
My role at Halo was the dream job. A blend of business and tech, working for someone who I truly respected and who treated me as more of a partner than a second-in-command. Cain and I worked effortlessly together, brainstorming ways to take the company to the next level.
For the next hour, we talked through a new version of our home security line. How we would bring it to market and at what price point. It was important to both of us that a feeling of safety be affordable to all who might need it. Each new incarnation of our systems had varied levels and expenses to ensure it could be in everyone’s hands.
I’d even started a program where we gave out our personal alarms at no cost to people who might not be able to afford one or had been the victim of a crime. Pocket devices that let out an ear-splitting scream when you pulled the pin. We’d distributed thousands so far, including one to any resident of the shelter who wanted one.
Cain flipped his laptop closed and checked his watch. “I think that does it for today. I need to get home before Kenz decides to burn down the kitchen.”
“I thought she was getting better.”
He grimaced. “She is. Until she decides to try some fancy something or other. Sunday, there were literal flames coming out of the oven.”
I tried to stifle my laughter and failed. “Well, she’s got Funfetti cake down.”
The smile that came to Cain’s face was one that had me wanting to look away. One that spoke of contentment and peace and having everything you could ever want. “That she does.” He pushed to his feet and slipped his laptop into a messenger bag. “You heading out?”
There was no risk of anyone burning down my kitchen. No one waiting on dinner until I got home. “I think I’ll put in another hour or so. I want to go over our plan one more time. See if I’m overlooking anything.”
Cain clapped me on the shoulder as I stood. “Don’t work too hard. Oh, and Saturday, barbeque at the lake house. We’ll get started around noon.”
“I’ll be there. Need me to bring anything?”
“Nope. We’ve got it covered.”
“See you then.” I headed for my office just down the hall. The place was mostly empty, the vast majority of employees already having gone home to their families. The sound of my boots hitting the hardwood echoed through the halls.
I pushed open one of the double doors to my office. I would never get tired of the view that greeted me. Expanses of green forests that met up with craggy mountains capped with snow, even as we moved into summer. The views from my place in San Francisco hadn’t been anything to sneeze at, but this view spoke to me more.
When I arrived in Sutter Lake to interview for the V.P. position, I’d felt a sense of peace I hadn’t experienced since…a much simpler time. Before my childhood had been blown apart. I eased into the chair behind my desk, letting my gaze settle on the two photos. One of my mother and me. In the picture, she held my hands as she helped me to balance while I learned to walk. And one of my sister at her college graduation, her bright smile beaming at the camera.
My phone buzzed in my hand, and I glanced down at the screen. Juliette flashed on the display. I hit accept. “Think of the devil…”