A Fresh Start (23 page)

His lips twitched and curled up into a sneer that he removed almost immediately, returning to his usual composed self.

But that split second slip in his peaceful look was enough to unsettle her trust in Cole.

She looked over to the Seymours’ house and noticed Mrs. Seymour’s watchful eyes through the window.
 

Paige backed away from Cole. Before, she’d attributed his sudden outburst of anger to her getting over him so quickly, but his sneer made her wonder if his even-temper was simply a carefully controlled facade.
 

“You need me. I’ll make you see.”

She felt her arms go cold.
 

She shook her head and told herself that she was overreacting; Cole wouldn’t hurt her.
 

She opened her mouth to speak, intending to make him understand that there wasn’t any way they would end up together, but Cole took a large stride forward and roughly grabbed her hand.

He tightened his claw-like grip when she tried to pull her hand back.
 

Pressing the black velvet box into her palm, he seethed, “Keep this. You’ll be wearing it soon.”

That sounded very much like a threat to her, but threat didn’t work with her; not when she’d grown up dealing with overbearing guys who were easily twice his size.

She refused to close her hand over the box. When he let go, the box fell onto her deck.

Cole’s eyes were on the box, but he looked up at her when she spoke.
 

“I’m not keeping it. I won’t be wearing it—ever. You should leave.” She stepped aside, leaving the path down the steps open.

Again, the sneer appeared. But Cole was quick to switch it into a smile.

Paige’s hand clutched onto the deck railing and she squared her shoulders. She wasn’t going to let him scare her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and walked down the porch, not bothering to pick up the box.

“Everything all right?”

She looked over when she heard Justin’s voice and saw him walking toward her. Justin took a glimpse of her, then turned his focus to Cole.

Cole continued toward his car, striding past Justin as though he wasn’t there.

Justin glanced over his shoulder as Cole went by. He turned back to Paige with a frown. “You all right?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking at the box on the floor.

Justin picked it up as he stepped onto the porch. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Maybe the ring isn’t inside. He doesn’t seem to care that I let it drop to the ground.”

His brows drew closer. He flipped the box open and turned it around to face her. “I guess he was sure you’d pick it up.”

“He’s being so weird.” She took the box from him and closed it. Turning around, she placed it on the corner of her deck railing. “He seems absolutely convinced that I’ll get back with him.” Leaving the box on the railing, she stepped toward Justin and continued. “Maybe this will send the message.”

“You sure about that? It looks expensive.”

“Do you want me to keep it?”

“He made his bed.”

She laughed softly and went over to sit on the swinging chair. “Was it coincidence that you came over just as Cole was here?”

“Mrs. Seymour called me before she woke you up.”

“Aah, I see,” she said with a smile. She leaned onto his shoulder when he joined her on the chair. “How’s Amy?”

“Frustrated. The baby was due two weeks ago. She was dousing some chips with salsa sauce when I was there.”

They sat and continued chatting until Mr. Seymour called them over for dinner. That night, she stayed over at the Seymours again. Knowing that the Seymours were in the room next to hers and that Justin was on the couch downstairs was reassuring.

She moved over and stared at the gun she’d slotted behind the nightstand. She’d completely forgotten to bring it out with her.

Justin was right about making it a habit; something she would do tomorrow.

She switched off the lights and got into bed, praying that she wouldn’t be there when Cole found out where she’d left his ring.

Paige could hear Justin chatting with the Seymours as she was coming down the stairs, but stopped at the bottom of it when she saw him wearing a light gray shirt instead of the usual T-shirt and jeans.

“You look different.”

“I have to head down to Cheyenne today, going to view a couple of houses.”

“Oh,” she said.

He took a large step toward her with a grin. “You sound disappointed.”

“No, I’m not. I—”

He stopped her with a peck on her lips. “I was intending to ask you along. That’s if you want.”

“You kids going to Cheyenne? Bring something back for me?”

“Sure,” Justin answered without taking his eyes off her. “Are you coming?”

