KNOX
Early the next morning, I made my way down the road. The perspective of Sarah coming over to help me unpack was nice. I hadn’t lied. She felt like a weird cross between a best friend and a little sister.
Plus, she was hot. Her proposition was unexpected, but I also couldn’t lie about wanting to get out. When we lived in Atlanta, I’d hardly gone out just because. Business functions with preplanned small talk, stupid dinners with clients… That was my life.
As I walked down the street, I realized Sarah hadn’t been very specific about where Dale Harris lived. As much as I thought I could rely on names on mailboxes, I quickly realized there weren’t many.
I saw a black-haired woman and a chocolate lab walking down the road, clearing my throat before smiling. “Hi. I’m looking for Dale Harris’ house. Someone mentioned…” I trailed off because she didn’t seem to be listening as she gave me a once-over.
“I’m Clare. Dale lives three houses to the right. You must be the new owner in thirty-two. It’s a nice house. I looked at it, too. Hope you’re settling in okay. Have a good day.”
And with that, she moved past me. She wasn’t friendly, but not exactly rude, either. I was startled for a moment, then shook my head and kept walking. At the house in question, I saw a guy and a little girl standing on the porch.
“You got your lunch?”
“Yes.”
“You got your pencils?”
“Yes, Daddy,” the little girl replied on a long sigh. I smiled to myself. When Callum was little, we’d gone through the same routine.
It was funny how we didn’t appreciate the comfort situations like this brought.
I cleared my throat, making the two look up. “I’m Knox Dyer, Mr. Harris—”
“You’re the new one down the street, aren’t you? I saw the trucks yesterday. Call me Dale. What can I do for you?”
While it was clear they were heading out, he still took the time to talk to me. I liked that. “I heard you work for a moving company and need more help.”
He arched a brow, looking me up and down. While I did visit the gym occasionally, I knew I could look buffer if I’d just put my mind to it.
“What did you do before?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. I couldn’t recall when I’d last had to be manly just to prove myself. My expensive suits usually would’ve done the job. “If you’re asking if I’d be able to handle the job, yes, I can. Should I lack strength, I’ll make up for it with effort. Listen, my son and I just moved here. I need work. Does your moving business need people or not?”
Something shifted behind his eyes. “You’re a single dad? What happened to his mother?”
“She was a…” I glanced down at the child. She was silent, eyes wide, clearly listening. “She was…not so nice a woman.”
Dale smirked, clearly having gotten the drift. “I feel ya, man. Leave your number and I’ll talk to my boss. When can you start?”
I shrugged. “Tomorrow?”
Dale chuckled. “I can tell you’re a good one. Welcome to the neighborhood.”
He held out his cell so I could save my number, then I stepped aside to let the two go. After they’d backed out of the driveway, I glanced around, wondering where Sarah’s house was. I didn’t know what it was about her that made me want to pick her up and walk her to my home. Unfortunately, no one was around, so I couldn’t ask anyone.
Then again, news seemed to travel fast here. I certainly didn’t want anyone to talk about us already.
Making my way back, I took a second to appreciate the sun and how nice it felt on my face. For years, I’d hardly known what kind of weather Atlanta had. Moving here wasn’t only Callum’s salvation, but mine, as well.
My life needed to slow down. I knew that better than anyone. While manual labor certainly would be hard on my body, I knew my heart and mind wouldn’t collapse under the stress.
“Morning there, boyfriend!”
I turned, spotting Sarah a few steps behind me. Her strawberry blonde hair seemed to shine even more than it had the day before. She beamed up at me, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, sweetheart.” I waggled my brows and led her up the porch steps of my house. I was tempted to place my arm around her, just to get her comfortable with my touch, but didn’t dare when the street surely had eyes.
When we stepped into the house, she paused by the door for a minute. I watched her listen to the silence, then she turned back to me.
“Callum not home?”
