Chapter Two

 

Colton

 

 

 

I’m going to kill my sister.

She has such a way of sweet-talking me into situations I don’t want to be in. When she asked me to pick up her best friend from the airport, I imagined I’d be dealing with the giggling, innocent girl I vaguely remembered from way back, not the stunning redhead whose arms are now wrapped tightly around me. I hope she’s not staying for too long, because I can tell she’s going to be trouble, and trouble is the last thing I need right now.

Merely getting her to come with me was a challenge on its own. I think she thought I was going to do something bad to her, and then she got scared when she saw my beast of a vehicle. That’s what she called my motorcycle. A beast. It’s both funny and endearing.

Anyway, I don’t care how fun she looks to hang around with. I can’t be late for work, something I kept repeating to my sister this morning. But since she knows I can’t say no to her when she throws me her desperate puppy-eyes look, I caved.

The closer we get to Summerville Creek, the fresher the air gets. That’s one thing I’ll miss once I move away from the coastal town I grew up in. The ocean breeze has a way of calming the mind like nothing else. Still, I long for a quiet place up in the mountains. Some small town where I can start a life of my own, not weighed down by my family’s past.

We enter Summerville Creek, and I steer the motorcycle through the familiar streets. As I take the last corner before arriving at Elle’s new home, I inhale long and hard and a smile spreads over my face. I’ll never get tired of this amazing view. The house glows in the early morning sunlight. Behind it, a path winds down toward the beach where a couple of joggers are running next to the shoreline. A colony of seagulls circle above the waves, probably looking for a salty snack to start off their day.

I park my bike and extend my hand to Elle to help her get off. She takes off her helmet, shaking out her red locks. I hold her gaze, and she gives me a heart-stopping look, her smile reaching all the way to her eyes. Phew. I’m going to have to stay out of her way, and I will. Messing around with my sister’s best friend is not my M.O. Maggie would kill me, just like she swore she would after I spent an amazing night with one of her other friends many years ago. Not that anything happened. Maggie made sure our date was cut short by calling me with an emergency. I rushed home straight away to protect my little sister from what turned out to be an acute shortage of clean towels. She hadn’t even showered yet, and the dryer was beeping to indicate a fresh load was ready!

I untie Elle’s sports bag and follow her gaze to the neighbors’ front yard.

She squints. “Do you know the people living there?”

“Why?” I ask with faux surprise. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?”

She steps closer and whispers, “I swear I just saw a woman entering through a hatch in the ground, wearing a tinfoil hat.” She turns to me with wide eyes. “Am I hallucinating?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

A nervous look crosses her face. She blinks a few times, and I can’t keep from laughing.

“I’m just messing with you,” I say. “The woman you saw is called Jane and yes, she does go around wearing a tinfoil hat. She and her husband Jerry are doomsday preppers. They believe the world will end soon, and aliens will take over those living aboveground.”

She shakes her head, her eyes sparkling with laughter. “Good one, Colton.”

“I’m afraid it’s true. You’ll find out soon enough.”

She opens her mouth to say something but is cut short by Maggie’s enthusiastic screams.

“Elle!”

The front door slams open, and my sister comes running down the stairs. Elle pulls her attention away from me and the doomsday preppers at the sound of Maggie’s voice. Her face lights up when she sees my sister. As they hug, I swear I can even see some tears pooling in her eyes. The girl must be pretty happy to be back home.

“Come on, I made us breakfast,” Maggie says.

“That’s my cue to go,” I say. “You girls have fun catching up.”

Maggie puts her hand on her hip. “No way, I set the table for three.”

“No can do, sis. I’ve got to get to work.”

“But you haven’t eaten anything yet.”

I shrug. “I’m not hungry. Besides, I don’t want to be late. You know how Frank gets when his employees show up late, especially Prince Charming.”

“It’s a fifteen-minute drive, and you’ve got an hour before your shift starts. You’ll make it.”

I grunt. Maggie and her ways of making me do whatever she’s got planned. I don’t know how she does it, but I swear it’s a trait nature reserved exclusively for younger sisters.

