Dylan

“THE GOAL WAS to get in, solve the mystery, and get out,” I said, tugging Addison toward the exit.

“Maybe that was your goal, but it wasn’t mine. I mean, sure, we’ll save the day by finding the jewelry, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make that Brandy skank eat our dust. I expected you to be more on board with this.”

“It was only supposed to take a couple of days, and now we have to stay all of this week and through the three-day weekend.”

She shrugged. “So?”

My biggest fear was getting stuck in this town, but Addison couldn’t understand that because she’d never seen the place grow on people like a parasite, feasting on their will to get away. “Do you even know what the Buddy Barrel Pick-up is?”

“I have no idea, but how hard can it be if Brandy can do it?”

I pulled out my phone and searched videos of the event.

“Who the hell names their kid after booze, anyway?” she asked.

“Cowboys,” I replied. “Now. Watch this.” I handed her my phone and ran smack dab into a wall of muscle. I’m pretty sure I would’ve bounced off said wall, if the beefy arms attached to it wouldn’t have wrapped me in a hug and tugged me off my feet.

“Dylan,” his deep voice boomed, filling me with dread. “You’ve come back to me. Finally.”

I struggled until he set me down and released me. What was with the guys in this town needing to pick me up? I looked everywhere but at him, which is how I found my dad standing in the doorway watching us.

“I didn’t come back to you. I came back to solve a case. I’m not staying,” I said, loud enough to make sure they both heard me.

“Dylan, who is this?” Addison asked.

Had I not stepped so far away from the beefcake in front of me, I might have been tempted to beat my head against his chest. He was the last person in the world I wanted to introduce Addison to. Before I could reply, he beat me to it, holding out his hand.

“I’m Dakota, Dylan’s fiancé.”

“What?” Addison said.

“He is not,” I assured her. “Dak, you can’t go around telling people that. It’s not true.”

“Sure it is. Our parents wrote up the contract when we were still in diapers. Isn’t that right, Dad?” he said over his shoulder.

“Oh, God.” I shook my head, wishing I could melt into a puddle and pour myself out of the situation. “That contract was on a beer-stained napkin. Even if it counted, these aren’t the dark ages where women are property to be given away.”

“Hey, honey,” my dad said, joining us.

“I asked you not to tell Dakota I was in town,” I reminded him.

He didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. “You know how Lakeview is. There’s no way someone wasn’t gonna tell him, and I figured you two needed to talk this thing out.”

“There is no ‘thing’ between us,” I said. Then, because I could feel Addison glaring daggers into my back, I turned and repeated myself to her. “No ‘thing.’ Nothing. Our parents were friends and they had a pretty wild fantasy about us getting together someday, but it’s not going to happen.”

“You’re breakin’ my heart, Dyl,” Dakota said with a mock frown, but he didn’t look all that upset. “Damn, you look good. I missed the hell out of you. Knew you’d be back.”

“Thanks,” I replied, once again torn between not wanting to sound like a bitch yet needing to be firm with him. Dakota was one of the sweetest guys I’d ever met. He was handsome, a hard worker, and a fun guy. But there was nothing between us. Never had been. I loved him, but like a brother. Attempting to deflect his attention, I pointed to my friend. “This is Addison.”

Dakota eyed her. “She’s not the one you’re shacked up with, is she?”

“What?” I looked to Addison and actually considered lying and saying we were a Lebanese couple. Why the hell not? It might get everyone off my back about Dakota for a minute.

“I can assure you Dylan and I are not shacked up,” Addison said, stepping forward. “We’re roommates, but we have separate bedrooms. She’s my friend, but that’s all.”

“Whew, that’s a relief,” Dakota replied. “Your grandma must have been messing with me.”

Before I could respond, Dad hugged me and kissed my cheek. “It’s good to see you, sweetie. I missed you.”

