Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

TEDDY

I 'd made it a habit to drink my coffee on the small balcony of my new apartment. Ever since my house flooded, I'd had no choice but to move into my brother Jameson's place above the garage on my family's Christmas tree farm. The one bedroom was small compared to the five-bedroom house I'd built a few years ago when I realized the odds were against me finding someone who could love me for me.

I was grouchy on the best of days. Most women didn't stick around longer than it took me to get them off. To be fair, I probably said something that made me sound like an asshole. I couldn't help myself.

Ever since my mother died, my life was different. I took care of my siblings, helped my grieving dad, and pursued my dream of being a cop. I protected others. That was my job.

I heard the rumble of a vehicle traveling way too fast down the lane. Nothing else was down here except for Daphne's cottage, which had been left empty since she moved in with Cole.

I set my coffee down and hopped into my cruiser. I probably should have taken the truck, but whoever this was needed the extra authority my badge carried.

The small, red car pulled up to the cottage. The trunk was propped open, and the back seat was filled with boxes. If I were on duty, I'd give her a citation for blocking her rearview and speeding. But I wasn't on duty, and this was technically private property.

I got out of my cruiser, reaching for the gun in the holster I wasn't wearing. I felt naked as I approached the driver's side door. Whoever this was trespassed on private property.

Right when I decided to go back to my cruiser and call it in, the door opened, and a woman stepped out.

“Charlotte? What are you doing here?” My voice was incredulous, the irritation climbing my spine.

Her eyes wide, she said, “Moving in. What does it look like I'm doing?”

“Moving in?” I glanced from her car to the cottage. “You're moving into the cottage?”

“Uh-huh.” Her voice was amused as she moved around to the trunk and tugged on a piece of luggage. It was way too big for her and didn't budge.

Without a thought for what I was doing, I moved to assist her. Once the hard case was on the gravel between us, I stepped back. I was supposed to be encouraging her to leave, not helping her unpack.

Drawing myself up to my full height, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Who said you could move in?”

“Al—” Her lips twitched.

I couldn't see how any of this was funny. “My dad said you could move into Daphne's cottage?”

“He said Daphne's been living with Cole for a while, and this place is sitting here empty. It was in the contract for my employment.”

I remembered telling my dad not to include that in the contract. I used to help out more with the farm, but Dad had slowly been taking back control, and I didn't like it. It was his decision, but it meant I'd be running into Charlotte on the farm.

“I live in the apartment above the garage.”

“That's right. I heard that your house flooded. How is everything?” Her expression morphed into concern for me.

“Fine.”

“Let me know if you need any help.”

What could she do to renovate my house? I had a feeling she was just one of those people who offered, even if she didn't have a specific skill set. It was just who she was.

She continued to pull luggage out of her trunk, setting it side by side on the driveway.

I was locked in place, my mind spinning with all the things I should be doing. Telling her to leave. Putting the luggage back into the car.

When it was empty, she smiled at me. “Looks like we're going to be neighbors.”

“Yeah, that's not going to work for me.” The words came out slowly measured.

Her brow furrowed. “How so?”

My gut tightened. I couldn't have this woman living so close to me. Her sunny demeanor drove me crazy. I couldn't understand how anyone could be so happy all the time. I was happy with my life—content, even—but I didn’t have to tell the world.

I didn't need anyone stirring up trouble, and I had a feeling this woman had the power to do that. But what could I say? I don't want to live next to you. I wasn't even that much of an asshole.

The sound of a pickup truck rambling down the lane reached us.

“That must be Al.”

We were the only ones living on the property at this point.

Dad's truck ambled to a stop behind us, and he opened his door and stepped out. “Oh, good. You're here to help her move in.”

Charlotte moved to Dad and hugged him. “Thank you so much for letting me live here. It's absolutely delightful.”

Seriously. Who said words like delightful ?

“We're happy to have you.”

I ground my teeth together. There was no we about it.

Dad nodded in the direction of the main house and barn. “I'll head back. I just wanted to make sure you were settling in okay.”

Charlotte beamed at him. “We're working on it.”

“Thanks for unloading her stuff for her. I appreciate it.”

