Passion in Bloom (Hometown Heartstrings #2)

Chapter 25

Heather

T he second the door closed after Roarke, I winced. It didn’t feel right to kick him out. I didn’t want to. Just when I was embracing how good it felt to let him into my life and let him in my space, I had to react with a fight-or-flight sort of instinct to make my space safe again.

Safe meant alone.

Nevaeh was the only person who could’ve had access to my laptop. The only one.

I wasn’t accusing her for the hell of it. She was the only person who I could think of having the chance to get onto my laptop.

But how?

It was password protected. I was careful with security, not just because I cared about doing my job to the best of my ability but also because I didn’t want to let anything bad happen with something trusted to me. It was another residual effect of my childhood. Being automatically assumed to be a cheat, mooch, or liar didn’t sit well with me at all and I strove to avoid anyone having any ammunition to put those labels on me ever again. Some people did good and were obedient because it was the right thing to do, but it was something deeper for me. I—still—wanted to erase the stigma of my past that my parents left me to deal with.

Does she have experience with hacking? Some kind of skill with computers to unlock them another way? I wasn’t an expert at all things related to technology, but I wasn’t a Luddite or moron either. Whoever got onto my laptop, whenever they had, they’d done so without permission. They’d forced their way to the docs.

Could it be something random? A hack from somewhere far away? A glitch?

I paced for a long time, letting these frantic thoughts and what-ifs consume me. When I didn’t get carried away with worries and panicking, I fell back to regretting how I’d treated Roarke.

He had to have gone to that other cabin that Todd offered to him. He got the key then and there when Todd came to his flooded cabin.

But I couldn’t afford the time or energy to worry about Roarke. It wasn’t fair to kick him out just to have privacy to freak out about this issue. Whatever his niece did wasn’t a reflection on his behavior. If I was ready to judge him for Nevaeh’s actions, then that would’ve made me no better than all the judgmental and closed-minded people in town who’d considered me an outcast and good-for-nothing kid just because of who my parents were.

That wasn’t what prompted me to kick him out. It was how it seemed like he wanted to defend her. Almost as though he’d try to gaslight me that I had to be wrong, that I had to be perceiving things incorrectly.

But I wasn’t. Nothing could change the facts that Nevaeh was the only person near my work laptop without my supervision.

In the morning, when I drove to the bank, I frowned at the exterior light on at the other cabin that Roarke must have taken. He’d probably left it on by accident when he headed into work, and I hated the sliver of guilt that hit me at making him leave. Just when it seemed like we were getting closer together, I had to retreat like that.

No. No worrying about him. I had to focus on my job, and I as I steered my car over the bumpy road to the highway, I cringed and winced, frantic that I’d be fired. That my job was toast. That this new opportunity for another, better job, would be gone now.

I wasn’t trying to get rich. I didn’t have lofty goals to be wealthy. I was determined to recoup all that David had taken from me. It would take a long time, but I was certain that working hard and consistently would get me saving up quickly. I’d never been a spender, never having much with the way my parents were. By moving back to Burton, having few expenses and keeping a simple life, I’d be able to get ahead again with a savings. I’d be able to feel financially secure, independently secure, for once in my life.

And now, those dreams were threatened.

“This is what I get for helping someone,” I muttered. I already had twisted opinions on getting or giving help.

“I get screwed,” I said before I parked in the lot.

Epically screwed.

When I headed inside and saw Janelle, though, she tried to quickly and firmly dissuade me from doomsday thoughts like that.

“No, Heather. Not at all. No one is getting fired. Or disciplined. Or anything.” She held me gently, her hands on my upper arms and she lowered to get more to my eye level. Looking me straight in the eye, she spoke calmly and confidently, almost smiling and not appearing harsh or annoyed.

“Your job is fine, Heather. I’m the one who determines the terms of employment at this branch. Believe me when I say I believe you. I have faith in you.”

I whooshed out a long, deep breath of relief.

Nance and Fergus, who’d arrived right after me, chimed in.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Fergus repeated.

“And if this isn’t a mistake but an intentional action, then we all know you wouldn’t have done it,” Nance added.

Their words made me feel better, but I’d be much calmer and saner if I knew what had happened in the first place. That was how stubbornly I didn’t want any blame placed on me. That was how fiercely I wanted to defend myself from a bad reputation. I’d grown up with a falsely bad one for too long to want to relive that experience.

“And the manager who was asking about you is still interested,” Janelle said. “For the new branch opening. All will be fine on that front.”

I nodded, hardly caring about that. It mattered more that all would be okay here, in Burton, at this bank and with these coworkers I was growing close to.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Janelle and Fergus both looked at the files when they could. County officials were also trying to troubleshoot it, but there was nothing I could personally do about it. Time would tell if the documents and spreadsheets would be usable again. In the meantime, I continued collecting things for the toy drive and taking the donations out of the donation boxes. Fergus came with me. He could be an eye witness. And we saved the numbers and item lists on a new spreadsheet he co-authored, so it’d be accessible to both of us in case another “glitch” or anything else could happen.

