She had truly believed it would last forever. But Cam went back to college, and they drifted apart, and somehow she lost her childhood love. Yes, he was back, but it would never be the same.
Her communing with the ghosts of her past had just turned too depressing, so Grace decided she was done with being alone in the woods. Leaving the cabin, but still dragging her feet about going home, she drove to the small diner in town and had a late lunch. When she finally did decide to head back to the apartments just as the sun was beginning to fall from the sky, worry filled her when she spotted the fire chief’s SUV in front of her building.
She hoped Ms. Jenkins from three doors down hadn’t had another fall. The ambulance came at least once a month for her. She should have gone into a retirement home a long time ago, but the stubborn woman said she’d lived in the apartments for thirty years and she dang well wasn’t going to move. Sadly, at some point she’d be left with no choice.
But Hawk Winchester, fire chief, wasn’t at Ms. Jenkins’s door. He was at Grace’s.
“What’s going on, Hawk?”
He was posting a sign on her door. Before she had a chance to read it, he turned to her. “Hi, Grace. I didn’t realize this was your place,” he said.
She didn’t notice he wasn’t exactly looking her in the eye while saying that.
“Yes, it’s my apartment. What’s the matter?”
“There’s been a report of a gas leak. I can’t let you stay here until we investigate it,” he told her.
She fired off anxious questions: “A gas leak? Is the entire apartment building being evacuated? Why aren’t the trucks here in case it explodes? There are things in there I need. Can I just run in real quick?”
“If you tell me what you need, I can get it,” he offered.
“How long will this last?” she asked instead.
“Could be a couple of days. Could be, I don’t know, a week,” he said, shifting on his feet.
“All week?” Crap. This was just her luck. “I have to get in there, Hawk. I can’t go a week without some clothes and my computer.”
“I can help with that, Hawk. We can be in and out and you can leave the front door open,” Cam said as he joined her in front of the door.
Grace turned all her attention and frustration on Cam when he joined them. “What in the heck are you doing back here, Cam?”
“I heard about the gas leak and was coming to check up on you,” he said, way too much innocence in his eyes.
“I told you: I don’t need anyone checking up on me, Cam.”
“And I told you: Too damn bad.”
Hands on their hips, they faced off until Hawk cleared his throat . . . loudly.
“Listen, I don’t want to get in the middle of your fight, but if you hurry, you can go on in and grab some items.”
She decided to ignore Cam and instead turned back to Hawk. Maybe then her nemesis would take a hint and go the hell away. “How long do I have, Hawk?”
“Don’t take too long” was his only reply.
“The place isn’t going to explode if I open the door, right?” Grace asked.
“No. Not at all,” Hawk told her.
“I’ll be right behind you,” Cam said.
She ignored him once again and slowly made her way into the apartment, which seemed just fine to her. But didn’t some gases have no odor, and didn’t people just die in their sleep because of them? Who was she to argue with the fire chief?
The gas leak could have waited one more week, dammit. The big question on her mind was: Where in the heck she was going to go now?
“Do you know the amount of trouble I could get in for this?” Hawk growled.
“Hey, there was a leaky pipe,” Cam defended.
“Yeah, but it will be fixed by tomorrow. If she decides to investigate this, I am throwing you under the bus, Cam,” Hawk said, not a smile to be found.
“You agreed with me that something is going on,” Cam reminded him, “and you’ve known Grace her entire life and know what a pain in the ass she can be. She won’t admit it when she needs help. This was the easiest way for me to keep an eye on her without having her scratch my eyes out.”
“I’m only doing this because I care about Grace, and I will throw you so far under the bus, they won’t be able to identify the body,” Hawk told him.
“You wouldn’t do that to your friend, now, would you?” Cam said, giving his best buddy-buddy look.
“Hell yes, and I’ll do it with a big smile, knowing you’re going to get your ass kicked. If Natalie hears about this, I’ll be staying in your house, too,” Hawk warned him.
“I always have a room open for friends,” Cam said with a laugh.
“Just hurry up and get out of here so I can go home and see my wife. I want a last supper before this gets out.”
“It won’t ever get out, Hawk. I guarantee it,” Cam said.
“Yeah, somehow I’m not believing that,” Hawk told him.
Cam walked into Grace’s apartment, ready to do more battle if need be. It was a great space, actually, even if he did hate apartments. She’d decorated the place well, tastefully but not over-the-top, and a person felt welcome the moment they stepped through the front door.
He walked into her room and found her pulling things out of the closet and slipping them into a bag. She turned around and jumped.
“You should have said something, Cam,” she said with her hand on her heart, and she took a deep breath. “You nearly scared me to death.”