Now, I was stuck. My dad had clearly stopped by to help Charlotte unload her things. I couldn't let him do that. “No problem.”

Charlotte rolled two suitcases to the porch. Once she was out of earshot, I said to Dad, “I'm not happy about her living here.”

“I figured that. But you're moving out as soon as your house is fixed.”

That was going to be longer than I wanted.

“And she needs a place to stay. She's been living at the inn.”

She had been working the counter at the Mathews Inn for a while. I didn't see what the problem was with letting her live in a hotel.

“They need to rent out that room.”

Why couldn't she find a place of her own? Why did she have to live here? And why now, when I was here too? It was like fate was fucking with me, and I didn't like it one bit.

Dad clapped my back. “I'll make some lunch. When you're done with this—” he nodded toward the front door of the cottage where Charlotte had already slipped inside”—stop by.”

“Will do. ”

Dad moved toward the truck before he paused and looked over his shoulder at me. “Oh, and Teddy?”

“Yeah?”

“Try to be nice to her. I don't know what it is about you and her, but she's a nice girl.”

She wasn't a girl. She was all woman. I hadn't wanted to notice, but there was no getting around her curves. And I’d been trying to ignore them for almost a year.

“She's had a little trouble.”

My heart picked up, my police instincts going into overdrive. “What kind of trouble?”

Dad's forehead creased. “I'm not going to tell you things she told me in confidence. She'll be safe here.”

She wasn't safe? My heart twisted.

“Make sure she gets settled in.”

“I can do that.” Now, I wanted to know why she needed to hide out on Calloway property. It was a nugget of information about her that I couldn't let go.

With a renewed sense of purpose, I grabbed two more suitcases and carried them to the porch.

Charlotte had left the door open because she was a trusting person. Why wasn’t she safe? It was going to drive me crazy until I could find out.

Charlotte turned and ran right into my chest. “Oomph.”

I grabbed her shoulders to steady her. We were close enough; I could smell the flowery scent of her shampoo.

Her gaze flitted to mine. “I thought you’d left.”

I raised a brow. “I’m not going to let my dad move your stuff.”

Her forehead creased. “Of course. I wouldn’t want him to either.”

“That’s why he was here.”

“I can handle it myself,” Charlotte said as she stepped back.

I let my hands fall to my side. “I’ll get you situated. ”

“I thought you didn’t want me living here?”

My throat tightened. “I don’t want a neighbor, but like you said, it’s in the contract. My dad wants you here for some reason.”

Charlotte stepped outside onto the porch. “It will be easier to manage the farm if I’m staying here.”

“Manage?” My heart rate kicked up. I was the one who managed the farm year-round.

“Yeah, my position is to manage the marketing for the season. Your father thought it would be easier for me to make changes if I was working alongside the employees and managing the day-to-day.”

“He never mentioned that.” Lately, whenever we wanted to talk about Charlotte, I’d shut him down. That was clearly a mistake.

Charlotte pursed her lips as we headed toward her car. “You haven’t been involved whenever we’ve discussed it.”

That was an understatement. “I’ve been busy.”

The trunk was still propped open, but it was empty. I closed it more out of habit. I liked things to be orderly.

She opened the rear passenger-side door that was piled high with boxes and clothes strewn over them. Charlotte carefully hung the pile of dresses over my outstretched arms. If my fellow officers could see me now, they’d give me shit.

I was obviously a chump when it came to Charlotte Monroe.

I’d been avoiding her for months, hoping she’d go away. But now she was a part of the farm, helping my father.

I should walk away and let her do her thing, but I couldn’t let go of the control I’d had since Mom died. Could Dad handle Charlotte? What if she was here to take advantage of him?

The familiar panic clawed its way up my throat.

Charlotte piled on more clothes, then said, “Can you take those to the bedroom?”

I nodded, not bothering to speak because my throat was closing in on itself. I had to protect my father from this woman who could be here for nefarious reasons. The logical part of my brain said she could have done that in the past year, and she hadn’t.

But she was living here now. She was the manager. She would be in control of more things.

I couldn’t stop the paranoia from hijacking any sense of reason.

I set the clothes on the bed just as Charlotte followed behind me with her own armload of clothes. She dropped them on top of my pile.

