Chapter 7
Brooke
* * *
“Ifeel terrible,” I said to Noah.
His voice sounded hollow on the phone, and a little static crackled too.
The signal was awful. Now he was talking and I couldn’t hear him.
“I can’t hear you, Noah.”
The damn line went dead.
I stared down at the phone, hoping he’d call back. There was only one signal bar, and it kept flickering. Seconds later, a message came through from him.
Noah: I’ll be with you in two hours, can’t stay long though. I have a date with Vanessa.
I would have loved for him to come by, but his mention of Vanessa stalled me.
Brooke: Don’t worry about it. How about we have lunch tomorrow?
The blue dots on the screen jumped, and as the signal bar bounced across to the bar next to it, his message came through.
Noah: You need a hug. I’ll be there in two hours. Chin up.
I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling gratitude in abundance. He was such a great guy.
Brooke: Thank you. I do need a hug.
Noah:
I looked at the clock on the wall: it was only five. I’d been back home for just over two hours, two hours of one wasted day. I went into the sitting room and lowered myself onto the sofa that sat in front of the sliding doors. It had an amazing view of the sea, and in the distance there were sailboats. I hadn’t managed to go exploring yet. My gaze landed on the boardwalk attached to Officer Asshole’s back yard. If it had been mine, I would have gone to sit out there. I’d have gone at night too just to take in the surroundings.
That look he’d given me earlier entered my mind as I thought about him. Thinking about him wasn’t exactly something I wanted to do, but it beat thinking about Sally. I didn’t know what I was going to do about her. She didn’t like me.
That was it: she didn’t like me.
But…neither did Officer Asshole.
Eight months with a gorgeous next-door neighbor who was possibly the most attractive man I’d ever seen in my life and a former Olympian who thought I was unsuitable for my job—just great.
The doorbell rang and I turned to look.
Who could that be?Not Noah; he’d said he’d arrive in two hours, and it’d only been a couple minutes.
I made my way out to the hallway and opened the door to find a girl standing before me holding a gift basket. She looked to be in her early teens.
Her striking features lit up when she saw me, and she held the basket up a little higher.
It contained an assortment of fruit.
“Hi, I’m Aria. I live next door.” She beamed, nodding her head. Her long ponytail bobbed as she moved.
Next door—must have been the Johnsons’ daughter. They were on the opposite side of me, but I was sure they’d said they had a son.
“Hey, I’m Brooke.”
