Chapter 11
Lee
I threw myself into my work, pushing hard and working longer hours than I ever had before. I worked hard as it was, but since Farrah had left I had to try to forget about her somehow. Work was all I had as a distraction.
It didn’t make sense that I would be so hung up on her. I had only known the woman for four days. Yeah, we’d had a magical time together. But pining for her was pathetic. Not that she wasn’t a woman worth pining over. Farrah was everything I had always envisioned in a woman. She was the full package, even though she had baggage. But who didn’t?
Still, I had only known her for a short while. Too short to validate how often I thought about her. There were nights that I missed her so much it ached.
Which was ridiculous. I had to stop thinking about her and move on with my life. I didn’t doubt that she had already done that.
It was only three days since she’d left town. When I woke up on Thursday morning I told myself I would take until the weekend to get it out of my system, and then I would move on. She had made quite an impression on me, so all I needed was a bit of time to get over it.
While I got dressed for work, I caught a glimpse of myself in my uniform. As I buttoned my shirt, I thought of the photos she had taken of me in my uniform for Frankie. She had taken so much time to get the perfect shot, and hadn’t charged Frankie for her extra time.
She had been completely caught up in her art and I’d realized right away that when she was focused on something she was passionate about, she was able to rise above the things that got her down. During those times, she went from a beautiful woman to one who was radiant.
I shook my head. Here I was thinking about her again, and I had to stop. The upside was that we’d slept together in the motel room. Thank God it hadn’t been here in my cabin because I was already struggling to get her off my mind. Imagine how much harder it would have been if her scent had been on my sheets, or if the memories were of here in my home, and my bed.
Small miracles.
I left the cabin and headed to my office. I had the late shift today, but to keep busy I’d been going in early every day.
“What are you doing here so early—again?” Hank asked, when I climbed out of my truck. He stood on the porch, smoking, his long blond hair was pulled back into a short ponytail and he stood with his free hand in his pocket.
I shrugged, “Never hurts to have more hands on deck, right?”
“I’d love to know what’s eating you these days.”
I shook my head and walked past Hank into my office. I hadn’t told anyone about Farrah. Even Hannah didn’t know how far I had gone with her and I wanted to keep it that way. There was nothing to tell, after all. Everyone had noticed I had thrown myself into work, trying to bury my thoughts. But no one would find out what it was about.
Because it would go away in no time, so there was nothing to tell anyway.
Hank walked into my office after finishing his cigarette and we had coffee together.
“I think we got our guy,” Hank said. “I was out on the trails yesterday afternoon and there were no prints. It’s the third day in a row.”
“Good,” I said. “He’s lucky he got off.”
Hank nodded. We had managed to catch the hunter who had been trespassing. We had taken shifts throughout the night, camping in the forest where we had found the footprints. We had caught him at the crack of dawn, walking around with a rifle as if it was normal for him to hunt where people hiked every day. The sheriff had slapped a hefty fine on him and threated him with jail time if he was seen in the forest again for the next two years, even for a hike.
I would have locked the man up for a week or so to teach him a lesson, but that wasn’t exactly legal. There was nothing that taught a man a lesson like being locked up for trespassing the way jail time did. But a fine and a two-year ban would have to do. It seemed to have worked, at least for now.
“What do we need to cover now that we caught our guy?” I asked.
Hank chuckled. “We still have all our other duties, remember? Finding missing persons, keeping the trails clear and watching for forest fires. You know, the stuff that usually keeps us busy. I don’t know what’s on your mind, but it seems intense. If I’d seen you with a woman I would say that’s I, but you’ve been a loner lately.”
He was right. Before Farrah, I hadn’t spent a lot of time dating women or even pursuing one-night stands. I had started to wonder what the point was if it never amounted to anything. Farrah should have been in the same category, but for some reason, it was all different with her.
Maybe it was because she had been so vulnerable and had put so much trust in me. A man liked to be a protector. She had stroked my ego when she had turned to me to help her be so bold.
For a short while, she had needed me. I liked being needed.
I evaded Hank’s questions the way I always did, and we headed out on the ATVs soon after to address our responsibilities for the day.
When I finally finished work it was late and I was exhausted. My mind was still on Farrah despite how hard I’d worked, so I had to do more to get rid of it. Despite my weariness, I headed to The Pint to work there with Hannah.
