It was petty. I admit it.
I didn’t plan it. The opportunity presented itself and I did what came naturally.
No lists, no notes, no plans. Just action. Bold, decisive action.
I hate her with every fiber of my being, but I have to admit, she’s making me better. She’s drawing me out of my comfort zone. Pushing me to do things I wouldn’t have otherwise done.
Still, caution is warranted. I got lucky. Granted, if I’d been caught, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. I’m sorry officer, it was an accident and I freaked out. I’ll make it right and it won’t happen again.
People around here are forgiving. It would have blown over quickly.
But next time, I’ll have to stick to my plans. Take the proper precautions before I act. We can’t have Miss Perfect finding out.
Not until I’m ready.
CHAPTER 15
Josiah
I should have been done an hour ago.
I’d hired Zachary for the day to help me install the flooring and shockingly we’d finished the first floor without anything going wrong—and without killing each other. After I’d tossed him some cash, he’d gone home. Which is what I should have done.
Instead, I’d been second guessing the kitchen layout. After redoing some measurements, I’d started sketching it out on a piece of discarded cardboard. My neck ached from sitting on the floor, leaning over at an awkward angle while I worked, but it was coming together.
It had nothing to do with the fact that Audrey was late getting home. I wasn’t waiting for her. Kitchens were the center of a house, the showpiece. Even in a rental, the kitchen had to be done right. I was just making sure we didn’t make a mistake we’d regret later.
The sound of a car came from outside, so I got up to look. Still not checking to see if it was Audrey. Just curious to see what was going on out there.
I wasn’t a great liar. Not even to myself.
It was her, and as soon as I saw her car, I headed out the front door. Why did she have a dented bumper? Had she been in an accident?
She got out and Max dashed out behind her. He ran a circle around me, and I gave him a quick pet when he paused. But mostly I needed to know what the hell had happened to Audrey’s car.
“What happened?” I sounded angrier than I’d meant to, so I stopped and cleared my throat. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Some jerk backed into my car, right in front of my office. Can you believe that?”
“Did you get plates?”
“No.” She crossed her arms and that pouty thing she was doing was frustratingly sexy. “I wasn’t there and the only one in the office at the time was Ledger the useless intern. Of course he didn’t see anything. The guy hardly ever looks up from his phone.”
I looked her up and down. Obviously she was fine. I didn’t know why I had my hackles up over this. Sure, it was inconvenient, and whoever had done it was an asshole for not leaving a note. But I was furious.
“Did you call the cops?”
“I did, but there’s not much they can do. It was your brother who came to take the report. Garrett Haven is your brother, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought so. Anyway, he was really nice but he basically said without any eye witnesses, it would be pretty hard to figure out who did it and I should report it to my insurance as a hit and run.”
I glanced at the damage. Front bumper, one broken headlight. It wasn’t terrible but it still pissed me off. “Take it to my brother Luke. He mostly does restorations, but he’ll take care of you if you tell him I sent you.”
Her lips turned up in a smile. “Thanks. I’ll do that.”
“But why didn’t you call me?”
“For this?” She gestured at the car. “It wasn’t like you could do anything about it.”
“I know, but I told you to call me if anything weird happened.”
“This isn’t weird, it’s more like frustrating and super stressful.”
“And also weird.”
“I was parked on the street and some jerk backed into me. That’s not weird, it probably happens all the time.”
“In context, it’s weird. What if it was your ex?”
“Colin? I seriously don’t think he’d drive all the way down to Tilikum just to back into my car. What would be the point? To give me a minor inconvenience? There’s not even enough damage that I needed a ride home.”
That was true, and I couldn’t put together why her ex-boyfriend would do something like that. Or the dead squirrel. They were probably unrelated, just a couple of unlucky incidents, not the work of someone trying to harass her.
Still, there was something about it all that I didn’t like.
“I don’t know, but I mean it, call me next time.”
“Can we at least pretend there won’t be a next time?”
“You’re too optimistic. There’s always a next time.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Maybe you’re too pessimistic.”
“I’m not pessimistic, I’m realistic. There’s a difference.”
She opened her mouth, as if to reply, but stopped and looked around. “Where’s Max? Max!”
I didn’t see him either. He’d been sniffing around her front yard a minute ago.
“Max, come!” Her forehead creased with worry. “Max!”
“He’s probably just around back.”
“Yeah, hopefully.” She went around the house at a jog, still calling for him.
I followed. No dog.
“Max, come!” She met my eyes. “Where could he have gone? He usually stays close.”
It was probably my paranoia, but my first thought was that someone must have taken him. But I didn’t remember a car driving by, let alone someone stopping. Plus, we would have seen a person getting out to grab her dog, or even just opening the door to let him in their car.
“Do you think he went across the road in front? Would you have noticed that?”
She paused for a second before answering. “I don’t think he did. I would have seen that out of the corner of my eye and called him back.”
“Then he probably went up there.” I gestured to the steep slope, dotted with pine trees, that rose behind the two houses.
“He must have. I bet he caught the scent of some animal and followed it.” She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Max! Max, come!”
We waited. No dog.
“I need to go find him.” She started up the hill. “He’s not the smartest. He’ll totally get lost.”
“I’ll check the remodel in case I left the door open, then I’ll catch up.”
“Okay,” she said over her shoulder.
I hesitated for a beat. She was in a skirt and heels. Not ideal for hiking. But she was charging up the hill like her shoes didn’t matter, so I let her go.
I jogged around to the front of the remodel, but the door was shut. Just in case he’d gone in and the wind had closed it behind him, I gave the place a quick once over, calling for him as I went from room to room. Definitely no dog.
Back outside, I checked the front yard and scanned the street in case he was on his way back. Didn’t see him. I called a few times, but still nothing.
Instead of going up the slope directly behind Audrey, I veered to the left so we could cover more ground. I powered up the hill, calling for Max, trying to keep an eye out in all directions.
Damn dog.
“Max!”
I had no idea if he’d come to anyone who called his name or just Audrey. She wasn’t far from where I was. I could hear her in the distance and used the sound of her voice to keep track of her while I headed steadily uphill.
“Max!”
Pine needles crunched under my feet and squirrels raced up tree trunks as I ran by. He’d probably chased one of them. Those things were smart. I wouldn’t put it past them to lead him into the woods just to be tiny assholes.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and I was breathing hard by the time I reached the top. Still no dog. I paused for a moment to catch my breath, listening for Audrey in the distance. Her voice carried between the pines, and even from here, I could hear her rising panic.
Where was that dog?
If he got himself truly lost, or hurt, or worse, it was going to break Audrey’s heart.