The night before, after storming out of the haunted house and walking the thirty minutes back to Josie’s house, Amber half expected Cole to be waiting for her. She wasn’t sure whether she was relieved that his truck wasn’t in the driveway or disappointed. But when after going inside, making herself a peanut butter sandwich and taking another hot shower, he still wasn’t back, she’d given up hope that he would walk through the door and apologize.

Did he even need to apologize? Should she be the one to say sorry? The questions rolled through her head on a continual loop all night. She’d lain awake in Josie’s bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to make sense of what had happened in the haunted house. What had Cole been saying before she’d gotten mad? And why had she gotten so upset?

She at least knew the answer to that one. She was upset because he’d called her out. And he had no right to do that.

Or did he?

Maybe he had a point. Maybe she shouldn’t have taken the job. But what was her other option? She didn’t have any. And it’s not as though Cole were offering any alternatives.

And even if he did, what they had wasn’t real. It was two days of fun. That wasn’t enough to base any decisions on. Amber was smarter than that. She was safer than that.

With so much rolling through her head, it was a surprise that she’d been able to get any sleep at all. Her alarm went off at seven the next morning, and she woke disoriented, groggy, and shocked that she’d managed even a few hours. The urge to pull the covers over her head and ignore the world was strong. But Josie would be home in less than an hour after catching an early flight, and ignoring Josie was never an option.

She would definitely need coffee to get through the day. Before she left the room, Amber took her time dressing in jeans and a clean sweater. She tied her hair in a braid so tight it hurt. Cole liked her hair down. More the reason to keep it pulled back. That way, if he was downstairs…what? She couldn’t even finish the thought. Part of her wished with every fiber in her that he would be sitting at the table with a fresh pot of coffee, but the logical part of her knew he wouldn’t be.

Sure enough, by the time Amber pulled together enough courage to go downstairs, she walked into an empty kitchen. There was no sign of him anywhere. More than that, there was no indication that he’d even come home the night before.

Where would he go?

He didn’t know anyone else in Sapphire Falls and she hadn’t noticed any motels. Even if there was one, it was likely all booked up because of the fall festival.

Should she be worried about him? No. A man like Cole, so full of adventure…he’d be fine.

“He probably found someone to go to Midnight River Nookie with.” Amber spat out the words and instantly wished the idea hadn’t popped into her head. She knew Cole wasn’t a monk, but the idea of him with anyone else hurt her in a way that she’d never felt before.

Sick to her stomach, she managed to prepare a pot of coffee and a meager breakfast of toast that she only picked at. She didn’t even realize how long she’d been sitting at the table, staring into her half-empty coffee mug until the front door opened.

Amber jumped up, splashing coffee all over the table and her sweater.

“Cole?”

The second his name was out of her mouth, she regretted it. No way did she need him thinking she’d been sitting around waiting for him.

“It’s me.” Josie’s voice rang out.

Amber quickly swiped her hands over her hair and pushed up from the table to meet her friend. “Josie. Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” She pulled her into a hug and squeezed tight.

Amber wrapped her arms around her friend and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying the unexpected tears that threatened.

When she pulled away, Amber took a good look at her friend. She looked the same. Only better, and she told her so. “You’re early.” Amber led the way back into Josie’s kitchen. “I didn’t expect you until…” She glanced up at the stove and saw that it was already after ten.

“You didn’t expect me until now?” Josie laughed. “I’m actually very impressed that the flight was on time and I got out of there so fast. It was seamless. When is travel ever seamless?”

“Never.” Amber laughed. It was good to see Josie and it was very good to have her there with her now to keep her out of her head so she couldn’t keep thinking about—

“Cole!” Josie turned in a circle and hollered her brother’s name again before she looked at Amber. “Where’s my big bro? Don’t tell me you chased him off.”

She knew Josie was only kidding, but her words hit way too close to home. Amber forced a very fake laugh and busied herself getting her a cup of coffee.

“Seriously,” Josie asked. “Where is he? I’m dying to see him.”

