I already feel like an outsider looking in.
So much has changed in the time I’ve been gone. Old friends have moved on to pastures anew. Bella has made new friends, opened a business and is on track to have everything she ever wanted in life. People have come and gone.
And for the second time in my life, I’m starting over.
“Of course. She knows you’re here and she text me earlier with the promise of alcohol when she gets home.”
I stare at Bella’s retreating form as she wanders toward the kitchen. “Okay.”
When she disappears from sight, I inhale deeply and turn back to my sparse bedroom.
Jesus, this is fucking depressing.
It’s just white walls and white furniture. The only pop of colour in the room is the bedding and even that is grey.
Maybe things will be different this time. Maybe I’ll eventually hang some photos on my walls. Or add someknickknacks to my shelves. Some colourful curtains could liven the place up a little.
But before I do any of that, I need to make amends.
I need to right the wrongs of the past.
I don’t know what life looks like for me in Rosewater Creek anymore, but I have a feeling that as long as I have the blonde down the hall bymy side, I’ll be just fine.
CHAPTER 2
KILLIAN
Iinhale a drag of my cigarette and exhale a cloud of smoke slowly as I watch my latest recruit, Jaxon, heave a log onto his shoulder. An alarming amount of sweat pours down his reddened face and I almost put the poor fucker out of his misery.
Almost.
He’s worked for me for just over two weeks now and has yet to give me a good reason to keep him on the payroll.
Every day this week the kid has shown up late for his shifts, failed to wear the correct clothing and drags his feet with every task I’ve given him.
I’m a fair man and a fair boss, so when this kid approached me on the street one day in the middle of a workday and asked me for a job, I thought he was bold as shit. It takes a lot of courage to walk right up to someone and do what he did, but he did it with his shoulders back and his head held high. And because of that, I wanted togive him a chance, but so far all he has done is disappoint me.
“C’mon, newbie. Pick up the pace. Some of us have shit to do,” Callen, another one of my employees, calls over his shoulder as he pushes past him.
I watch with a cocked head as Jaxon sways a little, trying with every muscle, or lack thereof, in his body to keep the log balanced on his shoulder. He fails, and the log drops to the floor with a deep thud.
The boy, who is probably no older than eighteen, stares down at the timber in defeat and I watch as every ounce of fight he had left in him leaves his body.
I stub my cigarette out on the ground and toss the end into a bucket as I make my way toward him. “You good, kid?”
He keeps his eyes on the ground, releasing a heavy sigh. “I can’t keep up with the others.”
“Hmm,” I hum in agreement.
“I don’t think I’m cut out for this kind of job.”
“What makes you think that?” I ask out of curiosity.
I agree. He’s probably not cut out for this line of work. It’s gruelling, tiresome. It requires a level of stamina that not everyone has. There’s a lot of training that goes into it if you want to progress from the man on the ground to the man fifty feet in the air while operating a deadly piece of machinery. You need to be on alert every minute of every day. There’s no room for distraction in this industry. One wrong move and someone could be seriously hurt.
He shrugs. “I’m not strong enough. Not fast enough. I’m younger than everyone else.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “You’ve also been forty minutes late every day this week. You’re wearing jeans andsneakers when I specifically told you to buy some chainsaw protective trousers and boots.”
