Inevitable (2 page)

Secretly, I loved it. The sensation of my stomach tightening when my legs stretched out and pounded against the rough pavement was euphoric. I could always get lost in the peaceful melody nature hummed in my ear. My day was just never the same when I skipped my morning jog.

“So, speaking of Caleb, how long are you going to wait until you finally make a move?” I smiled, tugging out my loose ponytail and pulling it up in a messy bun to keep my long hair off my back.

“Um, never.”

“Seriously? You spent nearly every day in high school crushing on the guy. He’s finally moved back to town. What the hell are you waiting for?”

“Exactly, I spent every waking moment pining for a guy that hardly even noticed me.” Hilary looked down, wiping sweat from her stomach while we went around the first curve. “Even when he did, he looked at me like I was a child.”

I offered a lopsided smile. “He’s only two years older than you. Do you really think age matters anymore? You’re all grown up now.” I pulled my lips up into an encouraging grin as I gave her an exaggerated once over. “You’re no longer a little girl. You’ve got to go talk to him, make a move before someone else snaps him up.”

She laughed, and a soft smile settled over her thoughtful expression.

Now that Caleb was back in town, I was fully expecting my confident best friend to disappear into the insecure girl she became whenever Caleb was near. It was always an oddity growing up and watching how quickly her sharp tongue could get tied up, leaving her either stuttering or frozen when Caleb would so much as look at her. We walked in silence for a few moments before I grew restless at her sudden lack of conversation. I hadn’t seen Caleb since he moved away a few years earlier, but there was plenty of talk around town about his sudden return.

“I heard the restaurant will be opening next week. Caleb sent an invite for a grand opening party.”

“I still can’t believe he bought the old place.” Hilary took a drink from her water bottle. “That place is a dump. My grandparents wouldn’t even eat there the last couple of years.”

I shrugged. “I’m actually excited to see what he has planned. The building looks amazing, and I heard he renovated the inside and added a bar.”

From what I’d been hearing, Caleb was turning it into a full-blown restaurant with an expansive bar and even had a dance floor built. The forty-minute commute to the city every time we wanted to go out would be no more. I was thrilled, I hated the long drive just to have drunk guys spill their drinks on me and throw out cheesy pick-up lines. I went out to dance and even that would always seem to get ruined. They never seem to take the hint, sometimes a girl wants to dance alone. It was as though they assumed if you don’t come with another guy then your begging to be picked up. Not the case, at least not for me.

Hilary continued walking, her expression indifferent.
How was she
not
excited? She was the one that had to plead with me to go out with her all the time.

I jumped in front of her. “Come on!” She stepped back pursing her lips to hide a smile. “A real bar!” I shouted.

She shook her head at my antics and walked around me.

“You know it’s going to be great. We can go dancing. Plus, we’ll finally have a decent place to eat in this town,” I added and watched her expression begin to brighten.

Just as we rounded the second curve, indicating we were less than a quarter mile from my house, a large moving truck sped by blaring its horn. Hilary grabbed my arm and leapt off the road, practically diving into the grass, with me at her side.

Staring at each other and then the back of the truck in disbelief, I fell back panting.

Hilary stood up, brushing the grass from her purple shorts, shouting several explicit slurs but the near death experience caused my blood to pump so fast, the ringing in my ears blocked out most of her rant.

“What the hell!” Hilary yelled, her arms flailing furiously. “Dumb son of a
ugh
! He could have run us over!” She looked back at me, furious.

We had just began walking back to the road when two more trucks raced by, followed by a sleek black BMW with dark, tinted windows.

“Where the hell are they going out here?” Hilary’s breathing finally calmed.

“I don’t know,” I said, deep in thought.

Why would moving trucks be out here at this hour? There was no other houses out this way besides mine and—

“The Miller’s Estate.” I let out a puff of air, annoyed at my own forgetfulness. “I completely forgot—it sold early last week.”

