SIX MONTHS_(A Seven Series Novel Book 2)

Chapter 2


A few minutes after ten o’clock, I decided to flip our sign in the window to Closed and lock up the store. The scent of rain hung heavy in the air, and I dreaded the walk home. I absolutely loved getting up early and walking to work, but after dark was another story.
Lexi assumed I rode the bus. She had no idea the bus didn’t go that route. My house was close to a five-mile walk and it gave me plenty of exercise, which I enjoyed. I don’t think my legs had seen muscle tone in all my life until the last two weeks after my car had broken down. The first three nights were a killer, but after that, I’d managed to build up my stamina and it gave me a boost of energy in the morning.
Most of the walk was along a busy street… until the turnoff just beyond the railroad tracks. Then I had to cut across open ground. I got spooked by sudden noises and shadows moving about. Each night, I’d slip on my dark track pants and hoodie so I wouldn’t stand out.
I looked like a burglar.
After three miles of singing “Piano Man” by my all-time favorite singer, tiny raindrops began to dampen my cheeks.
“Shoot,” I said, kicking a small rock as I hurried up the wet sidewalk.
At least we were having a mild October and the cold weather hadn’t kicked in yet. While my goal was to get an apartment, I’d been giving serious thought to buying a car first. It all depended on whether or not I could find an apartment near a bus route. I didn’t think I’d be able to continue walking once the temperature decided to drop.
The steady rain beat a staccato rhythm on the parked cars, and an SUV swerved so close to the curb that a wave of water splashed over me.
“Thank you!” I yelled with a laugh, waving my drenched arm as the car sped away.
Probably a decent guy trying to rush to the store to grab dinner for his wife and kids. I held my elbows tightly as a memory jostled loose in my head—one I’d just as soon not think about.
Every so often, I glanced over my shoulder at a strange clicking sound coming from behind me. Each time I stopped and turned around, I was confronted by a long stretch of shadows and concrete, but no boogeyman.
“I’m hearing things, I’m hearing things,” I sang to myself—the sort of thing you do when you’re alone and on the brink of running home like a frightened child. The streets were brightly lit and passing cars provided me with a sense of security, at least until I reached the wooded area.
“This is not my life,” I said to my wet shoes. “I should be like all the other women my age—going to happy hour with friends and flirting with attractive men. Instead, I like to read and play Scrabble. Then again, I’ve never been successful with flirting. Just ask the last guy. He ended up wearing condiments on his shirt after standing beside me in the burger joint. I tried talking to him and wound up slinging a half-opened packet of ketchup on his white shirt. He actually walked off without saying another word! That was so mortifying. Maybe I’d have better luck meeting someone on the Internet.”
I chuckled nervously and peered over my shoulder. A shadow snaked behind a building and my heart palpitated.
No one was there, but I quickened my step.
I pulled out my phone and sent Lexi a text message. She had recently purchased her first cell phone and so we kept in touch more often. She hadn’t figured out all the acronyms, and I’d sometimes make up one just to drive her crazy.
When I finally reached the turnoff that led to my trailer, I was in a full sprint. My purse slapped against my back and my shoes slipped twice in the mud. A gravel road led through the park, but it was too far ahead and not worth the extra walk.
Panting for breath, I reached the door and scraped the mud off my shoes on a large cinder block. Sometimes I wondered how all three of us had lived in that thing. My sister had shared the bed with Grandma, and I’d snuggled up on the built-in sofa.
I stood on the step and tugged off my sopping-wet sneakers. When I unlocked the door and went inside, my nose wrinkled. I must have burned a million scented candles in there, but it’s like the ghost of Grandma Frost was permanently fragranced within. She had a thing about using mothballs and it took five months after she died to get that funk out of there. I’d never been able to expunge of the smell of cigarettes. I think the tar had seared into the walls.
“Hey, little guys,” I said cheerfully, tapping my finger on the round fishbowl sitting on the counter straight ahead.
Hermie and Salvador paddled in sprite little motions, alert and joyful that it was feeding time. I dropped a few pellets of food in the water and moved toward the back of the trailer.
Just to the left of the kitchenette was a hallway that led to the bathroom on the right, closet to the left, and the bedroom straight ahead. I peeled out of my shirt and pants and hung them on a towel rack in my tiny bathroom, which I’d painted a cheery color. I think the name of the paint was called Songbird Yellow. Someday I hoped to have my own garden tub where I could slip beneath a layer of bubbles and read by candlelight. But for now, I made the best of a home that was the length of a few cartwheels.