She took a few hangers and hung them on the rack in the closet. The cottage was small but perfect for one person if they didn’t have a lot of stuff. But I was getting the impression Charlotte had a lot of clothes.

She methodically moved items from the bed to the closet, hanging each piece. I couldn’t seem to make my feet move.

Finally, Charlotte turned toward me, a crease on her forehead. “I don’t think I need any help here.”

“Right.” I turned on my heel and got out of there as fast as I could. I emptied the small car, placing her things in the front room.

There was nothing left for me to do, and surely my father wouldn’t expect me to stay to help her unpack. Charlotte could handle it.

Just when I was intending to leave, Charlotte jogged down the steps, coming to an abrupt stop at the bottom. “Oh. I thought you’d be gone by now.”

“I promised my dad I’d get you settled in.” Unloading her car should have fulfilled the promise to my father. I should leave.

Her face brightened. “Would you mind helping me unpack the kitchen?”

I was stuck now. “Sure.”

I grabbed the boxes labeled Kitchen and set them on the counter. It was hard to imagine someone living here other than Daphne and my niece Izzy. But Daphne was married to Cole now; they had a son together and had moved into a farmhouse shortly after they got serious.

I opened the flaps to the first box where random kitchen items were strewn about. It was like everything had been thrown into them with no thought as to how someone would empty them.

It made the process of organizing the kitchen tedious. Then there was Charlotte who kept changing her mind.

“I think I’d want the silverware here.” She pointed to a drawer near the fridge. “Or maybe here.”

I opened the only drawer that made sense to put silverware inside. Sure enough, Daphne had left a silverware organizer inside. “They should be closest to the dishwasher.”

Charlotte beamed at me. “That makes sense. Thanks.”

It was hard to be grumpy around her. That must be the reason why I avoided her. The longer I was around her, the more I felt myself softening. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down. You never truly knew someone, and Charlotte was obviously hiding something.

My stomach rumbled. “Dad wanted to have lunch with me. Will you be okay here?”

“Oh, yeah. I was just going to make the bed next.”

I couldn’t be in the bedroom with her again, focusing on the bed. I would be having all kinds of thoughts of spreading her out and devouring her.

I slowly moved around the corner, hoping she didn’t notice how badly I wanted to get out of this tiny space. Charlotte was already infusing the room with her unique light, and the longer I stayed, the more I’d fall into her orbit.

I’d almost made it to the front door when her hand landed on my bare forearm. My muscles tensed under the warmth of her palm .

“Thank you for helping. I really appreciate it.” She peered up at me with those bright blue eyes, the ones that threatened to drown me.

Charlotte was always quick with words of appreciation. She reminded me a little of my mother. Not that I allowed myself to think of my mother often. “No problem.”

“I know you don’t want me here.”

I winced because I’d made that fact obvious.

“I want to help. I know I can make a difference on the farm.” Her expression was so earnest; my heart actually squeezed. I don’t think that had ever happened. I usually felt cold and numb around women. Irritated even. Never had my heart contracted for one.

I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. My jaw tightened to the point of pain. “We’ll see.”

Her eyes flashed with frustration. “Al wants me here.”

“I know he does.” I didn’t know why, unless he was enraptured with this woman’s exuberance. She was impossibly happy. I didn’t understand how she walked around in that state all day long. “But I don’t have to like it.”

Charlotte sighed and stepped back, her hand falling away from my arm. I immediately missed the contact.

“Thanks for helping me carry everything in and unpack the kitchen. It was nice of you.”

I didn’t do nice. I did my job; I fulfilled my responsibilities. That was it. I think I grunted in response before I opened the door and walked out.

I walked past her small red car that was so her. I was starving, and I had questions for my dad.

I turned back at the last second, finding her on the porch. She waved, and I shook my head before getting into my cruiser and getting out of there.

As much as I hoped I wouldn’t be running into Charlotte on the farm, I knew it would be impossible with her living down the road from me.

Dad had said she wasn’t safe. Did he want me to protect her? I usually reserved that for family members. I didn’t let others in easily, if at all, because family came first.

Anyone who came on the property would need to pass my place first, but I wasn’t here all the time.

The unknown was driving me crazy. What was she hiding from?