I stared at the boxes, gripping my bag to my side, still smelling of smoke and hoarse from the entire ordeal. “Mason?”

He set Ty down, and the puppy gave a little bark and padded over to my side, jumping up and licking at my knees. Mason still didn’t answer me. He tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and glanced over his shoulder at the boxes, then back at me.

“Mason?”

“I was going to get this all squared away before you came over,” he said.

“Huh?”

“The boxes. You weren’t supposed to see them.”

“OK. What the hell? Why not?” I remained exactly where I was in the doorframe with Ty now sitting at my side. He whined, lay down, and rested his little head on my foot. “Are you moving?” I asked again.

Mason cleared his throat, then put out his palms as if I were a wild animal he needed to calm down. I wasn’t even mad, just confused. This didn’t make sense. We’d spent the past month getting to know each other, slowly becoming more than just friends having fun. We’d gone on dates. He’d invited me over to celebrate with him tonight.

Why the hell would he be packed and ready to go? Though, judging by some of the stuff that spilled from the boxes, he wasn’t fully packed. Just in a rush to get there.

“No,” Mason said, still with his palms up. What the hell is that about?

“OK, then why are you packed up to go?”

“Let me explain,” Mason said and moved closer to me. I stood my ground, but there was a strange sensation seated deep in my chest. It reminded me of…finding out that Kieran was cheating on me. It felt like betrayal.

“Go ahead,” I said, waving my free hand through the air between us. My throat still killed, but it didn’t matter right now.

“I was planning on moving before you came to town. I wanted out of Stoneport because of Perry and Tabitha and all the crazy shit that went down here. Just wanted to leave and forget, but then I walked by your house and saw you.”

“And that changed?”

Mason let out a low sigh. “Not for a while,” he replied. “I’ll be honest with you, when we were messing around, before things started going down this road, I still had my mind set on packing up and leaving. But, Becca, each day I spent with you just made me want to stay. Being around you is like—”

I put up my hand. “Wait one damn second,” I replied. “You still wanted to leave. When did you change your mind? When did you officially decide you weren’t going to move?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, it matters.”

“Becca, me leaving had nothing to do with you. It wasn’t like I wanted to run away from you or some shit.”

I folded my arms again, staring him down, that horrid feeling in the center of my chest amplifying by the second. “But you did sleep with me without telling me that you might be gone the very next day.”

“It was never like that,” he said, firmly. “I would never fuck you and then leave the next day without another word. I’m not that type of man.”

The warnings that Kathy had given me echoed somewhere in the back of my mind. The history lesson on what had happened with his ex, that he’d left her in Stoneport, came too, even though they were irrational. They weren’t good examples of who he was as a man, as a person.

Oh yeah, then why was he planning on leaving again? Why didn’t he just tell you from the start?

“Really?” I asked at last, tilting my head to one side. “Mason, I’ve been through a lot today. I’d appreciate it if you’d cut the crap and just tell me the bottom line here. When did you supposedly change your mind about leaving? Shoot, when did you decide it would be a good idea not to tell me you’d even planned on moving away? We’ve been seeing each other for what, five, six weeks now? Talking about our dreams, me blabbing on about owning a restaurant or starting a bed and breakfast someday…” I sucked in a breath. “I always wondered why you were so mute about your future. About where you wanted to work next. Now I see why.”

“It’s not like that,” he repeated. A broken record. Couldn’t he just level with me here?

“Tell me the truth,” I said. “Stop blocking me out. I need to understand what’s going on.”

“I was going to leave. I decided not to a few weeks ago.”

“When exactly?” I asked. This wasn’t just important. This was everything. How long had he been keeping this from me? How long had he been pretending that he was interested in what I had to say, all the while planning some weirdass escape into the sunset? “Did you want me to see this?”

It wasn’t irrational for me to be upset about this. We weren’t technically dating, but we’d spent more than a month together. Even if we’d just been friends and nothing else, I would’ve expected a heads-up. That was what people in any form of a relationship did. They let each other know when something big was about to happen in their lives.

That was fucking normal.

But nothing about my relationship or friendship with Mason had ever been normal.

“I don’t fucking know, Becca. Two weeks ago, three weeks ago?”

“And you didn’t think to tell me any of this?” I asked.

“It wasn’t important. What difference does it make now? I decided to stay. I decided that what we had going on was more important than following through on anything else.”

“What’s anything else?” I asked.

“A job. I had an opportunity in Vermont lined up, but I put it off. I called them and told them—”

“Mind blown,” I said. “I—wow. Wow.”

“For you, Becca. All I’ve done is for you.”