My cell phone rang and I answered the familiar pop melody. “Rose, I wondered when you’d finally get around to calling me.”
“Hey, sis! You surviving out there?”
I tugged off my wet socks and tossed them by the door. “Couldn’t be better. How about you? Is the weather hot?”
“You wouldn’t believe it! Oh my God, it’s like the freaking desert or something!”
“It is the desert, Rose.”
“You’re so literal, April. I’m just teasing. Are you still mad at me for taking off so fast? By the way, I’m coming down for Christmas. I talked Shane into it and he said it’s cool. We’ll just need a place to stay. I um… you know.”
I knew.
Our trailer park had been featured on the local news more than once for drug busts. There were a few respectable people living there, but it always attracted the ones with questionable character. One time, an elderly gentleman had wandered down the road as naked as a jaybird and bleeding from his head. Grandma had pushed us inside the trailer and called the cops. Rose had never brought Shane over to visit. They always met up somewhere and I couldn’t say a thing about it because I was guilty of doing the same. People judge.
“Are you doing okay, Rose? Do you need money?”
“Big news! We’re getting married next month.”
“Are you sure? It’s so soon. Why don’t you have a long engagement and enjoy each other before you take the plunge?”
Disappointment seeped in my heart and I hated my initial reaction to her good news; Rose had to live her own life. At least they were getting serious about each other and maybe this would be good for her. Rose had been a capricious child and I used to worry that she’d never settle down. I’d made a silent bet with myself that she’d return in five months and it would be the two of us again. Maybe a tiny part of me was jealous that she’d found someone else to share her life with. Rose had never had to take on the responsibilities I’d been forced to shoulder as the older child, and what a blessing that was for her.
I sat down, dressed in just my underwear, twirling a deck of cards in a circle. “Let me know if you need anything, Rose. I’m really happy for you. I’ve just had a long day, so I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. Shane’s a good catch and you know I’m always here if you need anything.”
“Aces,” she said with a giggle. “Gift cards are fab, but we’re not doing the big wedding gig. Shane wants to drive to Vegas and have one of those drive-through weddings. Gotta run. We’re heading out to the honky-tonk tonight. What kind of mess is that? I thought I’d left Redneckville and all they do out here is two-step.” She giggled again and I knew Shane was in the room with her.
“You guys have fun and stay out of trouble! I love you, Rose.”
“I’ll have fun for the both of us, April. As usual.”
I set the phone down and sighed thoughtfully as I lifted a heavy pot of water from the floor. Stupid rain. Water leaked in through a skylight and some dents on the roof and I had no clue how to fix them. The trailer was pretty old and my grandma had mentioned a tree branch falling on it years ago during a storm. She had done some work on it since then, but hadn’t seemed concerned with a little water damage.
I was lingering in front of the sink in my cherry-red bra and panties, dumping out a pot of water, when a knock at the door startled me. The thick brown curtains were closed, so I stood still and waited another second. Nobody ever came over unannounced, and I wasn’t on speaking terms with my loopy neighbors. The insistent knock sounded again.
“Is there an April Frost in there related to Ginny Frost? I have business matters to discuss with you of an important nature.”
“Can you come back in the daytime?”
“I came by this afternoon and again around seven. I can tell you right now that sunshine doesn’t make me any prettier to look at. Your grandma owes me some money. I don’t have time to figure out what your schedule is, and my time is your money.”
Oh, crap. “Um, just a minute.”
I grabbed a white sweatshirt and pulled it over my head. The only pants I could find were yesterday’s jeans, so I yanked those on and answered the door barefoot.
A man wearing a hat looked up at me with steel eyes—one boot in the mud and the other on a step.
“You can call me Maddox,” he said in a burly, Southern drawl.
Maddox looked to be a seasoned man in his late forties. He wore a scruffy beard that was silver and brown. His wavy hair rested on the tips of his shoulders, and his faded brown boots matched the color of his hat. It wasn’t a traditional cowboy hat, but more like what the guys in the Australian outback wore. Maddox looked like he’d stepped out of a time machine.
“Can I help you?” I said through the crack in the door.
“I’m going to cut to the chase. Ginny Frost owed me fifty grand and I know you’re her granddaughter. Open up and let’s have a friendly chat about business. I won’t take but five minutes of your time.”
I drifted away from the door and stood by the sink. Maddox ducked his head and moved inside, shaking water off his hat.
