Page 14 of Our Bay Will Come

Fox: For what it's worth, you're great at the after part. You're just out of practice.

I smile, tucking the phone into my pocket as I head for my car. Maybe he's right. I may be out of practice. Or perhaps this is something else entirely—something new that doesn't fit any of my carefully constructed categories.

One day at a time, he said.

Perhaps I can handle that much.

CHAPTER FOUR

FOX

"Dude, you're staring at your phone like it's gonna sprout legs and dance," Rowan says, snapping me back to the present. We're framing the new addition on the Henderson place, a massive four-bedroom expansion keeping Cedar Bay Construction booked solid through winter.

I slip my phone back into my pocket, trying to look casual. "Just checking the time."

"Bullshit," Cole laughs, hefting a two-by-four onto his shoulder. "That's the same dopey look Rowan gets whenever Cilla texts him."

"Speaking of dopey looks," I deflect, nodding toward Rowan, "how's it going with the professor?"

Rowan's face lights up, predictably. "She's amazing. She brought her dogs over last night, and we grilled on the deck. Simple stuff, but..." He shrugs, unable to contain his smile.

"But it feels like everything," I finish for him, understanding completely.

Cole sets down his lumber and wipes sweat from his brow, studying me with newfound interest. "Holy shit. You've got it bad for someone." He turns to Rowan. "Our boy's whipped."

"I'm not whipped," I protest, reaching for my nail gun.

"Is it Cilla's sister?" Rowan asks, his voice is casual but his eyes sharp. "Prue?"

I hesitate, hammer halfway to a nail. There's no point lying to these guys. They've known me since high school, saw me through my worst after Afghanistan, and we built this business together from nothing.

"Yeah," I admit. "It's Prue."

Cole whoops so loudly that a few birds scatter from a nearby tree. "Damn! Fox Carmichael actually likes a woman enough to remember her name. Mark the calendar, Rowan."

"Shut up," I mutter, but there's no heat in my words.

"So what's the deal?" Rowan asks, more serious now. "You two hooked up after our double date?"

"Something like that. However, that wasn't a double date, if you recall. We made it one." I'm not giving them details. What happened between Prue and me feels private in a way casual hookups never have before. "She went back to Seattle, and I have no idea when I’ll see her again."

"And you've been glued to your phone ever since," Cole observes. "Not your usual love 'em and leave 'em approach."

I shoot him a look. "When's the last time you saw me with a woman, Cole? It's been what, two years?"

"Two and a half," Rowan corrects. "Since Amber's New Year's party."

"Exactly." I drive a nail home with more force than necessary. "I'm not the same guy I was after getting back from deployment. You know that."

Cole has the decency to look contrite. "Sorry, man. Old habits, assuming you're still?—"

"Sleeping around?" I finish for him. "I got tired of it. Empty beds, emptier conversations. What's the point?"

A silence falls between us, broken only by the rhythmic thud of hammers and the distant call of seagulls from the bay. Finally, Rowan speaks.

"So Prue's different?"

The question hangs in the air. Is Prue different? I've known her all of a week and spent one night with her. But the way my heart races when her name appears on my phone—yeah, something's different.

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