Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Josie

I could get used to this…

Shades of orange and purple reflected off the lake as the sun dipped toward the trees. As I watched from a lounge chair on the back deck, the serenity of the setting seemed to seep into my pores, helping my breaths grow slower and deeper.

Today had been one long day. But I’d gotten more done in the last twelve hours than in the last three months. The dumpster was full. The kitchen was finally free of newspapers. The living room had sheetrock and spackle, and three quarters of the magazines were gone from the second floor. Much of the work had been done compliments of my confusing neighbor, at least until he’d found a card from his dead fiancée’s family and hightailed it out of here as fast as he could. It was a strange coincidence—a handful of cards fall from a box, and he happened to pick up that one? Then again, I suppose it would be a much stranger coincidence in a city like New York with eight-million people. In a town as small as Laurel Lake, the odds weren’t all that astronomical.

More importantly, I’d just talked to Nilda, who was back home after a fall when her back spasmed. Thankfully, she was okay. I finished the last of the spiked lemonade in my glass, took in the beauty of the sky once more, and closed my eyes. After a few minutes I started to drift off, but footsteps in the distance snapped me alert. My eyes opened to find Fox standing on the end of his dock. He stared out at the lake, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking about his dead fiancée. A few minutes passed, and I started to feel like an intruder, like these moments were supposed to be private, between him and the lake. So I got up quietly, attempting to slink into the house without him knowing I saw him. But three steps toward the door, the plank of wood underneath my foot gave way.

“Shit!” I screamed as I went down.

“Josie?” Fox’s deep voice yelled. “Are you okay?”

So much for my slinking ability. I clutched my aching ankle and tried not to sound injured. “I’m fine! Just lost my footing!”

But a few seconds later, Fox appeared on my deck. “What happened?”

I waved him off. “I fell. It’s no big deal.”

He crouched down next to me and touched my ankle. I winced.

“Hurts to the touch?”

“A little.”

“You have ice in the freezer?”

I shook my head. “I used it all to make my drink.”

His lip twitched. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.”

Fox disappeared into his house, returning a minute later with an ice pack and a towel. He set it on the lounge chair I’d been sitting in, then leaned over and pulled one of my arms over his shoulder. His other arm wrapped around my waist and hoisted me up.

“Don’t put any weight on it.”

“Okay.”

We hobbled over to the chair together. Fox guided me to sit, then crouched down and examined my foot.

“Does this hurt?” He pressed on the top.

“No.”

“What about this?” He wiggled my toes.

“Doesn’t hurt.”

“Can you move your ankle?”

I grimaced as I attempted to roll it back and forth. “I can, but it hurts.”

“Hopefully it’s only sprained. Do you want to go to urgent care? There’s one in town. I think it’s open pretty late.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m sure it’s fine. I’ll just keep off of it and ice it for a while.”

He folded the ice pack into the towel and tied it around my ankle, like he did this every day.

“You’re good at that.”

He nodded. “A lifetime of playing hockey. Dozens of bangs, sprains, and breaks over the years.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“I’m going to grab something from the house to elevate your leg.”

“Okay.”

He came back with a pillow and stuffed it under my foot. “How’s that feel?”

“Good. Thank you.”

Nursing done, Fox knelt to check out the area of the deck my foot had crashed through. He pressed down on the surrounding wooden planks and shook his head. “These boards are all rotted through. It’s pine, and even when it’s treated, it’s not the best wood for outdoor use. It’s too soft. Should’ve used oak. Most people go with Trex or some other composite decking these days—looks like wood but without the rotting and fading.” He smacked dirt from his hands and stood. “This whole thing needs to be replaced.”

I sighed. “Great.”

He eyed my glass of lemonade sitting on the table. “What’s it spiked with?”

“Vodka.”

“Got any lemonade without the alcohol?”

“I do. I made a whole pitcher. It’s in the refrigerator. I added two shots of vodka directly to the glass, so the lemonade is just lemonade. Help yourself.”

