The front door to the house opened, and a blond guy who looked to be in his early thirties walked toward Smith wearing a frown. “Can I help you?” The guy had his jacket on and a carryall slung over one shoulder, as if he planned to go out. “I’m kind of in a rush.” The frown darkened.
This was going to be one ofthosemoves—the pain-in-the-ass kind. Smith could feel it. He bit back a sigh. “Aaron Briggs? I’m Smith Ramsey with Vets on the Go! I have your stuff.”
The guy blinked. “What?”
The woman returned with a large duffel over her shoulder. “I’m Erin. You havemystuff,” she told Smith.
He mentally berated Finley for writing down wrong information. Smith hated to be ill-informed. “Oh, right. So E-R-I-N Briggs?” At her nod, he struck the wrong name from the invoice and corrected it.
“Erin?” The man asked in a reedy voice. “What are you doing here?”
She dropped the duffel, squealed, and threw herself in his arms. “Cody, I’m finally here!”
Over her shoulder, the stupefied expression on Cody’s face turned to one of horror.
Smith took a step back, anticipating the hot mess to come.
Cody pushed Erin away. “But…why?”
The joy on her face faded, and Smith felt a pang to see such pleasure snuffed.Not my problem…He glanced back at the moving van then at her and the immovable Cody.Not my problem yet.
Hell.
Erin frowned. “When we talked Friday night, you told me either I committed to you or we were done. I told you that I’d pack up right away and be here this week before I hung up. So, I’m here.”
“Seriously?” Cody gaped. “I thought you were being sarcastic. That it was a joke.”
“A joke? Cody, I packed up everything and had it shipped here over the weekend. I told you I was coming.” She studied him. “You changed your hair since the last time I saw you. I like it.” She looked so earnest as she leaned forward and took the guy’s limp hand in hers. “I choseyou, Cody. I left Kansas for good. I’m here now. Ready to move in.” She glanced uncertainly at Smith and the moving van, then back at Cody. “Like you said. We either move in together and live happily ever after, or we need to go our separate ways, because being apart is too hard.”
Cody pulled his hand from hers and ran it through his hair. The stylish cut looked as if it had been done at an expensive salon. And the nice khaki’s and pricey sweater he wore said he had an upscale kind of taste. Smith could see him and the woman together. Apparently, Cody couldn’t.
“Well, yes, I did say you’d need to move out here. But I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”
A dark blue SUV pulled up behind the moving van, and a pretty blond woman stepped out, leaving the vehicle running. “Cody?” She took a good look at Erin, narrowed her eyes, then smiled back at Cody. “Honey, if you don’t hurry, we’ll be late for the meeting. And make sure you have your things for our dinner date this evening.”
Erin’s face lost all color. “Cody, who is she?” Erin faced the woman. “Who are you?”
“I’m his girlfriend. You must be the Kansas mouse.”
Erin gaped, her eyes huge as she turned back to Cody.
Smith had to hand it to the guy. A smart man would have cut and run, but Cody stood there, looking like a dumbass, caught between his girlfriend and a woman who’d uprooted her entire life to be with him.
“Erin, I don’t have time to go into this right now. I—”
“A girlfriend?” Erin’s eyes welled. “You told me justfive days agothat we could make our relationship work if I moved out here. But how can that happen if you already have a g-girlfriend?”
The woman sighed. “Cody, we don’t have time for you and this…person.” She sniffed and said in a loud voice. “Talk about trading up when you found me.” She cleared her throat. “We have to go. Now.”
Cody reached out to caress Erin’s face. “Damn. Bad timing. We’ll talk about this when I get back, okay? I’m sorry, Erin. You should have said you were serious about coming.” He walked around her, ignored Smith as if he wasn’t standing there, got in the SUV, and left.
Erin stared in shock, tears spilling down her cheeks.
Smith stood rooted in place, not sure what to do. He had a job to finish, but asking the woman what she wanted him to do with her things after she’d been shot in the heart didn’t seem right. Fuck, but hehatedemotional drama. A bunch of the guys at work—including Cash—were into reality TV where this stuff happened all the time. Not him, though. He’d rather have a root canal.
Just looking at Erin’s misery twisted his stomach in knots.
She cried harder, her silent sobbing cascading into a waterfall of denial, confusion, and (deservedly) loud-ass grief. She seemed so small to be so loud. But he understood pain, knew all too well how it felt when life kicked you in the teeth.
