Page 52 of Wild For You

Half an hour later, I leave my bedroom without my therapy gear, and instead of heading for the living room, I round the house and stroll straight for the open fields and the woods stretching out in the distance.

The broad gravel path crunches beneath my feet. Even though it’s barely eight a.m., the air’s already scorching hot and heavy with the scent of approaching summer. I take a few long breaths, marveling at the untouched beauty around me. There’s a fence in the distance right next to a huge barn. I head in the opposite direction. It’s at least a half-hour walk to the woods, but I have all the time in the world.

Lost in thought, I only hear the footsteps behind me when a tall figure appears right next to me. I jump a step back, and a startled yelp escapes my throat.

“Jeez, you scared the crap out of me.” Cupping a hand over my eyes, I look all the way up into the stranger’s face.

He looks just like Cash, maybe a couple of years younger. But the resemblance is striking—the same haunted, green eyes, the same dark hair, and straight nose. The only difference is that whoever the guy is, he’s sporting a smile rather than the scowl I’ve gotten used to seeing on Cash Boyd.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to.” The guy’s smile broadens, revealing two strings of perfect white teeth. “I’m Josh, Cash’s cousin. Mom sent me.”

“I’m Erin.”

“I know.”

We head up the path, keeping our stroll leisurely. “How do you know?”

“I know everyone around here.” Josh winks. “You’re the only new face I’ve seen in ages. But a very pretty one at that. Joking aside, we’ve already met at Cash’s birthday party.”

I narrow my eyes as my brain struggles to place him.

Now that he’s mentioned the party, I remember him faintly.

He was the guy who organized some of the stuff—can’t remember what it was exactly. There were so many faces, so many people wanting to talk to me, caring about Cash, that I probably wouldn’t remember half of them.

“It would be hard to forget someone like you. Want some company?” Josh asks.

“Sure.” The compliment is so obvious that I can’t help but laugh, and Josh joins in. “I wish everyone would be so happy to see my face.”

“You’re talking about my cousin,” Josh says. “Don’t worry about Cash. He can be like that. You don’t need the world to like you; it’s enough if the ones who matter in your life do.”

I nod. “It would still be nice, though. Did your mother tell you why I called?”

“Yes. And she asked me to bring you the blueprints.”

I want to say that I’ve been thinking about invading Cash’s privacy because my patients matter to me, but I refrain from it. For one, I don’t want to give off the impression that I need to justify my thoughts or actions. And then there’s also the fact that Josh seems quite the chatty type, so I should probably let him take the lead. I’m here to help Cash, but for that I need as much information as I can get from whichever source I can get my hands on.

“Take a look,” Josh prompts.

I peer at the oversized manila folder in his hand, suddenly unsure. This is wrong on so many levels, maybe even immoral, and definitely not right.

“I’m not really sure I need those. It was just a joke. I—” I brush my hair out of my eyes, realizing my sense of humor wasn’t taken as such. I’m already unwelcome in Cash’s house. I can’t help but wonder how he’d react if he realized I might have gone a step too far by looking at documents that are really none of my business.

“Cash has been disappearing on you? As his contractor I can’t tell you why, but I can have you glimpse at the layout of his house.” He winks. “Obviously, you didn’t get those from me.”

“That’s—”

“Invasion of privacy?” Josh shrugs. “Sure. But you see, he’s pulled the same stunt on everyone else. Someone needs to do something about it.” He passes me the documents. “And that someone’s going to be you. Just don’t mention I gave them to you.”

I peer at him sideways. “You said you’re his contractor?”

“That’s right. I inherited my dad’s construction business a few years ago.”

I fold the document and tuck it under my arm. “I’m sorry.”

Josh laughs. “He’s not dead, Erin. Just banging some woman other than my mom. One day he just up and left, leaving us behind. Rather than selling, I took over the business.”

I frown.

---