“Didn’t you have an emergency at work?” I ask in a weak attempt to avoid her questions.

“You know me, fixed it in half an hour. Let’s go,” she says, the look in her eyes leaving me no option but to give in to her demands.

“Fine,” I say, following the girls up the steps of the house. “I’ll stay.”

It’s not that I don’t want to have breakfast with them, but eating together means having to chat and that’s something I’m not in the mood for. I don’t want Maggie to start asking questions about Julie. Her undoubtedly disappointed reaction is not something I feel like stomaching this early in the day.

I close the door behind us and make my way to the kitchen. The small round table is set with matching plates and folded napkins. I didn’t even know we had a tablecloth, but it’s right there, crisply white and ironed. She has pushed our side table next to the kitchen table, and it’s overflowing with delicious-looking treats from croissants and donuts to fruit salad and granola. Maggie went all out.

“Wow, this looks amazing,” Elle says.

I whistle. “It does. When did you do all this?”

“I didn’t really have a work emergency,” Maggie says, a pinch of embarrassment briefly crossing her face. “I just wanted to give my best friend a great welcome home breakfast.”

“That’s so sweet of you,” Elle says, pulling my sister into another hug before sitting down.

“Aren’t you glad you stayed after all?” Maggie asks me.

“You know me so well, sis,” I say as I grab a croissant.

I pick up a knife to cut it open and butter it when Elle’s gaze meets mine.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you with this knife,” I say with a wink.

She smiles sheepishly, and I swear her cheeks color pink. It’s only a subtle change, but noticeable, nonetheless.

Maggie throws us a questioning look while pouring three cups of coffee. “Kill her?”

Elle laughs. “Yeah, I got a bit paranoid when you didn’t show up at the airport. I thought your brother was a creep on the hunt for a new victim. I might’ve asked an older couple to pretend to be my parents so I could get away from him.”

Maggie snorts, her coffee spilling from her mouth. “You didn’t.”

“I’m afraid so. Seriously, I acted like a complete fool. I was surprised your brother still wanted to take me home after that.” Elle snorts with laughter, making me laugh as well. I appreciate a girl who doesn’t take herself too seriously.

“If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have met my beast,” I tease. “I couldn’t let you miss out on that opportunity, now could I?”

Maggie’s eyes grow wide. “Met your what now?”

I shrug as I tuck into my buttered croissant. “I’m not the kind of guy who blabs about that kind of stuff, sis, you know that.”

She gives me a syrupy-sweet look. “Did you show Julie your beast yesterday?”

“Not this again,” I say, hoping she won’t push the issue, but of course my sister never knows when to stop meddling.

She turns her attention to Elle. “Colton went on a date yesterday. I just know they hit it off, right, Co?”

I shake my head. “Nothing happened. Nothing will happen, sorry.”

Maggie’s delighted look falters. “Why not?”

“I told you before you set me up with her. She’s not my type. We’ve got nothing in common. She even thought I dress like Prince Charming outside of work. Like… come on. That’s ridiculous.”

“What? So just because she doesn’t know about your clothing preferences, you write her off?”

I put my food down and sigh. “You know that’s not it.”

“I’m sorry, but who is Prince Charming and why are you wearing his clothes to work?” Elle asks.

“I work as Prince Charming at the amusement park.”

Her mouth drops open. “The Magic Wonderland? Where I used to spend all of my summers?”

“Bingo.”

She snickers. “And this girl thought you dress like him… for real?”

“See?” I ask, looking at Maggie. “Elle gets what I mean.”

“Fine. There are other girls you can date. Ones who have a sense of what’s normal and what isn’t. In fact, this girl at work would be perfect for you. I can set you up with her this weekend,” she says, already swiping and typing on her phone.

I hold my hands up. “Maggie, stop, please. You’re portraying me as some sort of player or serial dater.”

“You did go on a lot of dates the past few months.”

