Page 9 of Pain in the Axe
I hated it.
Also, I loved it.
See? I was fucked up.
I’d spent years trying to extinguish every memory of Chloe and our brief marriage. But despite my best efforts, they’d never completely gone away.
Seeing her here, in my hometown? I liked it. I was a masochist, because as much as her proximity made me feel alive, the ensuing crash hurt even more.
When I’d run until my lungs gave out, I headed home. Inside, my dog, who didn’t bother to get off my couch to greet me, lifted her head and eyed me with suspicion.
“Morning, Clem.” My heart was still pounding as I headed to the pantry to get her breakfast.
Why was I drawn to women who hated me? Why hadn’t this wound ever fully healed? After decades, the sting of it was still acute.
She was here.
She’d purchased our company.
So many times over the years, I’d thought about her. I ran into her family pretty regularly. I saw her dad at quarterly meetings, and her siblings all lived in the area.
Here and there, I overheard news of her. She was always traveling and working, and she didn’t come back much, which was perfectly fine by me.
I’d always hoped she had found happiness. That she’d dealt with the grief that had almost drowned her after her mom passed away. And I’d hoped she’d found a way to move forward. She deserved that.
But that was before she’d become my boss.
I’d signed the contract. I was obligated to serve as operations manager for one year. During that meeting, it had seemed like a small price to pay in return for financial security for my family. I’d suck it up, grit my teeth, and push through, like I always did.
After my yearlong sentence was up, I’d head west. A new job, a new coast, and a fresh start.
If this was what having her in my orbit again did to me, how the hell was I going to survive the next year?
My central nervous system was in disarray.
All those years ago, when I was young and dumb? I could understand how she’d so easily gotten under my skin. Now, though, I was a grown man. I had my shit together.
For years, I thought I’d moved on. I was sure I’d buried all the hurt. But if one look at Chloe LeBlanc had sent me so close to cardiac arrest, then I obviously had a lot more work to do.
She was brimming with maturity and confidence. She certainly carried herself with the composure of a person who could drop tens of millions of dollars on a lumber company.
The set of her jaw, the way she squared her shoulders as she spoke to me? Damn. She was more beautiful than I’d imagined possible. And I had no idea how to handle it.
As I turned, Clem click-clacked her way into the kitchen. She gave me the stink-eye as I placed her bowl on the floor.
“I’m sorry I didn’t take you to work yesterday,” I said. “We have a new boss lady.”
She continued watching me, clearly unimpressed with my reasoning. But the attitude wasn’t new. She wasn’t a big fan of mine. We co-existed well, but it would be a cold day in hell before she was happy to see me.
I had always planned on getting a dog. I lived a solitary life, and I spent a lot of time in the woods. Jude’s dog was his best friend. Most of the time, my brother would rather hang out with her than humans. The idea of having my own bond like that had been tempting.
But I put it off. Always held back by work or the shitshow my dad had put us through or plans to move across the country.
Or maybe it was because I’d been stuck. The autopilot never switched off.
I’d been alone for so long. And after a while, I’d gotten used to it.
But recently, it had hit me. It was time.