The familiar scent of whisky wrapped around me like an old blanket, and I was once again torn between guilt for staying away and a desire to leave and never come back. Dad looked rough. The bags under his eyes had a permanent look about them, his nose and cheeks were a bit red, and his hands trembled slightly. It broke my heart, but I knew there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

“I missed you too, Dad. You remember Addie, don’t you?”

Addison gave him a little wave. “Hello, Mr. James.”

He grunted. “Yep, I remember her.”

“Be nice,” I chided, releasing him.

“You wanna grab some lunch with me and Dak?” he asked, obviously not including Addison.

“Can’t. Addie and I need to go over our case notes and put our heads together...see if we can’t get these ladies back their jewelry.”

He frowned. “Will I get to spend any time with you at all while you’re here?”

Worst daughter ever award goes to yours truly. “I don’t know. Time’s gonna be tight, but I’ll call you.” I kissed his cheek and gestured for Addison to follow me.

We made it all the way to her car before Addison turned on me. “That’s Dakota?” she asked.

“In the flesh.”

She looked from me to the door where Dad and Dakota were emerging. “Are you sure you’re not Lebanese, Dylan?”

I rolled my eyes. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, buddy. Always yours.” As we climbed into her car she added, “But I still don’t understand how you could walk away from that fine piece of—”

“Nice guy,” I interrupted, not even wanting to know where she was going with that one. “He’s great, but there was never anything between us. Dak knows it too, but he’s worried about letting our parents down.”

“Whereas you don’t care,” she said.

“I do care, but I’m not gonna get with some guy I don’t like just to make my dad happy. He couldn’t even put down a bottle long enough to raise me. Where does he get off expecting me to sacrifice my life for his happiness?”

“Whoa.” She pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the main road. “That escalated quickly.”

“Yeah.” And I was annoyed with the emotions it brought on. “I guess I still have some unresolved daddy issues, huh?”

Addison giggled. “Might be a slight understatement.”

“Look who’s talkin’,” I replied. There was no heat behind my words, though. Addison was already making me feel better.

“Tell me something. You rejected that sexy specimen and fell head over heels for my brother. Why?”

“Addie, Asher is mighty fine.”

“Duh, we’re related,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “But spill. Tell me what really made you fall for him.”

“Are you sure you want to hear this right now?”

She cocked her head and glared at me. “I asked, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but with everything going on between you and Jake, maybe now isn’t the best time to discuss—”

“Dylan Linn James, I am having a bit of a crisis of faith in love here. I need my best friend to reassure me that there is still some form of real love out there, or I swear to Buddha I will join a nude commune and stop waxing.”

All righty then. It appeared Addison was going to learn all my secrets today. Seeing no way out of telling her, I started with, “Do you remember Ms. Hiatt?”

“From seventh grade? The one who hated you?”

The beginning of seventh grade had been brutal because of my teacher. She was from a wealthy family, the favorite teacher of all the wealthy kids, and she treated me like the scholarship kid I was. It seemed like the harder I worked in her class, the meaner she was to me. “Yep. She almost failed me, you know?”

“She did?” Addison asked. “What happened?”

“She said I didn’t turn in a midterm paper, but I did. I was so upset I left to hit the bathroom, but ended up walking out of school. I was ready to give up that day. It was so difficult and Ms. Hiatt was horrible.”

“I had no idea,” Addison said. “I mean, I know she hated you, but I didn’t realize she was bullying you.”

“That makes it sound so dramatic. She was just a grown-ass adult who was trying to fit in with the cool rich kids.” I snickered. “Looking back, I bet she was a total loser in high school. But anyway...Asher found me on his way to the library to study for his midterm. It was so embarrassing since I’d always had a crush on your hot big brother, and then he caught me crying in the bushes like a baby.”

Addison giggled. “He’s always had the craziest timing. It’s like he knows when someone needs him.”

I nodded. “Must be a lawyer thing. Anyway, after he coaxed me into telling him what was going on, he gave me some ideas for how to solve the problem and asked me what I wanted to do. It was the first time a guy—especially a drool-worthy guy—had ever asked me my opinion on anything.”