She frowned when I walked in. “You’re not usually here in the middle of the week,” my sister said.
I shrugged. “Since I took the two nights off over the weekend I thought I would make up for it, now.” It was an excuse, of course. But since I really had taken the weekend off for a change, Hannah bought it and I was glad she wasn’t questioning my motives. Hank had asked about what was bugging me once or twice before he gave up, but if Hannah figured out something was on my mind, she wouldn’t stop grilling me until I told her.
My sister missed nothing and let nothing slide. She was a pain in the ass if I ever tried to keep anything from her. For years, I’d had nothing to hide.
Dustin had the night off, so Hannah would have manned the bar alone, taking care of the few customers that came in on a Thursday night. During the week, the locals didn’t come out for a drink. The bar was mostly filled with tourists—people I didn’t recognize.
It was a good thing I had come to help. The bar filled faster than Hannah had anticipated, and it ended up almost as busy as it was on the weekend. Between the two of us, we managed, but barely. The one thing that was different when Hannah worked alongside me behind the bar was she didn’t flirt nearly as much as when she was walking from table to table, getting friendly with every male that occupied a seat.
I managed to forget about Farrah for a few hours, focusing on remembering orders, making drinks and ringing up the right amounts. I finally relaxed for the first time in days and it was a relief.
“Why are you so quiet?” Hannah asked, when we poured beer side by side.
“I don’t flirt with all my customers,” I quipped.
Hannah laughed. “If I didn’t know better I would say there was something on your mind.”
I pulled up my shoulders. “Good thing you know better.”
Full beers in hand, we went our own ways. I took the beer to the man who had ordered it. A tall brunette walked through the door and I looked up, my heart skipping a beat. When I realized it wasn’t Farrah, I swallowed hard and scolded myself for being such a pussy.
“I saw that,” Hannah said, suddenly next to me.
“Saw what?”
“You thought it was her, didn’t you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Hannah laughed, and I knew she knew exactly what she was talking about. Hannah missed nothing and when she put two and two together, she got four every damn time. She wasn’t going to let go, I just knew it.
“I didn’t know the little photographer had made such an impression on you,” Hannah said, when she had a chance to talk to me again.
“No more than she’d made on everyone else. I heard you talking to Holly about how nice she was.”
“Holly doesn’t seem to like her,” Hannah said, leaning one hand on the bar. “Which tells me one thing.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“If Holly doesn’t like Farrah, it’s a sure bet that you do.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “That’s the worst deductive reasoning I’ve ever heard.”
“And that’s not a denial,” my sister said.
Thankfully, we had more customers and were too busy serving to talk anymore. I was relieved. My sister was right, of course. She was always right when it came to me and who I did and didn’t like around town. It never bothered me before, but now that she was on my case about Farrah, I wished she would miss something just once in her life.
Finally, the customers left and the bar closed. I helped Hannah clean up, wiping the bar and carrying glasses to the dishwasher.
“Are you going to tell me what it’s all about, or are you going to leave me to guess?” Hannah asked.
“Are we still stuck on that?” I asked.
Hannah chuckled. “Are you?”
God, she was irritating. Mostly because she was right.
“I’m headed home,” I said. “I still have to work tomorrow and I’m way past tired.”
Hannah folded her arms across her chest and watched me leave with a smirk on her face. I walked away with a poker face because I didn’t want her to know she was right.
Friday I was up early again and put in a day much longer than I needed to. When I was finally done, I was relieved. I had the whole weekend off and I was planning on camping in the mountains. I needed a break from town and I needed to clear my head. If I thought about everything, working it through in my mind in peace, maybe I could stop thinking about her and move on. I didn’t like that Hannah was bugging me about it now. I didn’t like that there was something for her to bug me about.
Farrah had only been a visitor in town, almost as fleeting as the other tourists. Her job had brought her here instead of a hike in the mountains, but she had left all the same. It was time I let go of the stupid thoughts that bounced around my mind. I was sure Farrah hardly thought about me. She had been a damsel in distress and I had been allowed to play hero for a weekend. That was it. But it was time for me to hang up my metaphorical cape and carry on being the hero of these mountains where I belonged. Farrah had only been a visitor. She hadn’t come to stay.