Page 69 of Kian

“Ms. Griffin?” he asked.

“Yes, but please call me Lydia. And you must be Mr. Doyle?” she replied.

“Yes, ma’am. Please call me Kian.” He extended his hand toward her. “It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for meeting me here.”

She smiled. “It’s my job. Let me show you around inside. It’s a lovely home.”

As Kian followed her through the house, he knew this was the perfect place for him and he hoped that one day, Gretchen would live here with him.

After filling out the paperwork for the house, he told Lydia he would send the payment online by tomorrow morning and then stop by and pick up the keys. Luckily, the house had already been inspected. Even though he was paying in cash, he wanted an inspection before moving in to avoid any surprises like termites. They shook hands and drove off in separate directions.

He pressed a button on his steering wheel and called his brother to tell him the good news about buying the house.

“I suppose you want help moving?” Killian asked, causing Kian to grin.

“That’s very kind of you to offer.”

Killian laughed. “I don’t think that was an offer, but you know I’ll help anyway. Maybe some of the other men in the office will too. They helped me move, but they like me.”

“What are you trying to say? That they don’t like me?” Kianchuckled along with Killian’s laughter.

“You know better than that. Just let me know when.”

“Thanks, I will. I’m heading home now to look through more photos. I’m anxious to find those men, Killian.”

“I’m sure you are. And since your boss let you off work today to take care of things, you should go see Gretchen.”

Kian sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll head to her place now. I tried calling and texting her last night but couldn’t get through. Oh, and hey, I want you to come with me tomorrow to look for a truck, unless you and Celine have weekend plans.”

“No, we don’t.”

“Okay, pick me up early. Today, I need to go to the DMV. Damn, I should just go to Gretchen’s tomorrow after getting a truck. Who knows how long I’ll be at the DMV?”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later. And bring Gretchen over for dinner one night.”

“I will. Talk to you later.” Kian hung up the phone.

He drove back to the town before making his way into Spring City, where he headed straight to the DMV to renew his license. As he chuckled at the thought of driving around without a valid license, he couldn’t help but wonder if Dave, or even Killian, had ever given it any thought. Luckily, Dave was able to obtain an ID badge for Kian as an agent for MDOL, which along with his birth certificate should be enough to get his license without any issues. He also had important documents on the way such as his social security card, bank cards, and credit cards.

After buying a new truck the next day, he drove toward Gretchen’s cabin with hopes of her being happy to see him. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her last night, but he had a feeling that things weren’t going to go smoothly.

****

Gretchen faced the easel, her gaze lingering on the blankcanvas. She needed to complete two more paintings for a gallery in San Diego, but she was feeling stuck. Some called it artist’s block, similar to writer’s block; her mind was completely blank and she couldn’t come up with any ideas. It had never happened to her before, so she couldn’t help but blame Kian for distracting her. If he had kept his promise and come over, she wouldn’t be struggling like this.

“Damn man,” she muttered under her breath, turning to look at her faithful companion Lobo when he growled. “What is it?”

Lobo continued to growl, prompting Gretchen to retrieve the key from her pocket and unlock the gun cabinet. But then Lobo began barking excitedly, wagging his tail as he looked toward the door. Curious, Gretchen walked over to the window and saw Kian stepping out of a black truck. He walked around the front of the vehicle and climbed the stairs to her porch before knocking on the door.

Gretchen clenched her fists and counted to ten, trying to calm herself down before walking toward the door. Her hand touched the doorknob but she couldn’t bring herself to turn it. She turned to look at Lobo and put her hand up to sit. He did, but didn’t look happy about it.

“I know you’re in there, Gretchen. And I know you’re angry with me,” Kian’s voice came through the door. “But can we please talk? I won’t stay long if you don’t want me to.”

Didn’t want him to? He had no idea how furious she was with him. It would be best if he just left.

“We have nothing to talk about. You said you’d be here—”

“No, I didn’t. You told me to come to the cabin but I had to meet with Sam. He gave me more mugshots to look through and there were so many that it took a while to go through them. Hell, I’m still not done, but I never promised I would make it here.”

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