My phone beeped, indicating I had a new voicemail, but I didn't bother looking at it. I hadn’t listened to any of Lex's explanations. No doubt, he'd remembered the truth about how I'd known he was from LA after I'd made the jab about the fireplace not working with a switch. But I wasn't interested in any apology from the man. He was merely the client and I the employee. Maybe not his actual employee, but I might as well have been. I should've been glad the whole thing happened because it meant I could get back to my normal routine.
Unfortunately, my normal routine had somehow started to include checkups on Birch Cabin that were wholly unnecessary.
As I turned onto the little road leading to my house, my thoughts drifted to the other aspect of my life that consumed nearly every waking moment of it. I supposed I should be grateful to Lex for having provided a little bit of a distraction from the reality of the nightmare I was living. I glanced at the small brown paper bag on the passenger seat. I had no idea why liquor stores packaged their sales in the bags because everyone knew what was inside of them. And since Fisher Cove was the size of a shoebox, by now everyone in the small town knew I’d bought a bottle of whiskey. No doubt by tomorrow I'd be getting questions from concerned residents about how I was doing. It had taken a year of being borderline rude to break them of the habit of asking me that question, but now it would start all over again.
I supposed there was no need to explain that I was planning on drinking myself silly this time around to get rid of the unwanted thoughts of the young man in Birch Cabin who’d somehow managed to rip me wide open without even really trying.
The one good thing about my anger was that I hadn't really had any extra energy to focus on my newfound sexuality. It helped that most of the residents in Fisher Cove were older individuals and couples who had either lived in the town their whole lives or had decided to retire there. There were only a handful of so-called eligible bachelors in Fisher Cove and thankfully, none of them had me looking their way twice. However, after my fight with Lex, I had spent a small amount of time exploring things on the internet that I never would've thought I would. It had been eye-opening for sure. It had also been confirmation that the strange feelings Lex had stirred within me weren't entirely unique to him.
I slammed my truck into park and then reached for the bottle. I was in the process of opening the door when Brewer let out an excited yip from the back of the truck and then jumped over the bed. He raced past my side of the vehicle and straight for the house. I stilled when I spotted something black on the bench outside the door.
"What the—?" I said as I exited the vehicle. It took just a few steps to recognize what—or who, rather—the bundle in black was. Especially when Brewer began barking and dancing excitedly around it. I stopped midstride when Lex sat up from where he’d been lying on the bench.
"Hey, buddy," he murmured as he used his gloved hands to clasp Brewer's face. He happily accepted the wet kiss from my dog.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, not bothering to hide my irritation.
The smile on Lex’s face faded as he looked in my general direction. I was glad to see that he was at least wearing a nice thick parka, heavy gloves, and a hat.
"I, um, wanted to give you these back," Lex said as he held up something gray. The clothes that I’d lent him.
"Leave them on the bench," I said. I had his clothes in the house but I didn’t offer to get them. I glanced around and then asked, "Where's your ride?"
"I'm hoping that I'm looking at him," Lex murmured. "Old Man Mitchum got another call," he added.
I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth before I realized what I was doing. As soft and sweet as Lex looked at the moment, there was no forgetting his anger as he’d laid into me for something I hadn't done. I'd had enough of being accused of shit to last me a lifetime, thank you very much. My silence must have made Lex nervous because he climbed to his feet and began rubbing his gloved hands together. "I sent my driver into the city to pick up a few things for me. I told him if I wasn't home by the time he was there to drop them off, to come back here and get me. I'm hoping that if you won't give me a ride back to the cabin, at least you’ll let me borrow your bench here for a little longer."
"What do you want?" I asked. I couldn't keep the anger from my voice. I wanted to just dismiss him, but I had a feeling it wouldn't do any good. We’d gotten some snow in the past couple of hours and I hadn't noticed any car tracks on my driveway. That meant his driver had probably left a while ago. And if that were true, Lex had been sitting on my bench, or lying on it rather, for quite some time. He clearly wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. At least not until he had his say.
Lex shifted uncomfortably back and forth on his feet, but I reminded myself not to show him any consideration, just like he hadn’t shown me any when he’d thrown his unfounded accusations in my face. “You have two minutes,” I said.
Lex nodded and, not surprisingly, looked down at his feet. “I don’t know where to start,” he murmured.
“Why don’t I save us both some time?” I said as I climbed up the couple of porch steps in front of me. It put me painfully close to Lex but it also got me closer to my door and I had every intention of escaping through the thing the second I got the chance. “You screwed up and you’re sorry. Does that about cover it?”
Lex lifted his head and tried to find me with his eyes. I fought the urge to move closer to him so he could feel like he was connecting with me. He didn’t deserve it.
And I didn’t want that connection.
I just wanted him gone.
"Yeah, I guess that about covers it," Lex murmured.
I hated how dejected he sounded but that wasn't my fault. I'd actually started to enjoy his company the day before, so I felt like an even bigger asshole both for allowing him into my private world and for actually liking having him there. "Take care of yourself, Lex," I said as I stepped away from him and headed for my door. I heard him mumble something, but I couldn't make out what it was. I figured it was a reciprocal response either wishing me a good day or merely saying goodbye or something equally benign. I let myself into the house and called Brewer, but not surprisingly, the husky mix didn't respond. I left him sitting with Lex and shut the door behind me.
I placed the bottle on the kitchen table and then went to the cabinet to look for a glass. I snagged one and poured myself a hefty drink then lifted the glass to my lips. But I stupidly chose that moment to glance out the window. My heart pounded painfully in my chest as I watched Lex walking along my driveway, away from the house. A few things went through my head all at once.
First off, I wanted to stop the man and ask him what the hell he was thinking wandering down a driveway he didn't know out in the middle of nowhere. Did he seriously think he was going to be able to make it back to the cabin he was renting?
Second, my loyal dog had turned traitor and was accompanying Lex. But I couldn't exactly be upset about that. Actually, it was the only bright spot. I knew Brewer wouldn’t let anything happen to Lex. I didn't really understand my dog's fascination with the young man, but since I couldn't explain my own, I figured who was I to judge?