“Only because you set me up every single time,” I say in a voice that’s louder than I meant it to be. “If it were up to me, I’d stop dating altogether. At least, as long as I’m still around. I don’t want to spend the time I have left here trying to find a girl.”

Elle’s jaw drops. “The time you have left? What do you mean? Are you dying?”

“No, I mean as long as I’m still in Summerville Creek,” I say with a chuckle. “Of course, with that beast of mine, I do live on the edge.”

Elle leans in closer. “Did you know that you’re thirty-five times more likely to die in a motorcycle accident than a car accident? You might never even make it out of Summerville Creek if you’re not careful.”

I frown. “Actually, I didn’t know that. You’re scaring me.”

“Oh, and don’t forget taking selfies,” she adds. “More people die while taking selfies than the amount of people who die after a shark attack.”

“So, taking a selfie while driving my motorcycle over a shark-filled body of water would double my chances of death?”

“Quadruple. At least,” she says with a grin.

“How do you know all this?”

She shrugs, scooping some granola onto her spoon. “I have a thing for weird statistics.”

“I must say that’s an interesting skill to have. You never know when a statistic can save someone’s life.”

She gives me a soft kick under the table. “Watch it, mister. Data is power.”

Maggie clears her throat. “Is there a statistic about older brothers talking about statistics for too long and being late for work?”

I let out a laugh. “Subtle, sis, real subtle. But yeah, I should get going.”

I flick my gaze to Elle, who’s scooped the last of her granola out of her bowl. “I think I’m going to do some unpacking and lie down for a bit. Breakfast was yummy, though. We’ll catch up later today?” she asks Maggie.

“Sure thing.”

She then turns to me with a smile that makes my stomach do a somersault. The kind of smile you don’t expect but hits you right in the heart and pushes you off-center for a nanosecond. “It was nice meeting you again, Colton.”

“Yeah, you too, Elle.”

I watch her leave the room with her bag in tow, unable to tear my eyes away from her.

“Don’t even think about it,” Maggie says, pointing her fork in my direction.

“About what?”

She rolls her eyes. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“Actually, I don’t.”

She crosses her arms. “So, you don’t want to date Julie, but you’re fine with gawking at my best friend?”

“Wow, you’re unbelievable. I’m not gawking. I’m not into her, okay? Don’t worry.”

“You’re not into her? Why not? What’s wrong with Elle? You’d be lucky to have her,” she counters.

I frown. “Nothing’s wrong with her.”

“So, you do want to try something with her? Because that ship is not going to sail.”

I shake my head. Women are unbelievable. You tell them A, they hear B. How am I supposed to have a normal conversation when everything I say gets misinterpreted?

I get up to rinse my plate in the sink. “Stop putting words into my mouth. Sure, your friend looks good and she’s a nice person, but no, I won’t try to date her. Happy?” I ask, as I turn off the faucet and grab a kitchen towel.

“Promise?”

I roll my eyes. “I promise. Good?”

“I guess.”

“Besides, why are you so against me dating your friends?” I ask. I turn around and lean against the counter, throwing her an expectant look. “Not that I want to,” I quickly add before she accuses me of something I didn’t say again.

“You’ll break her heart and then things will get awkward.”

I scoff. “Break her heart? It’s good to know you think so highly of me. Thanks for trusting me.”

I push away from the counter and grab my helmet, but before I can reach the door, Maggie stops me, the look in her eyes softening. “Look, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I just don’t want Elle to get her heart broken again. She’s been through enough these last few months.”

“Fair enough.”

“Have a great day at work, Co,” Maggie says. “We’ll talk later.”

“Later, Mags.”

I step back into the warm morning air and get on my bike. Even though I promised my sister I wasn’t interested in her best friend, I can’t stop thinking about our first encounter in years. Elle is funny and charming. She’s like a breath of fresh air blowing through this town. And I’ve never met a woman I could talk to so easily.

Then again, I know I can’t date her. At all. I’m so close to reaching my savings goal to buy myself a house in the mountains. I’m not planning on backtracking now. Especially not for a girl I just met.