“Well, if it isn’t Cade Stone,” Julia said with a slight purr, almost abandoning her cart to stop directly in front of him. “Where have you been hiding yourself?” she said, running a finger down his arm.
“Not hiding and not interested,” he said clearly as he sidestepped her. She moved and blocked him easily. Since he wasn’t a monster, he didn’t push her aside but stood there letting her block his way.
“Julia, I’m pretty busy,” he warned.
“Oh, you’ve got time for me.” She pushed his basket to the side and tried to step closer to him.
In this area, he could defy her without being a jerk. He took a giant step backwards and moved his basket back between them.
“I’m involved,” he clarified. “You know that.”
“Oh, I hear people talking in town.” Julia waved her hand. “It’s just talk.”
“Not this time,” he clarified. “I’m with Raven.”
“That bitch?” Julia shook her head as if she were disappointed in him. “Everyone in town knows what she did all those years ago.”
“You’re pushing it.”
“Well, well, isn’t this a cozy scene,” he heard someone say from a few feet way.
Shit. He rolled his eyes. That’s all he needed. Another crazed woman to put on a show.
Heather Craft strolled towards them, a smile plastered on her face.
He took another giant step away from Julia when he realized just how close they were standing.
This time when he tried to pass Julia, she let him go to face off with Heather.
Since he was done with the drama, he grabbed the first bottle of wine he knew the label of and left. He happened to hear a few choice words as the two women squared off in the wine aisle—slut, whore, cheater. As he thought about their tones, he realized that the women weren’t fighting. They were gossiping. He didn’t know what worried him more. That they were friends or that they had decided to pool their evil powers together to face off against one common enemy. An enemy which just happened to be the woman he was in love with.
When Raven walked in the front door a few hours later, he had the entire dinner laid out on the table.
The moment she walked over to wrap her arms around him, he could see the weariness in her eyes.
“Problems?” he asked while holding onto her.
“We lost a stove today.” She leaned against the counter and took the wine glass he offered her.
“Lost it? Did it grow legs and run away?”
She smiled. “No, it died a slow and horrible death. Or so Tim has told me. He’s been complaining about it since he took over in the kitchen.”
“So, you’ll find a new one.” He shrugged.
“A restaurant grade stove costs close to five thousand dollars,” she replied with a slight groan.
“And you have how much left in your budget for items like that?”
She winced. “Three thousand dollars.”
It was his turn to wince. He picked up his wine glass and held it up to hers. “I have a few thousand in savings that I’m not doing anything with at the moment. You’re welcome to it.”
She stopped, frozen in place. “I will not take money from you.”
“Call it a loan.” He smiled. “I know you’re good for it.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Cade, I… can’t. I won’t be in debt.”
“You won’t be.” He wrapped his arms around her after taking her glass from her and setting it down. “There is no debt. You need a new stove. You get a new stove, and I get to help the woman I love.”
He felt her shaking her head.
“Don’t make me call my mother,” he warned with a chuckle. “Or bring out the big guns and call my grandmother.”
She laughed and the sound of it warmed him and confirmed that he’d won this round.
That night as they fell asleep holding one another, Raven whispered. “Thank you for the loan. I’ll pay you back as soon as the doors open.”
He smiled and held onto her. The truth was, he didn’t care if she ever paid him back.
There was no doubt in his mind that she was good for it. Just looking at the changes around the resort, he could imagine the place being packed full of skiers and guests the moment the first snowflake drifted to the ground.
The next morning, he woke before sunrise when his alarm went off.
“Training day,” he said when Raven groaned. “Go back to sleep.” He kissed her and rolled out of bed to get ready.
When he walked into the fire station, the morning mist still hovering over the ground, most of his men were already there, eager and ready to start the day.
Most early morning shifts started with donuts, coffee, and gossip. Today was different. Oh, there was still coffee and donuts, but instead of gossip, the conversation was filled with stories of past training events.
Everyone nervously sat around waiting for the training to begin. The moment the last crew member showed up, he called his team to attention. After a brief but thorough security briefing, everyone suited up and headed out.
The morning mist was long gone and the sun was just breaking over the hillside, heating everything up.
The five-story steel building sat on the edge of the fire house property. Just carting your own gear out to the tower wore out most of the youngest recruits.
Today, even he was breaking a sweat when they reached the building. At the end of the first drill, he was swimming in sweat, even though he hadn’t entered the tower himself yet.
The heat emanating from the building was enough to melt even the strongest of wills. He watched his crew closely, making sure each person who went inside came out and clocking the time that it took them to run through the course.
By lunchtime, they’d only made it through four crewmembers. His standard practice was to deal with the newbies first while the more experienced crewmembers looked on and helped.
Sitting in the field eating a cold sandwich and downing a soda with the rest of them, he realized just how much his life had changed in the past few months. He was on a totally different path than he had been before Raven had returned. Even though he still had the same home, the same career, his future was different.
The way he looked at life had changed. Before Raven, he’d been so sure of what he believed in. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d assumed she had something to do with the fire. With Reggie’s death.
Why had he allowed so many others to influence him? He listened to the people around him chatting and talking about the town and the people in it, alert for any talk about Raven or the murders.
It was as if the entire town was holding its breath. Waiting for something more to happen or for someone to confess. Like that was ever going to happen.
Whenever he spoke to his uncle about the murders, he grew frustrated. He knew Sean was doing his best to find out who was responsible, but he couldn’t help but think that, if they were in the city, if they had the resources of a larger community, that they would have answers by now.
“You heard about Roslyn and Colin?” someone said, gaining his attention. Looking around, he realized it was Kevin speaking.
“What, are they finally getting a divorce?” someone asked.
“Did they confess to the murders?” someone else added.