“Really?” Hilary said, surprised. “I have to admit, I never thought anyone would ever buy that place. The house is practically a mansion. It’s been on the market for what, four, five years? Why would someone with that kind of money move to Harmony?”

I shook my head and raised my shoulders. “Maybe they’re on the run from the mob and need a place to hang out. This would be the town for that.” I chuckled.

She looked over at me swinging her arms as she walked and laughed. “That must be it.”

Through my laughter, a tiny sting radiated through my chest at the idea of a new family living in that house. The Millers were the sweetest old couple and built the place for their family over fifty years ago. I remembered my grandma saying how heartbroken the Millers were once their children grew up, scattered around the country. Only one of the kids ever came to visit, and later helped move them into a retirement home.

“Well, it’ll be good for you to have some neighbors. Your mom hates you living out here all by yourself. You do realize it would take the sheriff at least fifteen minutes to get out here,
speeding
, if you needed help.”

“Nothing bad ever happens in Harmony.” I snickered. “Besides, my grandpa left me more than just his house. He also taught me how to shoot a gun.” I tilted my head toward her and bent my knee forward; my lips pursed, giving my best Charlie’s Angel gun-toting impression.

She laughed at me and took a long swig from her water bottle. “You’re telling me—living out here in your grandparents’ creepy old house—you don’t ever get freaked out?” Hilary stopped walking and stared at me in disbelief. “The thought of you with a gun just makes me laugh, Cassandra. Sorry, but I mean come on, you weigh what? A hundred pounds?”

I raised my chin proudly. “One-twenty, not that it matters.”

Honestly, she was right. I always felt like a child when holding my grandfather’s pistol during target practice. But still, it was registered and locked away in a safe under my bed, in case I ever needed it.

“The only thing that actually scares me is where am I going to go swimming now.”

“You still swim in the Miller’s pool?” She shot me a disgusted glance.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I help keep it clean and in exchange I get full access to use it whenever I want.”

“Don’t expect a chance to say good-bye to it now,” she teased.

I bit my bottom lip, annoyed I had another month of heat to endure with no place to cool off. At least I started my first year teaching in a couple weeks and that would
hopefully
keep me distracted from the temperature.

Hilary and I were thrilled to both land jobs our first year out of college, and at the same elementary school. She quickly snatched up the second grade position which I’m sure had nothing to do with her godfather’s position as principal. I, on the other hand, was about to give up finding a teaching job in town when, Ashley Morgan—the newly married kindergarten teacher—announced her pregnancy and requested a year’s leave of absence.

Three more weeks and we would officially be putting our higher education to use.

We climbed the last hill and rounded the final corner to find the moving truck parked at the top of the overgrown grass hill in front of the massive estate. The giant black wrought iron gates separating it from the road remained open.

“We should go introduce ourselves,” Hilary said, grabbing my arm to stop me from passing the estate.

“Please, tell me you are kidding?” My eyes grew wide, tugging my arm free.

“What? It’s rude not to.”

“No, what’s rude is allowing their first impression of us to be like this.” My eyes shifted between our bodies, soaked in sweat and undoubtedly lingering with an unpleasant odor.

“Good point.” She laughed, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Let’s get out of here.”

The moment we began walking away my eye caught the sight of someone stepping out the front door and walking down the porch. The man was tall, lean with broad shoulders dressed in faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt clinging to his chest. My feet halted giving my brain time to memorize the unexpected image.

The morning sun highlighted his dark-wavy hair and the slight scruff over his jaw. My stomach clenched and my breath hitched.

“Oh my God! Is that your new neighbor?” Hilary’s shrill voice rang out and the man’s head snapped to the side, eyes staring straight down the driveway and landing on us.

His brows rose and a seductive smirk crept over his lips.

I couldn’t put two thoughts together if my life depended on it, but my feet made me proud and somehow carried me at full speed away from the gate and to my own driveway next door. For the first time since I moved in the previous year, I was thankful I never got around to trimming the hedges that concealed most of the Miller’s front yard. Although to my surprisingly curious satisfaction, I could still catch glimpses of him staring at us through the thin shrubs spaced too far apart for complete privacy.