I shrugged, pushing her farther inside to close the door, then I gestured to the dining room. I should’ve finished unpacking the kitchen yesterday, but hadn’t. I didn’t know where the bone-crushing exhaustion came from, but some days, like yesterday, it took everything in me to make sure my son ate.
I focused back on Sarah. “He’s a teenager. Around two, you can ask if he considers getting up. Then he’ll just be hungry.”
There was no denying how much I wanted him to start school, but they’d decided it would be better to do it on a Monday, so I’d have to suffer through a few more days of him constantly around—and sullen.
Just when I’d finished that thought, he came down the stairs, skateboard in hand. “Hey, weird lady,” he greeted Sarah, ignoring me.
“Hey, Lanky,” she replied, and I saw him crack a smile.
“Hello, son,” I stated, but he just opened the door and walked out. I forced out a smile, but before I could say anything, Sarah wrapped her arms around me.
“I’m sorry. I guess they don’t call the teenage years the ‘asshole phase’ for nothing,” she whispered. I wondered if she could hear my heart speed up under her ear.
I kissed the top of head—no idea why—and stepped out of her embrace.
“Well, I have you to cheer me up, so let’s get to work. I have the kitchen stuff down here, or there are boxes upstairs. You know, books and shit.” I winked, hoping to ease the worry lines between her eyebrows. She cocked her head.
“It occurred to me this morning that I won’t be much help with the unpacking because I don’t know where you want anything, but I brought this.” She pulled something from the pocket of her sweatshirt, the device slim and slightly bigger than her palm. Seeing my questioning gaze, she smiled. “It’s a speaker, of course. Unpacking is more fun with music.”
Watching her, I couldn’t help but think that her mere presence made it better already.
* * *
SARAH
I sat on some boxes, singing along to the latest chart songs, while Knox unpacked box after box. Somehow, we’d ended up in his bedroom, and I hadn’t dared sit on the bed. Too intimate.
“Do you have siblings? If we’re dating, I need to know those things,” he stated casually, and I felt a thrill go through me at his words.
“Fake dating,” I pointed out, mainly because I needed to remind myself I didn’t know anything about the guy in front of me.
He arched a brow, then shrugged. “So tell me.”
“I have a big sister, Tanya, who lives across the country. Fort Lauderdale. My parents live down in Florida, too.” In fact, my whole family, including my grandparents, cousins, and aunts do, I thought.
“Why are you up here then?” His eyes were watchful as he’d stopped unpacking to look at me.
“We grew up in that house, but my family was ready to have sun all year, so they moved.”
Knox sat on the floor and rested back against his bed, drawing up one jean-clad knee. “Yet you’re still here.”
I nodded, trying to swallow down my emotions. It wasn’t that he didn’t know my secret—after all, the crows had made sure he did—but I never spoke about it.
“Penny’s buried here, so I can’t leave. Besides, I love fall and winter, so moving down there is not in the cards for me. You know, no snow.” I winked, willing him to grin, but his dark blue eyes were hooded with pain.
“Penny is your daughter?”
I stood, unable to stay seated when we talked about the one person who’d changed my life both for the better and the worse. “She was six weeks old when she died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. There’s no reason or method to it. I checked on her at one that night. When I went back at three because I couldn’t sleep, she wasn’t breathing anymore. I called nine-one-one. They walked me through resuscitation while the ambulance was on the way, but…” I shrugged. “Looking back, I recognized they knew there was nothing they’d be able to do.” I paced until he grabbed my wrist and drew me down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me. I hid my face against his shoulder. “I went through it all. Police, the coroner, everything, but I was numb. My boyfriend and I separated six months later. I didn’t care.”
I willed my mouth to stop, to be quiet, but my mind had other plans. “That was five years ago. For three years afterward, I didn’t care about anything. I worked and slept. Two years ago, I started hanging out with people again, just to be human, but… What the crows said is pretty much true. I haven’t cared about a man in years. Don’t see them, don’t notice them flirting, and if I agree to a date, nothing ever comes out of it.”
