The Brookfield Series Volume One (18 page)

Glancing up, he saw the looks Claire and Jace were giving one another, and he was certain they wanted to be alone. The only thing she had ready this morning were a few croissants. Her only guest at the moment must have been Ava. Usually, she had a whole spread available.

“I’m going to head home and enjoy my day off as best I can. Thanks for the free breakfast as usual, Claire.”

“Anytime. I’m always here, and I do mean
here
, literally.” She gazed at Jace and waved bye to Seth.

Seth decided to get out of there as fast as he could before those two tore each other’s clothes off. Pushing his way through the front door, he smacked hard into somebody.
Shit
. Once he composed himself, he saw it was Ava.

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this.” He snickered.

Ava brushed past, not even caring. He watched as she went inside, and the door closed behind her. He couldn’t believe she’d just blown him off. Was she still upset about yesterday? He thought, after a night’s rest, she would’ve have forgotten.

Climbing in his car, he wondered if it was too early to start drinking. His mind was going to go all day … and of course, it had to be a day off. Nothing to distract him from his own warped thoughts about the hot Italian woman who drove him insane, yet he wanted to chase her out of town. Maybe he was being a prude and this shop wasn’t as bad as he kept thinking. No one but him seemed to really care. Even the old women who sat outside the hair salon looked like they were excited to have such a place opening.

The next time he saw Ava, he’d apologize and let her know he’d been wrong.

* * *

Ava poured coffee into a to-go cup and then grabbed a croissant. She needed to get down to the shop. She also needed to find out Kimberly’s schedule so she could plan her week. She was going to miss Kimberly when she left. She’d mentioned joining the military. Ava could tell something bothered the girl, yet she wasn’t sure what. Maybe, if she ever spoke to Seth again, she could ask him. As of now, she didn’t plan to talk to him again.

That kiss … had been amazing. She’d never gotten so turned on by a simple kiss. Her toes had literally curled inside her shoes. When the kiss stopped, she’d no longer felt whole, but then he’d said the most arrogant and pompous thing he could, reminding her it would never work. That he was just another man who wanted her to change her life for him. After John … that was never going to happen again. Not that she thought Seth was like John, but Seth did want her to open up a different shop or move out of town and then he’d date her.

Her blood was boiling, and she wished there was some way to cool it down. Hopefully, work was going to do just that. She was going to put her heart and soul into that place.

“Ava.”

Ava turned around to the petite redhead and smiled. Claire was very sweet, and Ava wished she knew her better. Julie loved her, and Ava knew Seth was close to her also, which always left Ava feeling a little awkward.

“How is your stay so far?” Claire asked.

“It’s great. I love it here. And the lake is gorgeous.”

“Thanks. Jace is going to be working in the cabin next door to yours. I know you’re a night owl, so I wanted to see when the best time was for him to be making noise.”

“Trying not to be a night owl anymore. I’ve got to be a day person once the store opens. Don’t worry about me and noise. I can sleep through anything, anyway.”

Claire nodded. “Good to know. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I won’t.”

Ava began to walk away but wasn’t quick enough before Claire spoke to her again. “You know, Seth isn’t a bad guy. He means well.”

“I’m sure he does. I’ve got my issues, and he has his, and I think they just don’t mix well.”

“Seth has a good heart, and he cares about this town and the people in his life deeply. If you’d let him in, you’d be glad you did.”

Ava took a deep breath. “I’m sure he does, but I’m not changing who I am for him or anyone. I’ve done that enough. Moving to Brookfield was a time for me to start over and find myself. For years, I’ve been doing what this guy or that guy wanted, and I’m through with that. Seth has made it clear, if I don’t open Bare Necessities, then we can be together.”

“I think he’s just confused. He’s a people pleaser. He just wants to make sure no one gets upset in town.”

“So far, he’s the only one who has objected.” Ava paused. “You’re friends with him, and you’re automatically going to be on his side. That’s fine. That’s what friends are for. But this is something I wish to not discuss further. If I sound like a complete bitch, I’m sorry.”

Claire stood there a moment before speaking again. “I understand. You haven’t offended me. You’re right. This is between you and Seth. And trust me, I know he’s in the wrong. Seth has things in his past as well. To be honest, I think if you two just sat down and got to know one another, you’d be much happier.”

“Maybe we will. Well, I’ve got to run. As always, you make excellent coffee. Have a wonderful day.” Ava turned back toward the front and left.

After she climbed into her car, she texted Kimberly to find out her schedule then headed to the shop. She parked around back, and as she climbed out of her car, the cool air hit her. Yes, it was going to snow soon. She was happy for it. Hopefully, it would be a chilling winter. She then chuckled when she thought back to last winter, when Julie had gotten snowed in with Mark.

She tossed her briefcase over her shoulder and started toward her store. As she got closer, she noticed something shiny on the sidewalk. If she wasn’t mistaken, it looked like shattered glass. It couldn’t be. Her pace quickened, and as she got closer, she saw she’d been right. It was glass. Her gaze followed the broken glass up to the display window that now had a huge hole in it. She couldn’t believe it. Someone had broken her window.

Ava peered in. The inside looked untouched except for the gray rock that sat in the middle of the floor. She pulled her phone from her purse, called 9-1-1, and reported the crime. How could someone do this? Perhaps Bare Necessities really was a bad idea.

Chapter Eight

“Are you sure I can’t stick around and help you get this all cleaned up?” Cody asked Ava again.

“I’m positive. I can handle cleaning up all the glass, and I texted Mark, Julie’s husband, to come board up the window until I can get a new one in.”

“I assure you, we’ll put extra security on your place. I’m really sorry this happened.”