“Why not? We can go look at the grills for the windows, too.” She looked down at the shorts she was wearing. “I’ll go change,” she said, heading toward the door.

Justin grabbed her hand, holding her in place. “Later. Let’s eat first.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

Halfway through breakfast, there was a knock on the Seymour’s door.

Mrs. Seymour frowned and immediately looked over at Mr. Seymour. “Are you expecting someone?”

“No.” Mr. Seymour pushed his chair back.

“I’ll get it,” Justin stood before Mr. Seymour had to.

He strode over and opened the door. “What do you want?”

“Paige?”

Paige gave an audible sigh. She stood and hurried over, peering over Justin’s shoulder. She dropped back on her heel and laid her head against Justin’s back.

Cole didn’t just turn up again, he had to turn up with flowers; the specific type of flowers she hated.

“You weren’t at home, so I figured you might be here,” Cole said, again treating Justin as the invisible man.

“Is there something you need?” she asked impatiently. She couldn’t believe Cole would come knocking on the Seymours’ door to look for her.

“I brought you flowers.”

“I don’t want them. And your ring, I left it on the deck railing.”

“I saw. You should keep it properly; I don’t want to see you upset if it gets stolen.”

Paige’s hands flew to her face, her fingers splayed over her eyes. Dropping her hands, she stepped away from Justin’s back and stared at Cole. “Please, stop it. I’m not going to accept the ring. Not now, not five years from now, not ten years from now.”

“You will.”

She threw her hands up in the air. “No, I won’t. You don’t get it. I don’t love you. I don’t care if the ring gets stolen. Gosh, I’d probably write a thank-you note to the person for clearing it away from the railing.”

Cole looked away from her and down on the floor for a moment; the same moment the chilling sneer appeared. Clearing his throat, he continued as if Paige hadn’t said anything. “What are you doing today? I want to take you out for dinner tonight.”

“Are you deaf?” Justin asked. “She isn’t getting back with you. Get over it.”

He took a step back, pushing Paige along with him, and slammed the door close.

“He has serious issues.”

“Right, he was exactly like this yesterday,” she said, her hands still gesturing about in the air. “I thought I was being oversensitive.”

Justin took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She noticed him taking a deep breath through his nose before continuing. “Forget about him. Eat.” Pulling out the chair for her, he said, “Maybe he needs time.”

Her lips curled as she sat.

Justin could’ve jumped in and gone on about how Cole could be the stalker. Instead, he only tried to assure her that everything would be fine.
 

She turned to the door, half expecting Cole to come crashing in.

“He must’ve left.”

Paige returned her attention to the table, realizing that everyone had paused for the last few moments as well.
 

Once they were done with breakfast, Justin accompanied her home. The moment she stepped up on her porch, she saw the bouquet of deep red roses that Cole had left right in front of her door.

She rubbed her palms against her arms.

“Are you all right?” Justin pulled her closer against him.

“Initially, I felt horrible that he’d come all the way here for me. Now, I can’t help but think he’s punishing me for rejecting him. He knew I hated red roses. The stalker kept sending those to me.”

Cole wasn’t here to get her back; he was here to get back at her.

Sighing heavily, she picked up the flowers, moved over to where the black velvet box was, and dropped both the flowers and the box over the railing. They landed on the ground, right beside the three small steps up her deck.

“He’s trying to remind you of the stalker,” Justin mumbled. He quickly shook his head and replaced the frown he was wearing with a smile. “I’m over thinking things, just be careful around him. Putting aside my suspicion, his behavior isn’t normal.”

She nodded slowly. Something
was
wrong with Cole. Despite the exterior facade he’d placed, he wasn’t the person she thought she knew.

Over the last few years, Justin had made quite a profit from buying bank-owned foreclosed home. There were a few bad investments, but he had learned from them.

He had contacted realtors over the interest of buying such houses and from the emails, he’d chosen three of them, arranging to view them all in one day.

The appointment was still an hour away, but he’d made sure he arrived earlier to scout out the area.