Amber took a deep breath and handed her the mug of coffee. “You know what…I don’t actually know where Cole is. He didn’t come home last night, so I assume he met someone in town and—”

“Of course. That sounds just like him. He’s never lonely long. Didn’t I tell you to keep him away from the women? I should have known he’d—”

“I don’t need to hear about it.” She knew she was being ridiculous. Especially to Josie, who would have no way to know that her best friend had hooked up with her big brother. And Amber definitely wasn’t about to say anything. But at the same time, she really didn’t want to listen to how he was a total player who wouldn’t have a cold bed for very long. That she definitely didn’t need to hear. “We should probably get some work done around here, right? I mean, you do have a pretty short deadline, right? You might as well use me while you can.” Amber forced a cheer into her voice she certainly didn’t feel. “What should we do?”

Josie eyed her suspiciously and for a moment Amber was pretty sure she was going to call her on her weirdness. But finally she nodded, followed by a smile. “I have just the thing.” She walked down the hall and admired the floor, or lack thereof, and the piles of baseboards and trim Amber and Cole had made in the living room. “You guys did a bunch,” she said. “Thank you. But I have a feeling that today’s project is going to be perfect for you right now. Wait here.”

She left to go outside, likely to the shed, and Amber let out the breath she’d been holding in. She hated lying to her best friend, but she wasn’t really lying if she just didn’t say anything, right? Besides, as of tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter anymore.

Something in her chest ached at the thought of leaving. But there really wasn’t another option. Unexpected and completely unwanted tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She sniffed hard and forced herself to pull it together just in time for Josie to walk back inside.

She handed Amber a sledgehammer. “Here.”

“What’s this for?” Amber took the hammer and eyed her friend warily.

“Look, I know you, Amber. I don’t know why yet, but I can see that you clearly need a little therapy session. We don’t need to talk about it right now,” she added quickly, silencing Amber’s protest before she could speak it. “There’ll be time to talk about it later but I assume it has something to do with a man and I gotta tell you, that Randy isn’t worth any angst at all.” She caught herself and smiled. “But seriously, we’ll talk about the douche later. For now, it’s time for the next project.” She walked through the house to the living room.

Amber followed, ready to cry again—this time because she had such a good friend who knew her so well. “What’s the next project?”

“This.” Josie stopped in front of the wall that separated the tiny living room from the kitchen. “This wall needs to come down. Are you up for it?”

Amber eyed her friend and when she saw that she was serious, a small smile crept over her face. She hefted the hammer over her shoulder. “Absolutely.”

* * *

Cole had spent the morning walking around the booths of the fall festival in the square. He’d had at least three cups of apple cider and was only narrowly able to talk himself out of having to bob for apples. The little girl running the booth was very persistent, and it was hard to say no to six-year-olds in pigtails. But he was in no mood to bob for anything. What he was really in the mood for was some more of that Booze, but he purposely avoided that booth because no good would come from him drinking that delicious beverage before noon on a Sunday. Besides, every time he saw the jars, he thought of Amber and their hay ride. It was stupid to have memories with her after one night, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t stop thinking about her at all.

After she’d stormed out of the haunted house the night before, he knew he should go after her. But what would he say? It’s not as if he could tell her that the last few days he’d spent with her had been some of the best days he’d had in years, maybe ever. He couldn’t tell her that the connection he had with her was unlike any he’d ever had with anyone else. And he definitely couldn’t tell her that he thought he might be falling in love with her.

No.

He couldn’t say any of those things. So he’d let her go. He’d cringed when the door slammed behind her and then a moment later, he’d looked through the window and watched her run down the street. Later, after enough time had passed, he’d driven past Josie’s house and seen the lights on in the upstairs bedroom. Satisfied that she was home safe, he spent the rest of the night driving around. He finally parked his truck in the parking lot of Dottie’s Diner and stretched across the front seat to get a few hours of sleep. Not that he managed to get any at all. Whenever he did manage to drift off, he was tortured by images of Amber’s face in his dreams. He’d woken before dawn, freezing in the cold cab, and spent the next few hours driving around before finally returning to the diner to grab some coffee. He’d been there ever since.