“He gave you ideas?” Addison asked.

“Yeah. He said I could pack up and go home, or I could do something about it. He even offered to help. He said he could get me out of the class if I wanted, or he could remind Ms. Hiatt she was a teacher.”

“What did you do?”

“Ash respected me, Addie. He didn’t force his solution on me like my dad or Dakota would have. I chose to stay in the class. He called the school and spoke to Ms. Hiatt, pretending to be your dad. He let her know I was important to your family and told her he was invested in my well-being.”

Addison laughed. “Ohmigod, that sounds just like Ashey. I can’t believe you two never told me about this.”

“He swore me to secrecy. And I knew right then and there I would do anything for him. I was done, Addie. After that, I knew he was it for me.”

Her eyes misted over and I felt like the biggest ass on the planet.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you all that,” I said.

“No. I needed to hear it.” She forced a smile. “Now, tell me where the heck we can go to eat? I’ve made three loops around this town and I’m starving.”

I laughed and directed her to the Happy Horse.

* * *

Addison

After we ate at the Happy Horse, a quaint deli and antiques shop in a house right on the highway and complete with plastic lawn furniture for the rustic outside dining experience, we headed back to the motel. By the time I walked into my room, I was wrecked. I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of my melancholy.

I told Dylan I was going to take a nap while she transcribed our notes and made a few phone calls, but the minute my head hit the pillow, tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t stop thinking about Dylan and Asher’s story. The way Dylan knew Asher was it for her...that’s how I’d felt about Jake. How could I have been so wrong about him? I checked my phone, but there were no missed calls or messages. Apparently he hadn’t felt the same.

“Asshole,” I grumbled, tossing my phone on the bed.

“Addie?” Dylan knocked on the adjoining door and pushed it open. “Hey, do you want—what’s wrong?”

I shrugged, looking away. “I don’t know, I’m just...blue I guess.”

She sat beside me and nudged my shoulder. “Missing Jake?”

I burst into tears, which was so totally unlike me, but I couldn’t seem to control myself. Dylan wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Oh, buddy, this is bad.”

“I love him, Dylan. I don’t know how I’m going to live without him...not that I plan to off myself or anything...”

“That’s good,” she grumbled.

“But I feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest, and I just want him to hold me, but first I want kick him in the goo-goo,” I sobbed, and buried my face in my hands. I heard Dylan snort quietly and I glared at her. “Don’t laugh. It’s not funny.”

“Goo-goo? Babe, it’s kind of funny.”

“You’re laughing at my devastation? Nice, Dylan.”

“No, I’m laughing because you said you want to kick Jake in the goo-goo.”

“Well, I do!” I snapped. “He’s a butt.”

She gave my shoulders a squeeze. “I know, buddy. He’s a total asshat.”

“Should I call him?”

“No, you should absolutely not call him.”

“But maybe if he hears my voice, he’ll realize how much he loves me and that he can’t live without me either.”

“Addison, I understand the desire to talk to him, but he’s got to be the one who calls you or you’ll look like a desperate and crazy stalker type.”

“But I am a desperate and crazy stalker type!”

“Crazy maybe, but you’re not quite at the desperate level yet. And I’ve never known you to stalk a guy.”

I slapped my chest. “You don’t know Dylan. It feels icky in here. I don’t like it.”

“I know,” she whispered.

I decided I’d had enough of my pity party, so I wiped my cheeks, shrugged off Dylan’s sympathetic arm, and rose to my feet. “Well, that’s enough of that. I’m going to distract myself from him and read something happy and romantic.”

“You do that, Addie. And I’m going to go finish working on this fat surprise I have planned for you. It’s guaranteed to cheer you up.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I hate surprises.”

“I know you do, but you’ll love this one. Now read your lovey-dovey mushy crap and let me get back to work.” She walked to her room and closed the door.