Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Annalee

I slapped the thin local newspaper down on my desk and glared at Kati.

"Who the hell writes this shit?" I wasn't mad at her, but unfortunately, she was the one who brought the stupid article to my attention so now she was stuck with my ire.

"No one knows. It's Willow Creek's biggest mystery. Between that and the town blog, someone's able to find out all kinds of dirt on folks."

I knew exactly what blog Kati was referring to. I had read it several times over the past few weeks when I was preparing myself to move here. The Town Buzz Blogger had a bee and a feather as their logo. I guess that’s why the “journalist” used the name Ms. B. Feather. But come on, like anyone believed that was the person's real name.

"How did they even find this stuff out?”

Kati shrugged her shoulders where she sat in the chair across from my desk. Easton mentioned she would be stopping in this morning and the thought of spending time with her again made waiting for her arrival to drag on. Now I was regretting how excited I had been.

"That was a rhetorical question. I don't expect you to know anything. Unless you're the Buzz Blogger?" I raised my one eyebrow suspiciously.

Kati laughed. "Definitely not. One, I don't have the time to figure shit out on people, and two, I hate gossip. When I was dealing with my own problems, Ms. Feather also wrote about it. To say I wasn't happy would be an understatement."

I didn't actually think Kati was behind the article. She wouldn't have brought it to me if that was the case.

"The whole reason I moved here was to get away from my stepbrother. Having his name plastered in the local newspaper doesn't help." I doubted Dennis would ever see the paper but Willow Creek’s newspaper could be found online as well. All it would take was an internet search of his name and I could guarantee it would pop up. Knowing how conceited Dennis was about himself, he probably did those kinds of searches weekly.

"Talk to Owen about it. These guys specialize in security. I'm sure they would help, and aren't you staying with him anyway?"

I chewed on the side of my lip. "For now, but I'm supposed to move soon. The sublet should be available any day now and I can't chance passing it up. There's no guarantee when another place will become available."

I wasn't ready to buy a house even if I could afford it. That would make the decision to stay in Willow Creek permanent, and if there was one thing I certainly wasn't, it was a permanent kind of woman. I liked the freedom to move around if needed.

Besides, after last night, I wasn’t even sure that was a good idea. I didn’t think it was possible to screw so many things up in such a short time but that was what I did by kissing Owen.

"Don't I know it. Lex waited too long and now he's stuck sharing a place with Easton."

"Wait, I thought Easton moved in with you?" I gave her a confused expression. He spoke just yesterday about going home to Kati.

"It's not official but he spends every night except when I work overnights at the hospital. My best friend, Lyla, wasn't ready to give up her nights with my son, so Easton stays at his place so things aren't weird." Kati lifted her shoulder in defeat. "Lyla and I have both tried to tell him it's fine but Easton is stubborn. Most of his stuff is at my place already."

It was endearing to know he didn't want to mess with what Kati already had in place.

"Speaking of Lex, is it just me or do he and Easton look a little alike?"

Easton was certainly more trimmed and had more silver in his hair while Lex's beard was fully grown and his hair in general was longer, but it was something about their faces.

"Yes! I said the same thing to Easton when I met Lex yesterday but the two of them just shook their heads. I guess they are used to people thinking they are related but they don't see it."

Bizarre. It would be interesting to see pictures of them when they served together. They would've had to have the same haircut and I would bet my next paycheck they looked like brothers at the time.

"Enough about them." Kati leaned her forearms on the desk. "I want to know what's going on with you and Owen?"

I turned around to see if anyone was listening. Not that I would know if they were; according to Owen, the guys in the back could hear all. So I leaned closer, in hopes that it kept things just between us. I didn't realize until Kati asked just how badly I needed to talk to someone about what happened.

"I don't have the slightest idea. We sleep in the same bed at night but only because he doesn't have an extra one and he's too much of a gentleman to allow me to sleep on the couch." I bit my lip again. "But last night we kissed. Well, I kissed him and I'm not talking a small peck. It was hands down the best kiss of my life. The soul-sucking kind. I didn't want it to end and it wouldn't have taken much for me to take things all the way but he put the brakes on it."

"Did he say why?"

I looked around again. I didn't have the slightest idea why, other than it made me feel a smidge better. I would hope if Owen was staring at me from the other side of the glass, I would be able to feel it.

"He doesn't want my decision about Willow Creek to be made because of him." Based on Kati's confused expression, I owed her a better explanation than that. I settled in for what was going to be a long discussion. "I had a mini freak-out yesterday while I was at the bookstore. I'm not the type who settles down and I don't just mean with men. Everything in my life has always been about jumping from one thing to another. Living in Baton Rouge made that easy for me. I could bounce from job to job and never get bored. It was a big enough city to fulfill that part of me."

"And Willow Creek is small, so you're scared you will get bored here too quickly."

Kati was smart. I knew it wouldn't take much for her to see where I was going with this.

"Correct. When my father told me to get out of Baton Rouge, I saw it as another adventure. I thought a small town would be a nice change. I didn't think about what would happen when this job no longer held my interest. It's not like there are a ton of employment opportunities here. Hell, finding this one was tough enough."

