Page 5 of Sweetheart and the Grouch
“I mean it. Any time.”
“I heard you.”
“OK. Enjoy your evening.” He bows his head slightly then turns toward the door, making very little noise as he exits which I find kind of strange because you wouldn’t expect a man that huge to be so light on his feet. But it seems that gruff-sounding guy we met on the road is a heck of a lot more than he seems. The question is, can we trust him? I guess that’s something only time will tell.
AJAX
“Hey brother,” I say into the receiver, leaving a message on Dylan’s cell since it went straight to voicemail. “I know you’re busy with that art convention with Millie, but when you get a chance I’d appreciate a return call. A new tenant moved into your old cabin today. She had all the paperwork and the keys, but… I don’t know. Something just seems off and I wanted to check in. Call me, OK?”
I set the phone back on its cradle and let out a sigh, looking out the window to the direction Dylan’s old cabin is. I can’t see shit besides trees and brush, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about what’s happening on the other side off all those trees.Are they settling in OK? Do they have food? Enough fire wood?
Questions roll on and on around inside my head. I feel like a mother hen clucking over her brood, and I try to shake it off because this isn’t me. Those girls are no relation of mine. And thank God, because I can’t get the image of Ainsley’s soft curves out of my head, or the fact I could see clear down her shirt when I lifted her to her feet. She’s what they’d call a buxom beauty with hips and tits for days. And I’m suddenly very aware that it’s been over a year since the last time I had a woman. I’m obviously getting desperate if I’m looking at a nineteen-year-old like she’s a packed lunch.
“Get a grip, Jax,” I mutter, moving over to the still-warm coffee pot and pouring myself a cup. I shake my head at myself as I lift the bitter liquid to my mouth and blow, taking a sip before deciding a little whiskey splashed inside might help calm the tight feeling in my skin.
With the sun disappearing from view, I push all thoughts of my new neighbors aside and decide catching up on a little work is the distraction I need. Grabbing an apple on my way past the fruit bowl, I take a seat at my desk, powering up my computer as I do and going straight to my inbox. As always, there’s a ton of security and threat test requests waiting for me to action. Back when I was a kid, I used to do this shit for fun. But after a few too many run-ins with the law, I was offered a way to channel my skills into something more productive when I started working with an ex-military guy by the name of Danny Cardiff. He’s currently based in Oakwood Falls and is best known for writing a security program for the government. I, and several other tech-savvy people with a record and something to prove were brought on board to keep it that way. The rest is history, really. The work is remote, so I can do it from anywhere in the world as long as I have a secure internet connection—and I don’t have an outstanding warrant in that country—so for a while, I traveled where I could and had fun doing it. In the end, Whisper Valley was the one and only place I wanted to base myself. It’s where my family is, and where my heart of hearts belongs.
My cell bursts to life just as I’m about to accept a job, causing me to jump out of my chair as its musical tune slices through the air.
“Hello?” I frown as a number I don’t recognize flashes up on the screen. I’d reacted thinking it’d be Dylan returning my call, and since I don’t give this number out to many people, I already have a pretty clear idea who this is.
“Ajax?” the panicked voice of Elena fills my ear and all the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as my spine straightens.
“What’s wrong?”
She coughs. “There’s smoke. I don’t know what to do.”
I’m already grabbing my keys. “Where is your sister?”
“In the bath. She has music on and she can’t hear me knocking. Please come. I’m scared.”
“Are you outside?”
“Yes. I’m scared.”
“I’m on my way, OK? Stay right where you are. Don’t go back into the house.”
AINSLEY
For a small cabin, this bathroom is something else. The clawfoot tub is long and deep and I can submerge my entire body in the relaxing warm water. There were some bottles of lavender oil on the basin, so the moment I got us unpacked and fed, I set Elena up with a movie on her iPad and decided to switch off for thirty minutes for a long muscle-relaxing soak.
I can’t even begin to describe how sore I am after dragging bags and a ten-year-old all the way from the city to the mountains. It was quite the expedition and even though he’s kinda scary and intense, I’m beyond grateful to Ajax for helping us out at the end there. I’m exhausted as it is.
Taking a deep breath, I sink a little lower in the water, humming along to my favorite playlist as I let myself relax for the first time in… I don’t know how long. Thinking back, I can’t remember a time in my life where I felt this at ease. Growing up with a mother who didn’t really know how to mother or adult for that matter, meant I was never truly settled, and when Elena was born, it was like I became a mother myself. While I had no one to look out for me, at least she had me. It’s into her that I put all of my energy and focus, and now that we’re safe in Whisper Valley, I feel like I can finally relax a little.We did it. We got away.
Wait.
What’s that smell?
Sitting bolt upright in the bath, I pull the washcloth off my face and tear my headphones off my head.
Smoke.
“Elena!” My voice comes out shrill as panic rises in my chest. I spring out of the bath so fast I almost slip on the floor as I race for the door. I grab a towel and wrap it around myself haphazardly, yanking the door open and being met by a wall of smokey gray as I keep calling my sister's name.Oh god. Please let her be OK.
“Ainsley!” I hear her call back, but it sounds too far away to be in the cabin.
Heading straight for the open front door, I rush outside, coughing as my eyes start stinging and watering. “Elena!”