I was conscious of his lips pressed against my shoulder. The way he held me, one hand in my hair, I couldn’t help but think that no one had ever bothered to hold me like this. Almost as if he were trying to hold me together. It was impossible to fall apart when he was keeping all the pieces of me in place.
“Yet here you are with a boyfriend,” he teased, trying to make me smile.
It worked.
“Yes, definitely.” I pulled back, willing my heart to slow down, but he didn’t let me go far.
“Are you okay?”
His eyes searched my face, demanding honesty. I nodded.
After all this time, all these years, I finally felt like I would be okay.
* * *
KNOX
It was eleven p.m. when Callum decided to make an appearance again. I hadn’t seen him since Sarah arrived, and although I didn’t exactly worry that the town would be bad for him, I couldn’t keep myself from falling into old habits.
I refrained from calling out a greeting to him because I didn’t want to be disappointed if he didn’t answer. To my surprise, he sat next to me on the couch.
“Hey, Dad.”
He propped his feet up on the coffee table, and I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t snap at him. This was the first time in weeks he’d willingly sat down next to me and hadn’t sounded hostile.
“Son,” I replied, pointing over my shoulder. “I ordered Chinese earlier. You can have the rest.” I ordered a mix of our favorites, but knew he really didn’t have a preference when it came to food. As long as there was some.
“Thanks. So, you know, Sarah…”
I arched a brow because he’d called her by name. “Yes?” I glanced from the magazine I was reading up to his face—nearly choking at the crimson blush on his cheeks.
“She’s cool. And pretty. Will she be around, you know, more often? After all, you guys are fake dating.” His eyes were on his cellphone in his hand. The screen was dark, but he fidgeted with the device anyway.
“I should’ve known you were listening in. After all, your ears do work,” I teased. He gave me a half grin that reminded me of when he’d been younger. I couldn’t help smiling, despite not wanting to. “Yes, I’m going to play her boyfriend on Saturday, so we need to get to know each other in order for everyone to believe it. Why are you asking?”
“She’s cool.”
He’d said those words before. I blinked in surprise. “Wait,” I said after a moment. “When you say she’s cool, do you mean you’d like to have her as a step-mom and are giving me the okay, or are you saying…”
“She’s hot. Super hot. And funny. And nice,” he stated, blushing even more. I could almost feel the heat coming from his face.
“She’s also twice your age, son.” Despite the fact that the irony amused me, I was jealous because I considered her to be all of those things, too.
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She didn’t treat me like I was half her age. And I saw her looking at me.”
I rubbed my forehead. My son was majorly crushing on my new fake girlfriend—and I had to be the one to tell him that nothing would ever come of it.
I also had a feeling that meant, after Saturday, I should stay away from her until his infatuation passed; otherwise, he’d just construe everything I’d say as a way of trying to get him off her back.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, wondering how best to say what I had to say. “Listen, Callum—”
“I know you have a boner for her, Dad. I’m just saying all is fair in love and war.”
I coughed in disbelief, looking at him to see if he was joking. He was dead serious. I briefly considered reminding him whom he was talking to and how he should be careful with what he said, but I was too surprised by his declaration of…
Of what? Had he ushered a challenge?
I knew for a fact there was no chance in hell Sarah would think of him that way, but I couldn’t help but think Callum would end up hating both of us for a while.
In the end, the lawyer in me decided to change tactics, knowing if you couldn’t win with force, you needed to try sympathy. “What if I really like her, Callum? What if I haven’t liked anyone the way I like her?” My voice was soft, my tone calculated, but my son saw right through me.
“Do you like her unlike anyone before?”
He knew I’d been bluffing and called me on it. “I don’t know her well enough for that, son, but it could happen,” I replied, hoping it would be enough.