He knew it was only a matter of time before he’d have to go to the house. Josie was coming home and he was going to have to face Amber sooner or later. He’d apologize for basically calling her boring and predictable and hurting her feelings. He couldn’t even lie and say that he didn’t know why he’d said those things. He did. Everything he’d said was because he meant it. Not that Amber was boring. But that the life she was choosing was. She deserved more than that. She deserved fun and adventure and…

She deserved him.

He dropped his head into his hands and stared at the tabletop. He needed more time to figure out what he could say or do to somehow fix things. Not that he thought he’d be able to. Not really. The damage was done.

“Cole?” He popped his head up in time for Josie’s screech to pierce the air. “Cole!”

He jumped up from his chair and met her in the middle of the diner. He wrapped his arms around his baby sister and swung her around as best he could without knocking over the other patrons, who were starting to fill tables for the lunch rush.

“Josie. It’s so great to see you. What are you doing here? When did you get back?”

She pulled back and whacked him on the chest. “I got home hours ago. Nice of you to be there to greet me. And you didn’t even answer your phone. I’ve been calling you all morning.”

“Sorry.” He shook his head and gestured to his little table. “I’ve been here. I should have called, Josie. I’m so sorry.”

“No,” she corrected him. “You should have come to the house. Are you scared of Amber or something? I know she can be a bit fierce when she’s in a mood, but she’s doing a lot better now that I’ve had her bashing down walls all morning. I may not know much, but I certainly do know how to work out man problems.”

“Man problems?” No way did Amber tell his sister about them. But why wouldn’t she? After all, Josie was her best friend and Amber was really pissed. “What kind of man problems?” He flinched a little bit, waiting for the answer, but breathed a sigh of relief when Josie answered.

“We haven’t even talked about it yet, but I assume it’s that stupid ex of hers. I mean, he was a total douche and I really don’t think she’s dated anyone since him. If you ask me, he didn’t even deserve the time he did spend with her. Amber’s a pretty special woman and—”

“She is.”

Josie stopped and stared at him. She wasn’t stupid and she knew her brother really well, despite the distance they’d had between them over the last few years. “That’s right,” she said slowly, watching him carefully. “I forget that you’ve met Amber before and of course, you just spent the last few days with her.” He nodded. “So where were you last night, brother?”

Cole didn’t have the energy to pretend and there didn’t seem to be any point to it anyway. “We had a fight.”

“You had a fight? With Amber?”

He looked around and for the first time wondered what his sister was doing in the cafe in the first place. Was Amber with her? “Where is Amber anyway? What are you doing here?”

“I came to grab some lunch for us. Amber’s at home.” Josie stepped in front of him so he had to focus. “I left her bashing a wall down with a sledgehammer to work out some of her feelings that she’s clearly having about a man and please tell me that man is not you, Cole.”

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to.

“Cole.” She smacked his chest with both hands. “No. Please tell me that you’re not the reason Amber is back at my house having a whole lot of feelings.”

A whole lot of feelings? Because of him? He sat heavily in the chair and dropped his head into his head.

“No, Cole.” Josie sat across from him. “Just, no.”

They sat in silence for a moment before his sister spoke. “Tell me what’s going on.”

He looked up and nodded. “I think I’m falling in love with her.” Josie’s mouth opened in surprise but she didn’t say anything, so he continued. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s not really if you think about it. The last few days have been…well, it doesn’t matter anyway, because she hates me now.”

“I don’t think she hates you. But if the way she’s swinging that hammer is any indication, she definitely has some strong feelings for you.”

“Do you think?”

Josie shook her head. “I’m not doing this, Cole. I’m not getting in the middle of anything that the two of you have going. I’m not totally sure that I like the idea of the two of you…well, the two of you at all. But that being said, regardless of what’s going on, I’m not getting involved.” She took a breath and then added, “Well, I’m not getting involved beyond saying one thing.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “And what’s that, little sis?”

She smiled, but then it faded as she grew serious and grabbed his hand across the table. “Whatever’s going on with you two, if it means anything…even if you only think it might mean something, don’t screw it up, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“I mean it, Cole. Amber is a good woman. She’s not one of your little—”

“I know, Josie. She’s so much more.”

“She is. And so are you.”

He nodded. “I’m not going to screw it up, but I might need your help.”