I thought it was fate when I looked on the town website and saw a new business hiring a receptionist. It never occurred to me that there were no other job listings ever posted. It was the one time my adventurous side failed me.

"And Owen doesn't want you to stay just for him."

I nodded my head to agree with her because really, what else was there to say? She hit the nail on the head. The worst part was I could understand his point. I wouldn't want someone to only stay for me. How long before resentment came into the picture? I would like to think I would never resent Owen for a decision I made, but no one can predict the future.

"Sounds like you have some decisions to make," Kati said.

I let my head fall to the desk with a small thump. Kati was right. I had decisions to make and it was better that I did them before committing myself anywhere long term. Not that the sublet was a year lease or anything. The owner was nice enough to offer month to month. Which, at the time, didn't seem like a big deal because I had no plans of going anywhere else. Willow Creek practically begged me to come here.

But now my head was warring with my heart. I always followed my heart. I let it guide me from adventure to adventure. Rarely did I have to use my head to make decisions. Why, of all times, did now have to be different?

"I wish I knew what spooked my father to change his will and send me that letter," I muttered.

Kati didn't look the least bit surprised by what I said, so I raised my brow in question. Luckily she was quick to fill me in.

"One thing you should know about these guys, they've worked together for years and I don't just mean a few. More like decades. They tell each other everything. And Easton just so happens to tell me everything. I know all about your family and what brought you here."

“Well, that’s oddly comforting.”

There was nothing I hated more than having to talk about my family history, especially my father's death and will. If I could eliminate my stepfamily out of the equation, I would. I was even tempted to give them the money just so they would leave me alone forever but I knew better. They would never be satisfied. My stepmother and stepbrother knew how to blow through money. It wouldn't be long before they were crawling back for more and it was evident my father knew something I didn't. I refused to go against his final wishes.

"Right? And if anyone can figure out what led to your father changing his will, it's these guys."

“I’ll take your word for it,” I responded. “My father wasn't the kind of man who shared his business with others and it wasn't like he kept a journal. The only way they’ll learn anything is if something physical happened around that time, and believe me, I looked. Well, the best I could. I’m no investigator and didn't have the first clue where to start.”

That wasn't true. I knew to start with my stepmother and Dennis but neither were anywhere near my father when he died. And the weeks leading up to his death, he was traveling, while my stepmother stayed in the States. It wasn't unusual for her to stay behind while he was on business trips. My mother had loved to travel with him because it meant more family time together. Seraphina didn't share the same mindset. She only cared about the privileges the life afforded her and her son.

Kati looked at her phone and groaned. "I've got to get going. One of the nurses needs to leave early and my supervisor is asking me to come in to cover her."

“That’s a bummer. Do you need me to do anything?" Kati had lived here her entire life and probably had dozens of people she could ask but it didn't stop me from offering anyway. I might be unsure of what my future held but I liked Kati and wanted to be there for her.

"I appreciate it but I'm good. I'll call Easton on my way to the car to let him know the change in plans. He can grab Lucien from school."

"Be safe and have a good shift."

Kati waved on her way out the front door and was on her phone a second later.

The office was quiet and I was once again reminded that maybe this job wasn't for me. I liked interaction. I liked having a purpose. Answering the phone that barely rang and fixing Maverick's paperwork wasn't doing that for me. I still didn't know what my responsibilities were. Sure, I knew what a receptionist did but this place didn't require one full-time. Not yet at least. They weren't crazy busy. People weren't calling or stopping in to make appointments. Most people in town went straight to Maverick because he was out and about making sure people knew his name. The whole arrangement didn't make sense but leaving now wasn't an option.

The article was proof of that. I doubted Ms. Feather interviewed Dennis directly, which meant whoever the anonymous journalist in Willow Creek was, they had scooped the story from somewhere else. Likely Baton Rouge where my stepfamily still lived. If I could believe what was written, going back wasn't safe. Not unless I wanted to hire a fleet of bodyguards to follow me around.

No, thank you. I much preferred to stick it out in Willow Creek. At least here I had some semblance of freedom.

"Saw the article, I see."

I jumped in my chair and raised my hand to cover my heart. "You scared the crap out of me."

Owen smirked. "Sorry, I thought you heard the glass door open."

I certainly hadn't. I had the bad habit of tuning life out when I was thinking through a problem. Not the best quality to have when someone was after me.

"I was busy thinking about this." I shoved the piece of paper across the desk. Thankfully the article didn't come with a picture of me or my stepfamily.

"That's actually the reason I came to talk to you."

"Oh, great." There was no missing the sarcasm in my statement. I wanted to talk about my family about as much as I wanted to get a filling at the dentist.

That damn dimple emerged again. "I didn't mean the article itself. How would you feel about learning to defend yourself?"

Now my interest was piqued. "When would we start?"

Owen looked down at the watch on his wrist. "How does now sound?"

It sounded perfect. I needed away from this computer and Owen just gave me the perfect excuse. I wasted no time pushing my chair back. "Lead the way."

An adventure was exactly what I needed to take my mind off everything going on.