He stood. “Well, Dad, may the better man win. Just remember to not be a sore loser, okay?” He waggled his brows and walked toward the kitchen, probably to eat the rest of the Chinese, while I couldn’t help but think he was nothing more than a boy.
I combed my hand through my hair, deciding to call it a night now that I knew he was home safely.
When my cell rang, I jumped. I’d been used to late-night calls, but since I wasn’t at any CEO’s beck and call anymore, it surprised me.
“Dyer.”
“Oh, good. You’re still up. It’s Dale. Sorry for calling so late. Sally didn’t want to go to sleep.”
“That’s no problem. What’s up?”
“You’re in. If you want, you can start tomorrow. I’ll pick you up the first day, okay? Boss said you’ll be paired up with someone who’ll show you the ropes, so you’ll be glued to someone’s ass the first few days, but after that, it’ll be smooth sailing.”
I smiled to myself. “What time?”
“Eight,” Dale replied.
“I’ll be ready. And thank you.” I was about to hang up when I remembered something. “Oh, do you need me to tell you the exact—”
Dale chuckled. “I know where you live, so no need to worry. I’ll see you then.”
And with that, we hung up.
I considered sending Sarah a message to thank her for having suggested Dale, then thought better of it.
We’d exchanged numbers in case either of us suddenly thought of something they had to know in order to make our “date” believable, but this would’ve been different.
I’d have texted her just because I wanted to share my good news with someone, but after the talk with Callum, I suddenly couldn’t be as easy-going as I’d wanted.
I made my way up the stairs, stopping in the hallway when I heard my son coming up, as well, still chewing.
“I’m starting work tomorrow. You’ll have to—”
“I’ll be fine. If Sarah comes over to help with the rest of the unpacking, I’ll be here. No worries, Dad.” He smirked at me.
I gritted my teeth. Besides the fact I’d asked him to help me unpack several times and he refused, I didn’t want those two alone because Sarah had no idea what any nice gesture would do to my son.
I’d been sixteen once and remembered having crushes. I also remembered thinking every smile, every sultry look had been about me. It would be the same thing Callum would turn Sarah’s niceness into, and she’d be walking right into it.
“She won’t come. She works tonight and said she’ll be tired in the morning, so she wouldn’t drop by. Especially because I told her I’d be picking new color for the dining room walls.” Which had been my intention, but that had to wait now.
“I know she works. I saw her.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Saw her?”
He sighed, as if I were slow. “Yeah. She passed by the skatepark in her police cruiser.”
“Police cruiser?”
Now Callum actually laughed. “Why did you think she asked you to the police ball? Why would she be hosting it if she weren’t on the force?” His eyebrows nearly vanished into his hairline when he realized I hadn’t thought she could actually be a cop. “God, Dad. What did you think she did down there?”
“Secretary work, maybe nine-one-one operator. I thought…” Yeah, I’d thought she’d be behind a desk. Nice and simple, safe.
Callum shook his head. “Someone as smart and fit as her? Even I realized instantly that she wasn’t a dumb, blonde vacuum.”
Sometimes it’s as if he’s speaking another language. “A what?”
He shrugged. “You know. One of those dumb blondes who kneel to suck off whoever packs an important dick. She’s much better than that.”
“Language.” The word was barely more than a whisper because I couldn’t help but think about Sarah.
She carried a gun and was out on the streets. How dangerous could Eden be? We hadn’t seen much more than the suburbs, but was there a part you didn’t want to walk through at night?
Callum nudged my shoulder. “You okay, old man? You’re a little pale.” There was amusement in his voice.
I shook my head, forcing a grin. “Careful who you’re calling an old man,” I replied with humor I didn’t really feel, then sighed. “Police work is dangerous, even if you’re athletic and whatnot. That’s all.”
Something flashed in Callum’s eyes, but he just cocked his head, shaking it a second later.
“You’re getting soft. Good night.”
He walked into his room, leaving me alone in the hallway again, surprised about the amount of words I’d exchanged with my son that day.