“You mind if I sit?” he asked, motioning toward the sofa on his immediate right. I shrugged and he sat down with his knees apart and forearms resting on them, leaving the door open. “Ginny was pretty good about settling her small loans. I know she died a ways back, and let’s just say I have a soft spot for women and decided to give you a grieving period.” Maddox stared at the hat in his hands. “One thing I’ve got is time. But time’s up and there’s no clean slate with my loans due to death. I’m not insured like the bank. Her debt rolled over to the next in line and that’s you.”
“Fifty? I can’t pay you that much money. I don’t even have enough to buy a car.”
He obscured his mouth with his hat and glanced around the trailer with a contemplative look in his eyes. Oh please, let this guy have a heart.
“Tell you what. I’ll give you a week to figure it out, then I’ll come back for a visit and see what’s what. You got something you can liquidate? You better do it.”
“Why did she borrow that much?”
“I don’t ask what people do with my money. I don’t care. I baby-step them into my services to see how good they are about paying back the interest. You seem like a smart girl; you don’t know what she would have needed that much money for?”
God. I did. To help put me through school. Grandma had helped pay for college, but I’d assumed she had money stuffed in a savings account or it was coming from her paychecks. Rose had saved up for her VW by working summer and evening jobs, and I shared a car with Grandma. The trailer had been paid off for eons, so I couldn’t think of another explanation.
I never thought it was possible to hate someone for loving me so much.
He scratched his beard, staring at a short stack of paperbacks on the counter. “You got a boyfriend? To help you out, I mean.”
“I think you need to go.”
“I’m a reasonable man,” he said in a smooth voice, rising to his feet. “You’ll see that in no time. Charmed to meet you, April Frost.” He opened the door and peered over his shoulder. “Stay dry.”
***

Early the next morning, I had a banana for breakfast and decided to walk to the local drugstore to shop around before my afternoon shift began. Since morning sales were slow, we usually gave those hours to the part-time girls. That meant I could sleep in, but today my thoughts were in a scramble and I needed to take a walk and clear my head.
I slipped on a pair of black biker boots to keep my feet dry. Perish the thought I was making a fashion statement when I put on a pair of leggings and an oversized black shirt. In the summertime, I loved wearing Capri pants and fashionable sandals. But with the cold weather fast approaching, I began to dip into the bottom drawers and pull out some of my casual-crazy wear for gloomy weather.
An indie group played on my earbuds and I walked into Walgreens, humming along and tracking in a few streaks of mud behind me.
“Can I help you?” I heard a voice say over my music.
A middle-aged woman with a prominent mole on the side of her nose and heavy glasses stared at me impatiently. The small tag on her blue shirt displayed the name Patsy.
“Where’s your perfume?” As if I didn’t already know.
She pushed her glasses up her nose and stole a glimpse of my boots. “This way.”
Sometimes they put the perfume samplers on display, but this was not one of those days. The boxes were sealed in plastic and locked behind the glass case. It was ludicrous to think someone would come into a store and steal a bunch of perfume when they had expensive makeup at their fingertips. So I wandered the store and scoured the clearance aisle for makeup, sifting through green eyeliner and whore-red lipstick. I’d learned to make things stretch; it’s something my grandma had taught me. It’s why I’d adopted the smoky liner look—that stuff went a long way and didn’t require eye shadow. Rose had also showed me a neat little trick of using a Q-tip to get all the lipstick from beneath the barrel. We had become quite resourceful in learning how to save money when it came to expensive makeup.
I lied whenever someone asked how I was doing. People don’t want to hear the truth. Lexi had given me a slight salary increase, but it wasn’t enough to get me where I needed to be. One of Austin’s brothers was helping her manage the business and analyzing her profit margin, so she’d told me to hang tight until she got a firm grip on the finances. Lexi’d really had a lot dumped on her at once and had taken it like a champ. There’s a huge learning curve with operating a business, but she stayed positive, and to be honest, Charlie chose the right person. Lexi had been working there for years and knew what it took to keep things running. So I’d been putting aside all my money and living off the necessities. Things like junk food, movies, and books were temporarily cut out of my budget.
“April Showers,” a bristly voice said.
Loud enough that I heard him over my music. I popped out one of my earbuds, knowing who it was before I looked up at his handsome face.
“You really need to stop calling me that,” I said, quirking my mouth.
“When I’m near you, I feel nothing but showers of love, babe.” Trevor offered a staggering smile and lifted me off the ground, embracing me in a tight hug. “Missed you.”