“Are we lost?” Paige asked as he slowed his car and drove around the neighborhood.

“I’m checking out the neighborhood,” he explained. “Many of these properties have been through several auctions without any takers. Sometimes, buyers are unwilling to fix it up and that’s where I come in. But sometimes, there are good reasons. Maybe it’s been used as a meth house, the neighborhood is bad, or it’s stuck in an area where there are too many foreclosed homes.”

“So what are you looking out for?”

“Signs on how many of the houses here are up for sale. If children are allowed to walk and play around freely without adult supervision.”

Paige’s brows rose, and she nodded. “Because if parents allow that, it means the neighborhood is safe. You give yourself too little credit, you know?”
 

“Credit for what?”

“Your success. You didn’t take a gamble. You’re really smart.”

“You sound surprise.”

“I never thought otherwise,” she quickly said. “The things you say, they sound completely logical, but I don’t think I’ll ever think or notice them if I’m house shopping.”

“I learned from my mistake. I once bought a house in a high-end neighborhood for what I thought was a pretty good deal. Turns out, it was used as a meth lab, so it was basically poisonous for anyone to stay in there for prolong periods.”

“What did you do?”

“I could get so-called professionals to clean the house. But after some research I realized no matter how much you clean it, there are still risks. So I tore the house down and rebuilt it. That cost me quite a lot of money, but it taught me a lesson. There’s more to it than the dollar value of the house itself.”

“So how do you check if it has been used as a drug house?”

“Test. I either demand it from the realtors or I get it done on my own.”

“These tests, aren’t they expensive?”

“Few thousand at the most. Cleaning up will cost tens of thousands, and rebuilding a house will costs even more.”

Paige pointed out the window. “There are some kids cycling around. And I haven’t seen another house that’s up for sale in this neighborhood.”

Justin pulled up to a house with a pink bicycle and a skateboard lying in the middle of the front lawn. “Shall we?”

“This is the house you’re viewing? It doesn’t look like it’s been abandoned for months.”

“This isn’t the house we’re viewing. But it sure seems like there’s a mother at home to answer my questions.”

She laughed softly. “Okay. Do I wait for you here?”

“Come along. I’m sure the mom or whoever is inside will be more relaxed if they see a couple instead of just me.”

“Okay.” She unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out.

Justin joined her and took her hand as they strolled over to the house. Just as they were about to ring the doorbell, two kids came running out of the house with cookie crumbs still on their lips and a mother hollering behind them to watch out for cars.

The strawberry blonde wearing a light green T-shirt and black capri pants saw them and paused for a moment, her eyes immediately flickering over to her children.

“Hi, I’m sorry to disturb. My girlfriend and I are looking at a house for sale in this area, and we’re hoping we can ask you some questions about the neighborhood.”

The mom broke into a smile and waved them in. “The blue house a block away?”

“Yes,” Justin answered.

“Have a seat. Water?”

“No, thank you.”

“All right, what would you like to know?” the mom asked as she sat on the couch.

“How’s this neighborhood?”

“Good. It’s pretty safe. There was a break in a few years back. Since then, we have a neighborhood watch. There’s a cop living on our street, he organizes the shifts for the patrol.”

Justin nodded with a smile. “Then do you know why the house we’re looking at was foreclosed?”

The mom pursed her lips and continued in a gentle tone. “Bad luck. I guess it could happen to anyone of us. Steve was the sole breadwinner in the family. He got let go from the company and couldn’t find another job.” She took in a deep breath and said, “He tried. He ended up taking two lower paying jobs, but later suffered a stroke and couldn’t work. Joyce hadn’t worked for years and couldn’t get a job. I guess they couldn’t keep up with the medical bills and all.”

“That’s so sad,” Paige said, her brows etched in a frown.

Justin lifted her hand to his lips and smiled at her.

“It’s a great neighborhood to start a family.”

His lips curled further up as he thought about that. It did seem like a good neighborhood.

Paige smiled politely at the mom. “We heard the house has been empty for awhile. Is there some reason why no one bought it?”