Fox took my almost-empty glass and disappeared into the house again. He came back with a refill for me and full glass for himself.

“Two shots looked like a lot, so I added one to yours.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, Dad.”

It surprised me that he took a seat on the chair next to me. I didn’t think he’d stick around after the way he’d bolted out of here earlier. But we sat side by side, silently looking out at the lake.

After a long time, Fox spoke softly. “I apologize for the abrupt way I left this morning.”

“No need to apologize. You did so much for me today.”

He nodded. Then seemed to get lost in his head. He sipped his lemonade and tilted the glass toward me. “How many of those have you had?”

“This is my third. But I have a pretty high tolerance for alcohol. It’s genetics. Comes from my mother. She doesn’t drink much, but when she does, she can knock back three or four dry martinis and be fine. My dad, on the other hand, had a few beers and would get giddy and slur his words.”

“Is vodka your go-to?”

“It is, actually. I like dirty martinis best. But tonight I was in the mood for something sweet.”

Fox sipped. “I would’ve taken you more for the wine type.”

“What does that mean? What exactly is the wine type?”

“The kind who wears flowy skirts to sheetrock.”

“It was one of the few things I had left that was clean. The washing machine is broken, just like everything else around here. I have a new one coming in a few days.” I sighed. “The real estate agent said the place needed some sprucing up. I was expecting painting and new carpet. I didn’t expect to be doing construction. Sorry I didn’t pack my steel-toe work boots and Carhartts.”

Fox squinted. “You have steel-toe work boots and Carhartts back home?”

“No.” I grinned. “But I could’ve bought them and packed them if I’d known.”

Fox chuckled into his lemonade.

The sun was almost gone now, but a lone golden streak sliced through the trees and marked a trail across the calm water of the lake. “It must be pretty incredible to live here and see this every night.”

A stretch of silence fell between us. “It’s been a while since I appreciated the view.”

“Really? How come?”

“Just a lot of memories.”

I assumed Fox meant memories with his fiancée. It was the second time today I’d dredged up his past. “I didn’t get a chance to say it earlier, but I’m very sorry for your loss.”

Fox caught my eyes but said nothing. I couldn’t tell if he was upset I’d brought up the subject or just wasn’t good at talking about it. I wasn’t even sure how recently he’d lost her. He picked up his glass and chugged the rest of the lemonade. I thought he was doing it to get the hell out of here. As he swallowed, I noticed the way his throat worked. The bob of his Adam’s apple made my insides feel tingly.

Great. The man is obviously struggling with the loss of his fiancée, and I’m ogling him as he does it.

When he finished, he held up his glass. “Still parched. Think I need another. You mind?”

“Not at all.”

He eyed my still-full drink and left it behind. When he came back out, he knocked back another long swig.

“So how do you know Evie’s father?” he asked.

“Evie?”

“Evie Dwyer,” he said. “Tom is her father. Renee is her stepmother and grew up in Laurel Lake.”

Oh!Evie. Fox’s fiancée.

“It’s sort of a long story.”

He shrugged. “Got nowhere to go at the moment.”

I spent the next ten minutes telling Fox the story I’d shared with Opal the other day—about my friend Chloe and her family hanging Christmas cards from strings, and how cards from the amazing people of Laurel Lake adorned my walls for most of the year.

Fox just stared at me.

“You think I’m a weirdo, don’t you?”

“Yep.”

I laughed. “You were supposed to say ‘Not at all. I think it’s a heartwarming story.’”

“I’m not much for lying.”

“Remind me not to ask you if I look like I gained a few pounds.”

Fox did a quick sweep over my body. His gaze lingered for a heartbeat or two at my cleavage before making its way up again. “No worries there. You look pretty good to me.”

Was hard-ass Fox giving me a compliment and, gasp, flirting?

No matter, I didn’t even get to fully enjoy the moment before he went and ruined it.

“So what made you take a slip-on shoe vacation?”

I was confused until I remembered I’d complained to him about my mother describing my stay in a mental hospital, where they’d taken my shoelaces when I arrived, as a vacation.