“I missed you so much, Trevor. When did you get back in town?” I grunted as he squeezed so tight my lungs constricted.
“Last night. Should have known I’d find you perusing the makeup aisles or at the bookstore. Any good romances I should know about?”
I chuckled when he set me down. “Didn’t you get my last e-mail?”
Trevor’s razor-cut brown hair had an edgy style with dark highlights. He liked combing his hair in different directions across his forehead. Trevor was the most fashion-forward guy I’d ever met—always in designer jeans and a button-up shirt. Today he sported a pair of black leather oxfords with his dark denims. A girl standing near the makeup counter ogled him; little did she know my best friend would be more interested in her boyfriend who was busy sniffing a bottle of body lotion. Trevor looked like an incognito celebrity with his sweet face and sexy lips. He had a commanding presence—like he was somebody important but didn’t want people to know.
He was mysterious, and that’s what I loved about him.
It’s how we met. While riding down an escalator in the mall, I’d watched him going up in the opposite direction and had one of my mantastic episodes. I’d turned around to gawk at him, hadn’t noticed the landing coming up, and had fallen flat on my back.
Little had I known that Trevor was a romance novel hero sprung to life. He’d performed a one-armed vault to the other side of the escalators and run down to make sure I was okay. I still remember the smirk on his face when he cradled my head and asked if I’d fallen head over heels for him.
He had walked me to a nearby bookstore and bought me a latte. After a long conversation, we found out we had a lot in common, including our love for reading. I’d always been a huge fan of romance novels, whether contemporary, paranormal, or something risqué. Trevor offered me a unique chance to hear a man’s perspective on books, and I got him reading a bunch he’d never heard of. In return, he turned me on to indie music.
Trevor loved playing the acoustic guitar and had an appreciation for undiscovered talent. He wasn’t in a band; singing and playing guitar was just something he did when we were lounging around with nothing to do. It was only later that I found out Trevor was gay—I hadn’t had a clue until he brought up his boyfriend in conversation. I didn’t make a big deal about it and neither did he.
“I’ve got news,” he announced, taking my hand in his. “Do you need something in here or can I take you out for brunch?”
“You don’t have to buy me anything. I had a banana for breakfast.”
“I’m paying.”
“I’m not hungry. Maybe we can…” I glanced around, trying to come up with an alternative.
He gripped my chin and looked down at me. “What’s wrong? Do you need some money?”
“Rose is getting married.”
“No f*cking way.” He tugged my arm and hauled me toward the door. “That’s it. We’re talking.”
Instead of brunch, we sat inside his Honda hatchback and played catch-up. Trevor was shocked to learn about Rose’s upcoming nuptials and he gave them a year. I lightly punched him in the arm for being pessimistic and he shook his head, saying all she wanted in Shane was a way out and that kind of relationship didn’t stand a chance.
“Are you living alone in that shithole trailer park in the hood?” he asked. “Please tell me you have a boyfriend staying with you.”
I shook my head.
“Jesus, why didn’t you call me?”
“What’s your big news?”
He shifted in his seat. “I’m moving in with you.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“My news is I broke up with James and decided to come home because I’ve never seen more repressed people in my life than in that tiny tinker town in the middle of bumf*ck—”
“Seriously? What happened between you two? I thought it was going so well.”
He shrugged and adjusted the vents. “That’s why I haven’t e-mailed in a couple of weeks. I was living in my car for two days before I decided to come back home. It just wasn’t right. Now I’m here with no job, no place to live, and I have to start from square effing one.”
“What about Lucy?” She was mutual friend we’d met at a party years ago who thought she could convert Trevor into a straight man with her magical vagina.
“No good. Long story short, her boyfriend thinks I’m pretending to be gay to get in her panties.”
“She wishes,” I muttered.
“I have to leave for a couple of days,” he said, picking at the steering wheel with his finger. “I zipped out of there in a hurry, but now I regret the hell out of it because I left some personal shit there I need to get back—like my Gibson, all my plants, and my model airplanes.”
Trevor was a curious guy. He played guitar, partied with the best of them, but in his downtime, he liked to unwind by flipping on a bright desk lamp and assembling model airplanes that came in a billion pieces. He once told me a hobby like that taught a man control and patience, and that’s something he needed in his life.
“Will he give them back to you?”
Trevor sighed and grunted all at once, throwing his head back and staring at the roof. “James isn’t a total jerk. I just didn’t want to deal with seeing him again.” He rolled his head in my direction and patted my leg. “You mind if I stay with you? Say no and I’m parking my car by the barbecue grill and setting up camp. Why don’t you sell it and move to a safe apartment complex?”