The man was gorgeous. Unlike any man I’d ever seen. Since Mark, no guy had caught my eye…not like that. For some reason I couldn’t understand, it terrified me.

Once I reached the end of my stone driveway, I pulled open the screen door, relieved Hilary hadn’t changed her mind and tried to go talk to him. I felt disgusting, not the way I wanted to do neighborly introduction. Hilary was laughing hysterically behind me and I turned to give her a piece of my mind the moment we stepped inside.

She choked back her remaining giggles and held up her hands to stop me before I got a chance to speak. “Relax, you look fine. Besides, he was all the way up the driveway. I’m sure he barely saw us.”

Oh, he saw us!

I followed her into my kitchen and pulled out two tall glasses from the cupboard. It was pretty damn evident that he not only saw us, but knew we were gawking like a couple of school girls.

My stomach had just returned to its previous calm state, but the replay of his image sent it catapulting back through a wave of foreign emotions.

I wondered if he looked that good up close.

“So, how lucky are you!” She smiled as I grabbed the ice tray from the freezer, glaring at her, as I set it on the counter.

“We know nothing about him.” I huffed.

I rolled my eyes, listening to the ice
clink
in the bottom of the glasses over her incessant cackling. “For all we know, he’s married with five kids,” I added.

“Possibly, or maybe he’s single and looking for a stubborn blonde schoolteacher to rock his world.” She wiggled her brows in my direction and stood from her chair, crossing the small room to peer out the side window. From the window there were no trees blocking the view to the Miller’s back and side yard.

“Rock his world?” My voice dripped with repulsion at her choice of words.

“Well, it would do you some good. Loosen you up a little.”

“I don’t need to be…loosened up.” I winced at my use of her words.

“When was the last time you went out with a guy? Huh?” She craned her neck, and cocked an eyebrow to look back at me.

My mouth snapped shut, she knew as much about my love life as I did. Only thing she didn’t know was how much I missed being held. The simple touch of a man. I pushed the yearning away, refusing to dwell on it, as I always did.

“Exactly. It’s been a year since that asshole broke your heart. Time to get back out there and show off what the good Lord gave ya.”

“Seriously?” I chuckled dryly, shaking my head.
So not my style.
Not that I had a style for picking up guys but if I did that wouldn’t be it.

Her face lit up with a bright smile that showcased her perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. It spoke volumes and I could tell she was on a roll now. Nothing I had to say would make her stop.

“I say you go take a shower, let your unruly curls hang loose, and throw on one of those little whimsical summer dresses that you keep hidden in the back of your closet. Ooh, the one that looks like it was made from sheer vintage lace.” Her grin grew wider. “Just strut on over there to introduce yourself and you’ll have him groveling at your feet in record time.”

“Sure thing,” I replied animatedly, “why not.” I turned pretending to follow her absurd directions and burst out laughing when I halted halfway out the kitchen and turned around. “Oh that’s right, I’m not a slut.” I threw my hand in the air giving her my best ‘oh darn’ expression.

Hilary turned her attention back out the window. “Well, don’t say I never try to offer my assistance,” she said followed by a short giggle.

I finished filling the glasses with water from the faucet and took a long, satisfying drink. My dry lips and scorching throat stung for a brief moment as it absorbed the liquid. I carried Hilary’s glass to her and found myself staring out the window beside her curiously.

There wasn’t much to see besides an occasional middle-aged man wearing a blue polo and khakis lugging around boxes. There had to be at least a dozen movers filling the house with furniture.

“Looks like you were right.”

I shifted my gaze to follow hers and noticed the small curly haired boy wandering around the backyard. He was chasing after a butterfly, running around without a care in the world. The picture he painted was adorable and sweet, and I found myself smiling when he jumped up trying to capture the insect with no luck.

Despite the young boy’s delightful traipsing around the yard there was a pang of disappointment settling through me. I had barely caught a glance of the man in the driveway. Why did I care if he had a family?