So was she. Once she got this policeman out of here, she planned to let her frustration out … alone.

“It’s fine, really. If you have everything you need from me, I’d like to get this cleaned up and go about my day. Thank you for all your help. I really do appreciate it.”

Cody nodded and then slowly headed toward his patrol car. She knew he liked her, or was at least attracted to her. He just wanted to help, but she didn’t have it in her to do the whole flirting thing. As he drove off, she could see him watching her in the mirror. Sighing loudly, she walked inside, went straight back to the storage room, and let the tears fall. It felt so good to get it out.

She wasn’t sure who had done this, but clearly Seth wasn’t the only one who wanted her out of this town … or was he? Could he have possibly done this? No way. He was the sheriff, a law-abiding citizen. Or so he would have everyone think. The rock hadn’t been thrown too hard. It had barely even scuffed the floor where it landed. Someone had thrown it just hard enough to break the window and do no other damage. All they’d wanted was to get a message across. Would Seth really stoop to that level? At this point, she wasn’t sure.

Wiping her eyes with her shirt, she collected herself just in time to hear the front door close and heavy footsteps enter. Then a thud echoed, and she assumed it must be Mark here to fix the window.

Ava wished she had a mirror so she could make sure it wasn’t obvious she’d been crying, but it wasn’t like Mark was going to say anything. He was a man, and the last thing he’d want was for her to start crying all over again. Taking a deep breath, she went out to greet him. He was already hard at work. She knew he’d get the job done quickly and right. Now she needed to find out how to get a new window ordered.

Cody had left her a number of someone he knew and said he’d treat her right. She figured, what the heck, she’d call before she tried a bigger company. Grabbing her cellphone, she decided to take care of that while Mark did his work. Although, once Mark was done and this window business was over, she was going home. It seemed like the perfect day to get lost in a book in the rocking chair on her cabin’s front porch.

* * *

The next morning, Seth arrived to work feeling better. He’d spent his day off on his couch, snacking and watching television. He’d done absolutely nothing but relax. He’d watched action-packed movies without mushy love scenes. Just things blowing up and it helped keep his mind off of
her
.

After setting his coffee down on his desk in his office, he went to touch base and make sure everything had run smoothly yesterday. He assumed it had. No one had called him.

As he got closer to Randy and Cody, they stopped talking, which was nothing new. He was the boss, after all.

“What’s up?” Seth asked.

“Not much,” Cody responded.

“We were just talking about what happened yesterday,” Randy said.

Cody shot Randy a look, and Seth knew something was up. “Care to fill me in? If it’s police business, you know I’m going to find out.”

“Ava Miller’s shop was vandalized,” Randy said.

“It what! And no one called me about this? What happened?”

“Someone threw a rock through the window. She’s okay. I took care of it,” Cody said.

Oh, Seth was sure Cody took care of it all right. “I should have been called.”

“We handle things like that all the time, sir. Didn’t realize we needed to call you. It was your day off after all,” Cody reminded him.

Was Cody so interested in Ava that he was willing to play dirty? Was there any way Ava was interested in him? “Is Ms. Miller okay?”

“Yes, I stuck around for a little while after we filed the report, and she seemed fine. I think her cousin’s husband was coming or something. I plan on following up with her this morning.”

The hell he was. “I’ll do it,” Seth said.

Seth walked away and went back to his office. He couldn’t believe no one had told him about this. It wasn’t just because it had to do with Ava; things like vandalism just didn’t happen every day around here. Sure, teens did things, but no one purposely tried to hurt people. He needed to see Ava and make sure she was okay.

Seth leaned his head out the doorway and saw Cody at his desk. “Cody, can I see you for a minute?” Cody nodded and came to Seth’s office. “Just a quick question. Did Ms. Miller mention if there had been any other incidents?”

“She didn’t mention any.”

“Did you ask?” Seth snapped.

Cody cleared his throat, which told Seth the answer was no.

“You can’t forget to ask questions like that. People don’t always tell everything or think of things until they are asked to recall. There may have been other strange things that have happened that she never thought anything of.”

“I’m sorry. I can head over there and do that.”

“No, I’m following up with her this morning,” Seth said.

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s all. Go back to work and get me the report from yesterday on my desk in the next ten minutes.”

Cody nodded and then left. Seth knew he was being hard on Cody, but he didn’t have time to baby his men’s mistakes.

After he reviewed the report, he would track down Ava.

* * *

Today, Ava decided to work from home. She had a mountain of paperwork to do and things to order, and it was all stuff she preferred to do from the comfort of a couch. She wore tiny cotton shorts and a cami tank top. Soft music played in the background, and she knew if she wasn’t careful, she’d be back to sleep in no time.

With coffee in hand, she sat down and pulled out her to-do list to decide what she was going to tackle first. Right as her mug touched her lips, a knock sounded through her cabin. She paused a moment, wondering if she was hearing things, but then it came again. Maybe it was Jace or Claire, wanting to see if they could begin the renovations next door. Hopping off the couch, she went to answer the door.

Flinging the door open, she saw Seth. He looked at her intensely as his gaze drifted up and down her body. Instantly, she felt self-conscious and wished she’d thrown a robe on. After all, it could have been Claire or her husband on the other side of the door. Maybe she could get him to leave quickly. She still wasn’t sure he wasn’t the one who threw a rock through her shop window.

“What can I do for you?” she asked.

“I wanted to follow up on your report from yesterday. I stopped by the store, but you weren’t there so I thought I’d try here.” His gaze trailed over her entire body, and she hated that her nipples puckered.

“Nothing new to report.”