I probably should’ve been insulted that he was poking fun. But instead I found myself smiling. It was oddly refreshing that someone didn’t feel the need to tread lightly on the subject. People didn’t tease someone about things they felt bad about.

“Since you asked so nicely, I was struggling with depression and anxiety. It started with my work. I’m a principal scientist at Kolax and Hahm Pharmaceuticals. I develop new medicines for cancer treatments. One of the drugs I developed went into phase-three clinical trials, which is when it’s tested on a large number of people. AMERL7 was supposed to produce tumor regression in patients with brain cancer. It had showed a lot of promise during the earlier phases. But when we went wide, we discovered it had an interaction with the chicken pox vaccine. Fourteen children died because they participated in my trial.”

Fox’s face dropped. “Shit.”

“Yeah. It hit me hard, and I couldn’t move past it. I tried for a few months. By the time I checked myself in, I was spending twenty-three hours a day in bed. I was physically exhausted from depression.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There were other factors, too. Like I was supposed to get married in August.”

“Next month?”

I nodded.

“What happened?”

“My ex-fiancé, Noah, is an orthopedic-surgery resident. He works a ton of hours. I was feeling really lost after everything happened in the trial and started having trouble sleeping. One night, he was supposed to get off at midnight but didn’t come home. I texted him, and he said he’d just gotten out of an emergency surgery and had to stay because someone had called in sick. I decided to surprise him and deliver him dinner.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah. I was the one who got the surprise. When I went to the desk on the surgical floor, another resident told me Noah had left a little while ago. I figured someone must’ve come in and he didn’t want to text me so late since I’d been having so much trouble sleeping. On my way back to my car, I noticed a Volvo parked in the hospital parking lot that looked like Noah’s. When I got closer, I realized he was in it. He was sitting in the driver’s seat with his head back and eyes closed. I thought he was so exhausted that he’d fallen asleep. It wasn’t until I got to the door that I saw a head bobbing up and down.”

“Jesus. I’m sorry.”

“The worst part was that I stood there frozen and the asshole finished. I’m pissed at myself to this day that I didn’t at least ruin the moment for him.”

Fox smiled. “It sounds like you had a rough couple of months.”

“I never thought I’d be someone who needed help.”

“I think most people could use it at some point in their life and don’t have the courage to ask for it. You’re strong.”

I smiled sadly. “Thank you for saying that.”

“Are you better now? Or should I add another lock on my door because you become dangerous when unhinged?”

I wrinkled up my napkin and threw it at him. “You’re such a jerk.”

He smiled. “Seriously though, are you good?”

“I think so. I talk to a therapist over Zoom every other week. I suffered a trauma that left me with depression, but I don’t have long-term clinical depression. I had never experienced anything like that, so I didn’t know how to handle it.”

“All kidding aside, I’m right next door, if you ever want to talk.”

“Wow. Thank you. I got the impression you weren’t much of a talker.”

“I’m not. I might not listen or respond. But you can talk.”

I smiled. “That sounds more like the neighbor I’ve come to know and dislike.”

Fox smiled back and looked down at my foot. “How’s the ankle feeling?”

“Much better.”

“We should take the ice off for a little while.” He leaned forward and untied the towel. His fingers brushed against my leg, and it felt like my skin caught fire. I jumped, surprised at the feeling. Fox pulled his hands away, holding them up. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“No. I’m, uhh…just ticklish. That’s all.”

I got the feeling Fox might’ve seen through my excuse. But if he did, at least he didn’t call me out. “How does it feel now?” he asked.

I rolled my ankle around. “Better. It’s definitely only a sprain.”

“You got lucky. Could’ve cracked it the way that board gave out.” Fox glanced around the deck. “This is probably about four-hundred square feet. I’ll get you some estimates to replace it when I’m over at the lumberyard this week.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Not a big deal. I’ll be over there anyway.”