There was no way in hell I was taking my laptop home again. In this case, working from home wasn’t an option I wanted to risk. It wasn’t like I was in charge of state secrets or billionaires’ accounts, but it didn’t matter. I wanted to be trusted. I had to prove I’d done nothing wrong.

At the end of the day, I walked to my car and hoped that everything would just be fine in the morning when I came back again. That it was just a glitch. A minor oops somewhere, and all would be restored.

I didn’t have long to daydream about that because someone approached me.

I was tense, fearing it could be David, but it was that woman. The stay-at-home-mom who was freelancing for remote work at the apartment building she seemed to loathe. She pushed a stroller with the toddler bundled up against the chilly air.

“Hey,” she said, hurrying to catch up to me. “Hang on a sec.”

I had no idea what she’d want, but I stopped at my car. “Hi.”

“You were at the diner yesterday, right?” she asked.

“Yeah. Heather James.”

She nodded. “I’m Molly. I thought I saw you from the park.” She pointed at the tiny public square on the other side of Main. It was a pathetic patch of now brown grass. I supposed the single bench in it made it a “park.”

“Remember how I said that girl had been hanging around those losers’ apartments?”

I nodded. “Nevaeh?” I tamped down the bitterness at the thought of that teen.

“I saw her again. Just this morning.”

“Oh.” I arched a brow.

“Yeah. I realized that she’s the one who’s been staying with that tall blond. Have you seen him around?” She cringed. “Looks like he thinks he’s the shit. Better than everyone else.”

My blood ran cold. Deep in my chest, my heart hammered faster and faster as panic washed over me.

Tall, arrogant blond?

Nevaeh...and David ?

I was too stunned to reply.

“Really?” I asked, at a loss for anything else I could say.

She nodded. “Yeah. Definitely.” She shrugged, hoisting her purse strap higher on her shoulder. “Anyway, you seemed like you knew her.”

Hardly.

“Or that you were concerned about her.”

I’m not so sure I should waste my energy like that now.

I thanked her and drove home in a daze.

Nevaeh and David.

An untrustworthy and rude teenager prone to stealing and breaking in with my abusive, controlling ex.

Nothing good could come from this.

Nothing at all.

I felt sick to my stomach, dizzy with anxiety so sharp, so brutally acidic and pervasive, that I feared I’d puke.

Walls were closing in on me.

I was trapped. Cornered. Preyed on.

I swallowed hard, blinking at the sight of Roarke sitting on the rickety chair outside my cabin. He was waiting for me there, and as I parked, he stood.

I couldn’t handle him. Not now. Not with the fact his niece was conspiring with my fucking ex.

I couldn’t handle even being here at all.

Nowhere seemed safe, and I latched on to the warning voice in my head.

Run.

Go.

Get the hell away from them all.

I was a fool to ever think I could trust anyone. I was a moron to confuse lust and physical attraction for a deeper connection that would allow me to lean on Roarke.

“I want to make up for our first real fight as a couple,” he said as an introduction.

His hands were in his pockets. He seemed sincere. He didn’t look like a threat.

But I couldn’t trust myself to know that anymore.

I shook my head, not in any mood for him. Not to make up or anything. I was one second away from being triggered into a panic attack. “We’re not even really together, Roarke.”

He raised his brows, seeming like he was ready to argue.

“We won’t be together, either,” I added.

He pressed his lips together in a firm line.

“Because I’m leaving,” I announced. Fear drove me to the decision. Panic pushed me to want to run far and hard.

“I’m taking a new job somewhere else,” I said, just now making that choice because it was the quickest out.

I’d be leaving my hometown to start over—again.

Alone. But hopefully safe from anyone trying to mess with my heart.

THE END

H EATHER

I’m stupid to stay. With my ex hanging around, getting too close for comfort, the only thing that makes sense is to go. To run.

Fighting back seems impossible. Putting roots down and really letting love in feels too risky.

A job is waiting for me somewhere far away, somewhere safe. I could take off and have a redo. Maybe this time, I might get over the trauma of my past.

But running from this small town—again—would mean giving up on the one man who seems prepared to fight for me.

He’ll fight with me, too, but how can I truly know if I’m strong enough to lean on love and survive this threat from my past?

Roarke

I jinxed myself when I said I didn’t want drama. Between my ex-wife and my troublemaker of a niece, I’m loaded with women causing hell in my life.

When it comes to the gorgeous woman in the cabin next to mine, though, I try not to give up on her pushing me away.

No one will tell what’s going on. She won’t open up and explain herself.

It takes someone getting hurt to prompt her to sharing about what she wants to escape.

But now, her threat is endangering someone in my life, someone I can’t abandon.

I never thought I would have to have my heart torn into two.

As much as I want to fight for a future with the woman I want to make my forever, I must decide if I can choose love over the duty to family.

Hometown Heartstrings Series

Book 1 – Hearts at War

Book 2 – Passion in Bloom

Book 3 – Love at Peace