“How can I possibly know that?” I asked. “Your boxes are still out here in the hall. How do I know that you’re not still moving away tomorrow? How can I possibly trust anything you’re saying right now?” Hysteria built in my chest, that feeling of betrayal too big now to bury down. It clouded my thoughts, my judgment, overtook everything.

“Are you fucking kidding?” Mason growled, his sharp, intelligent eyes burrowing into my resolve. “I just ran into a motherfucking burning building to save you, Becca. If you can’t figure out what kind of man I am after this past month…”

“I thought I knew what kind of man you were until I walked into this house. I don’t know why I even care,” I said, throwing up my arms, my bag slamming into my side. “I mean, it’s like you said. It’s nothing serious. We’re nothing. It probably doesn’t matter that you didn’t tell me you were moving. I probably have no right to be angry with you. But I am. I am so fucking mad at you I can’t even think straight right now. I need to go.”

“Becca, no. You can’t leave. You have nowhere to go,” he said and took hold of my hand, stunning me with that connection between us. I couldn’t handle any of it. I was still in pain and aching from the fire.

“Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a wilting flower,” I replied and tugged my hand from his grip. “I’ll be fine, Mason.”

“Becca.”

“No,” I said and bent, picking up Ty and pressing him to my chest. “No. Just no. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you for saving my life. I can never repay you for that. The carpentry, however, I’ll pay you for after I’ve saved up some cash from working at Betsy’s. I…think this is it for me.”

“Don’t let what happened in your past overwhelm what’s happening between us right now,” Mason said, not asking, but commanding. Commanding me to stop and listen and change my mind.

I shook my head. “Have a good evening. Don’t follow me, please.” I trudged out onto his front porch, burning with a mixture of pain and anger. There was confusion mixed in too. My tired brain tried putting the puzzle pieces together to form that bigger picture, but I couldn’t make sense of it now.

I needed time and space. I needed anywhere but here.

“Becca.”

I walked out the front door and down the steps, heading back toward the sidewalk. I’d put my keys in the bag of smoky clothes at my side, which meant that I could get in my beat-up VW—thank god I’d splurged on a battery for it—and hightail it over to a hotel. Maybe call my sister and ask for some advice.

Hopefully whatever hotel I went to would be dog-friendly, or I’d have to spend the night in the car with little Ty.

I strode down the sidewalk, refusing to look back, to feel anything, even though my heart was a brick weight in my chest. Every inch of my skin itched to turn back right now, to run back up the stairs and give Mason another chance, but I couldn’t do it.

Not after today, after the confusion of the fire and the reminder of what Kieran had done. How had I let myself trust again?

“Ugh,” I groaned, and Ty nuzzled the underside of my chin with his cold nose and whined softly. “It’s OK, Ty. We’re OK.” But as I said it, tears welled up and blocked my vision. A lump formed in my throat.

I hurried up to my gate, opened it, and walked up the drive toward the VW. Two minutes later, it was unlocked, and Ty was in the backseat. I bundled my bag onto the passenger’s seat and—

A hand closed around my arm. “There you are, you slippery little bitch.” The voice blasted me with the worst kind of nostalgia. Deep, throaty, and full of contempt. Kieran hadn’t changed, then. Not in that, at least. “Did you really think I’d let you get away for a second time? Did you? I should’ve ended you when I had the chance.”

He spun me on the spot, slammed me against the door, closing it so Ty could do nothing but bark inside.

Kieran wore a dark shirt and a pair of matching jeans, his hair slicked back in his classic fuckboy style. He was stringy, but strong as hell.

I jerked against him. “Let go of me, or I’ll call the cops.”

He sniggered at me. “Because that worked so well for you the last time. You ran away, baby girl. You ran away, and I still found you. You had to know I started that fire. You had to know. I’m surprised you didn’t set the cops on my ass. Why not, huh?”

I’d had my suspicions, but I’d never have been able to prove it. “What do you want, Kieran?”

“What do you think? I want you. I always wanted you. I told you I wouldn’t let you leave me.”

That conversation was blocked out. The memory was painful. He’d told me I belonged to him, and I’d told him that I was done. He hadn’t hurt me. He hadn’t screamed. He’d just burned down the restaurant around me, apparently, and I’d moved on.

“And if I can’t have you, then you’re worth nothing to me. And if you’re worth nothing to me, why should I let you live, huh?” He shook me against the car, slammed my back into it, eliciting another volley of barks from Ty.

I raised my knee and rammed it into his crotch.

He wheezed and doubled over. I aimed a kick for his head and let it fly, knocking him back a step. “Fuck you.” I opened my door again and tried getting into the car, but the thunder of footsteps across the lawn brought my focus up again.

Mason charged toward Kieran, the devil in his eyes, his fists coiled tight.