“No one in their right mind would buy that old thing,” I said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t get anything for it and besides, it’s paid for in full and I’m actually saving money by living there. Apartments are expensive these days with all those deposits.”
“Seriously, babe, that’s a scary f*cking trailer park. And the guy with the gnome collection who lives down the road?”
“Mr. Potter?”
“He waters his lawn naked. That man needs to be introduced to a razor and a pair of pants. It’s f*cking creepy. If you say he’s a nice guy, then I’m throwing your books in the river.”
I frowned and gazed sullenly out the window.
“What did I say wrong?”
I watched a few stray sprinkles catch on the glass. “Last week it rained so hard that it leaked in the trailer when I was sleeping. Water got all over my favorite books that were stacked in the corner of my bedroom.”
“Oh, shit no.”
“Ruined about thirty of my favorites. Some of them I salvaged, but the rest wound up with wrinkled paper and warped covers. I had another stack in the living room, so it wasn’t a total loss.”
“E-readers, babe.”
I rolled my eyes. “Books aren’t a big priority at the moment.”
“Damn.”
“What?”
Trevor leaned across me, so close to my face that I could smell his hair.
“It’s like Jensen Ackles had a baby with a professional fighter and made him. Only he doesn’t have Jensen’s pouty mouth… more like Fassbender. Add a splash of Jason Statham’s kickass attitude…”
“Who?”
Trevor grabbed my chin and turned my head to the right. “You need to watch more TV. I swear, sometimes I wonder if you even know who the president is these days. Why the hell did I ever leave Austin? Look at that fine specimen of a man. Tall, tan, and a little rough-looking in the face, but I’d forgive him. And a Triumph motorcycle; that’s f*cking hot.”
The second I saw the man Trevor was salivating over step onto the curb and adjust his mirrored shades, it triggered a memory. As did his spectacular body beneath his tight, long-sleeved shirt—nary an inch of skin showing. Not to mention his chiseled face that had a light dusting of whiskers around the chin—a face I’d thought I’d never see again. Only now, fully dressed, he gave off more of a paramilitary vibe. Maybe I’d forgotten the scary aspects about him, but his looks still lingered in my mind all these months later.
“I think I know him,” I said under my breath.
Four months ago, I gave Lexi a ride home. Reno Cole, Austin’s brother, was outside throwing horseshoes in the yard without a shirt on. A thin sheen of sweat covered his broad torso, which was the only thing I noticed since he was wearing sunglasses and a baseball hat. I had a “stupid” attack and almost tripped in front of him. I’d never felt more intimidated by a man’s presence in my life. I felt cowardly and my mouth refused to work, and when it finally did, I mentioned something about the heat like I was a walking weathergirl. Reno’s fit body spanned just over six feet, but his expression was tight and menacing. I shamelessly fled the scene, but the tire on my car wedged into a pothole. He stalked over as if he might rip my car door off and pummel me for messing up their driveway.
But he didn’t. He pushed the car free and I never saw him again.
Fingers snapped in front of my face and Trevor gave me a killer smile. “Nice to see you still have a pulse. I was beginning to think your libido took a permanent vacation. April, my mission this year is to find your Mr. Right.”
Trevor was kidding, of course. He’d always been overprotective and never let a stranger approach me without giving him the third degree. He liked the idea of me finding a man more than the reality.
“I hope you find a place soon, Trev, but you can stay with me as long as you need to.”
“At least you’ll have someone to talk to besides those damn critters you keep taking in. You still got the squirrel?”
Picking at my blue nail, I shook my head. “Skittles didn’t make it.”
“Rabies?”
I slapped his arm and we belted out a few laughs.
Over the years, I’d gained a reputation for rescuing injured animals. Some I found along the road, while others wandered in from the woods. They were amazing creatures—like the garter snake my grandma had attempted to murder with a broom. It was a good feeling to help something wild and then set it free. As much love as I had for them, I learned you couldn’t hold on to something with a wild heart. They live on instinct and they’ll never love you back.
Trevor held my hand up to his mouth and kissed it. “I’ll be gone a day or two—tops. And then we’re roomies.”
“My trailer won’t fit all your stuff.”
“Stuff?” he scoffed. “I won’t have much to move because none of the furniture was mine except the couch, and he can keep it. I don’t want anything his ass was on.”
“The very ass you talked about endlessly when you first met?”
“The very f*cking one.”