Page 5 of Ajax

“I’ve got to get to work. Do it yourself.”

“But—”

“I’m going. See you later.”

I grab my handbag and head out the back door and straight to my car. There’s no way I’ll be late to the only job I could get around here. Maybe I could work on one of the farms, but the farmers know my dad and how useless he is. It’s always been guilt by association.

Except for Mitchell.

He knows I’m nothing like Dad. And he knows about what happened when my mother died.

I’m too soft for my own good.

I’m also never going to get out of here—not at the rate I’m going. But I have to be positive and push through it.

There’s nothing else for me here.

FOUR

AJAX

The afternoon flies by—there’salways work to be done around the farm, and the time goes past quickly. Too quickly sometimes.

I join the others in the main house for dinner. I’m capable of cooking for myself, but Cookie’s food is so much better. He trained as a chef in the army, and though we eat pretty basic meals, they’re always delicious.

“Still cranky with us?” Digby asks.

I grunt, stabbing a slice of beef with my fork.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cookie smirks.

“We should go to the pub after dinner. Have a couple of drinks and some male bonding time.”

I roll my eyes. Male bonding time usually involves us all having a beer while they gossip worse than anyone else I’ve ever known.

It makes me miss Shane and Jessie. Jessie keeps these two entertained with her Hollywood stories, and I get to brood all alone.

“You two are so full of shit.”

Cookie laughs. “You know it. But you love us anyway.”

With a shake of my head, I keep eating. Anything to avoid talking. Everyone thinks I’m quiet, but the truth is that I just don’t have much to say. I’d go to the ends of the earth for these guys, but they can be a bit overwhelming at times, and I retreat into my shell because it’s easier.

Once we’ve finished dinner, and the dishwasher’s locked and loaded, we pile into Digby’s truck and head toward the pub. It’s the only nightlife here, but I love living almost in the middle of nowhere.

Living here gives me the peace I never thought I’d find.

It’s pretty busy—all the tables are full, so we walk to the bar.

Cookie nods toward one end. “Those bar stools have our names on them.”

I chuckle. If there wasn’t space, I’d be quite happy to go home and have a quiet night there.

But there is one thing that draws me to this place.

“The usual?”

I shift my gaze across the bar.Ivy Buchanan. If there was a local woman I was interested in, it’d be her.

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