“Alright. Well, thank you.” A mosquito landed on my arm. I smacked it off, but a second one had already landed on my leg. “Crap!” I whacked at it.

“Gets buggy out here after the sun sets. Lasts about an hour and then it clears up. Why don’t I help you inside?”

I sat up and shifted my feet to the ground. “I can do it.”

Fox stood, and the board under his feet made a creaking sound. “Shit. This thing’s dangerous.”

He stepped forward and leaned. I thought he was going to help me up like he did before. But instead, he scooped me into his arms.

I yelped. “This is worse! Now you’re putting both our weight on the wood at once. We’re definitely going to fall through.”

He walked toward the house. “Better me than you.”

“How so? Why is it better you get injured than me?”

“’Cause I can live with a broken ankle. Wouldn’t be able to live with letting a lady break hers if I could stop it.”

I’d never been the type to play damsel in distress, but I had to admit, it was kinda nice being carried by Paul Bunyan. I looked down as he fiddled with the sliding glass door to open it. “It’s pretty high up here. You get a different perspective from this view. I’m always looking up at people.”

“If you say so…”

Fox set me down on a chair in the kitchen. As soon as my ass hit the wood, my phone started buzzing. I frowned at the name flashing. Noah. My eyes jumped to Fox’s face. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one who’d read the name.

“My ex. He’s upset I’m down here.” I pushed Ignore and the phone quieted.

Fox’s eyes narrowed. “Why the hell does he care where you are?”

“He wants me to forgive him. Give him another chance.”

“Is that what you want?”

“No, definitely not. I’m not happy with the way things ended, but I’ve had a lot of time to think about the relationship we had. I realized I was settling into a life I thought I was supposed to have and not really the one I wanted, if that makes any sense.”

Fox nodded. “It does.” My cell started to buzz again. Fox and I read the name flashing at the same time. “Why don’t you just tell him to stop calling?”

“I have. But he’s persistent.”

Fox held my eyes, but said nothing. Once again, I pushed Ignore. But ten seconds later, the damn phone started buzzing. The muscle in Fox’s jaw flexed.

“You really want this guy to stop calling?”

“I haven’t answered in a week now, but he keeps filling up my voicemail. At first I felt bad, but now it’s gotten annoying.”

Before I realized what he was doing, Fox swiped the phone off the table and pressed to answer on speakerphone.

“Is this Noah?”

My eyes bulged.

“Who is this?” my ex snipped.

“This is the man telling you to stop harassing Josie. You need to stop calling her phone.”

“Who the hell is this?”

“Are you listening to me? Josie doesn’t want to talk to you. You fucked up. It’s over. It’s as simple as that.”

“Put Josie on the damn phone!”

“Not gonna happen. Now, Josie’s been trying to be nice, because she’s a nice person. Me, I’m not so nice. So I’m gonna tell you straight up how it is. If you call her phone again, she’s going to contact the police department and tell them she’s being harassed. If you continue to harass her after that, I’m going to pay you a visit myself. I might be six four and two-hundred-and-fifty pounds, but trust me when I say you won’t see me coming. One day you’ll be walking to your car in the hospital parking lot in the dark and suddenly we’ll meet.”

“This is insane. Who the hell are you?”

“No more calls, Noah. You don’t want to piss me off.”

With that, Fox calmly ended the call. He set the phone back on the table. My eyes were still wide with shock, but as it wore off, I grinned. “That was freaking fantastic.”

“Yeah? Thought you’d be pissed.”

“I wish I could’ve seen the look on his face.”

Fox smiled and lifted his chin in the direction of my foot. “I’m going to go. But ice that ankle once an hour until you go to bed.”

“Okay.” I stood, but he put his hand up.

“I’ll lock it behind me.”

“The bottom lock doesn’t work. Only the top one. So I’ll lock it behind you.”

Fox didn’t look happy, but he continued to the door. He stopped before opening it and looked down at me.

“By the way, you were right…”

“About what?”

His gaze shifted down from my face. He winked at my cleavage. “View from up here is pretty damn good.”