“Yeah,” Emmett said, “that’s why it’s sucks. You’ve lived there for two years, and you watch on your dinky laptop.”
Paige nudged him out of the kitchen. “Go do your homework before she changes her mind, you little punk.”
“And quit saying sucks,” Logan called after his retreating back.
“If that’s the worst he says at the age of ten, he’s doing better than we were,” I reminded him.
He rubbed his temples. “I listen to cursing athletes all day at work, and sometimes, I think the worst language I’ve heard came from the four of you as you were growing up.”
“That’s why you love us.”
“And that love is why I am going prematurely gray.” He sighed.
Paige patted his stomach. “My sexy silver fox,” she purred, leaning up for a kiss.
I could handle PDA from about two percent of the population, but when he grabbed her ass, I shuddered.
“And on that note,” I said, walking from the kitchen with a hand covering my eyes. “Bye, everyone,” I said, with a wave to the group at the table.
“You’re leaving already?” Molly asked with a pout. It did not escape my notice that Noah had slowly ripped off pieces of his bread to the point where she’d eaten his whole slice. No wonder she was nicer now.
“I’m beat,” I told her. “And I have to teach three classes tomorrow with Kelly gone.”
“I’m going to come work out with you,” Molly said after blowing me a kiss.
“’K. Just shoot me a text so it goes in the schedule. I don’t want anyone else booking me for a time that works for you.”
Lia made a pouting face. “Aw, I was hoping we could go through boxes after dinner and find all your I heart Aiden paraphernalia.”
The look I gave her had Lia cackling, but honestly, if she wanted a guarantee that I’d hightail it out of there, she’d just done it.
Because somewhere just up the stairs, she could find it if she looked hard enough. The metal box, with that damn letter, was in the spare room, no doubt underneath a pile of books and papers that Paige refused to organize. For a moment, I glanced up the stairs and thought about smuggling it out.
Maybe destroying the letter, seeing the ridiculous level to which I’d obsessed over him, would purge him from my system, and I could get back to normal. It sounded so good.
And so terrible.
I said the rest of my goodbyes and got an extra tight squeeze from Paige. But before I left the house, I paused, and without trying to overthink it, I took the stairs two at a time, striding straight for the spare room. It was a mess, but in the large bookshelf toward the back of the room, surrounded by spare furniture, clothes that needed to be donated, piles of toys, and all the random shit we’d accumulated over the years, I saw the black metal edge of the lockbox.
Holding my breath, I curled my hand around it and slid it out from underneath the pile of books that had hidden most of it. It was heavier than I remembered, and when I clutched it to my chest, I wished I could call Nan and tell her about Aiden. She wasn’t related to me since Logan and I didn’t share a mom, but in all the ways that mattered, she’d taken us under her wing after my dad—her ex-husband—died.
She’d want to know all about what I’d kept in the box in the years since she gave it to me. And why I wanted to hide this one thing away from everyone else.
With the box in my possession, I breathed out a sigh of relief and skipped lightly down the steps, sneaking out the front door before anyone even realized I’d gone up there.
The night air was warm and fragrant as I walked out to my car. The box went into the passenger seat, and for a moment, I studied it like I wasn’t sure what it was or how it got there.
My thumb traced the heavy circle of gold where the key, taped to the bottom of the box in a sandwich bag, would slide into place. With my luck, the thing had rusted shut, and I’d go the rest of my life knowing my teenage self could never fully get rid of the evidence of my crush on Aiden Hennessy.
Maybe I’d burn the whole damn box in that case.
Just as the thought crossed my mind and I realized how freaking crazy it made me sound, my phone started buzzing. When I pulled it out, I didn’t recognize the number on the screen, but it looked familiar enough that I answered.
“Hello?”
“I’m looking for Isabel Ward,” an unfamiliar male voice said.
“Can I ask who’s calling?”
He paused. “Yeah, this is Carl from Punch Fitness. Is this Isabel?”
I pursed my lips for a second. Punch was one of our biggest competitors. We’d never had a bad relationship with them, per se; we just ran a different style of gym. And not once, in all my years of working for Amy, had the owner ever reached out to me.
“It is. How can I help you, Carl?”
“I don’t really know how to say this any other way than bluntly, but I heard about your shift in ownership, and I’m wondering if you’re looking for a change.”
My head reared back. “You want to hire me?”
He laughed at my incredulous tone. “Yeah.”
“You don’t even know me,” I pointed out.
“I don’t, but I’m aware of your reputation. You seem like someone who doesn’t tolerate bullshit, and I like that. So I won’t beat around the bush. We’ve had enough overlap in members in the past five years that I’ve heard about you. And everything I’ve heard is good, even if it’s bad.”
If I kept up the way I was acting, all he’d know about me was that I tripped over air, fell off bags, and fantasized about my boss.
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
“I mean, if people have a problem with how you run things, it’s probably because they pissed you off, and you held them accountable. That’s how I do things too.”
I ran a hand down my face and could not ignore the way my heart was racing in my chest. This was not something I expected.
Surprises, much like change, did not sit well with me.
The thought of leaving my job, that building, and my co-workers caused actual pain. I’d bleed out immediately if I even tried to dislodge it. The metal box creaked and groaned in protest at the idea of uprooting all the things that made me me, how much of it was rooted in the building where I worked. Change took on a different form, something I couldn’t have imagined when Aiden showed his face. So I answered as honestly as I could without leading this guy on.
“I wasn’t looking to leave Wilson’s.”
“But it’s not Wilson’s anymore, is it?”
Exhaling slowly, I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. “It’s not. But it’s still the place that I love. And right now, I have no intention of leaving.”
He hummed. “Well, if you change your mind, you’ve got my number.”
With the call disconnected and my brain spinning at an uncomfortable speed about what it all meant, I set my phone back into my purse and started up my car.
Chapter Eight
Isabel
The next day, everything at work looked different.
Or maybe work was the same, but I was observing it through a different lens. The surprise call from the night before kept me awake for hours as I stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine a reality that didn’t include the four walls of the gym that was my second home.