Would there be a point where her friend realized she wasn’t helping?
“Callie.” Lock stepped closer, even though there’d already been no room between them. “Let me help you. Maybe we could talk after.”
Talk…but it wouldn’t just be about why he’d ended things between them. It would lead to why she’d then left Misty Peak, and all the pain that had trailed behind her for the last two years.
“I can’t.”
“Cal—”
“I’ll see you around.” She quickly sidled around him.
“We live in the same town,” Lock called. “We’re gonna have to talk eventually.”
Yeah, eventually. And hopefully when the time came, she’d feel braver.
She didn’t stop moving until they were in the car.
For a moment, neither she nor Aspen spoke. They just sat in heavy silence, Callie’s chest moving a heck of a lot faster than it should.
“He’s right, you know,” Aspen finally said quietly. “You’ll need to talk to him eventually and tell him why you left.”
She swallowed, but it did nothing to wet her dry throat. “I know. But it hurts to think about.” It wouldalwayshurt to think about. “I don’t know if I can say it out loud and relive it without completely breaking down. Not right now, with everything going on with Dad, anyway.”
Aspen gently touched her thigh. “Okay. Well, it’s your choice when you tell him. And if you need me there with you, you know I will be.”
She looked across at her best friend. Just like her father, Aspen had always been there when she’d needed her. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 5
Lock pushed up from the deck, climbing to his feet. Not his deck. Hamish’s. A Misty Peak local who’d needed someone to replace sections of rotting wood for him.
Lock had been getting a lot of calls like this lately. Word had gotten around town that he was home, and everyone knew he was good at this kind of work. Growing up, he’d spent summers with an uncle who was a contractor, and he’d taught him a lot. His uncle had passed away when Lock was eighteen, but he remembered everything the man had taught him.
The work was good. He needed to keep busy. To find things to do other than think about Callie. About the way she was avoiding him. The way she wouldn’t give him five damn minutes of her time.
He shoved the hammer into his tool belt with a bit too much force.
Two more times, he’d seen her around town in the last week since the hardware store. On both occasions, she’d turned and basically run from him like he was a predator.
“All finished?”
Hamish was coming out of the house. The guy was about the same age as Lock, similar height and build. He often spoke with a stutter, but Lock barely noticed.
He nodded. “All done.”
Hamish pushed his glasses up his nose. “Thank you for c-coming on such short notice. I overheard Macy saying you were b-back and doing jobs for locals, and after Mom tripped on the rotting wood yesterday, I knew I needed someone.”
Hamish lived with his mother. A kind, elderly woman who’d come out to offer him sweet tea a dozen times. “Happy to help.”
“So, are you here for g-good? Home, I mean. Or are you going back to the military?” Hamish didn’t make eye contact for the last bit. In fact, his gaze seemed to continually shift from Lock’s right shoulder to the ground.
“I’m home for good.”
Hamish nodded. It was a quick, jerky nod. “Guess you’ll be picking things back up with C-Callie then.”
His chest contracted at her name. He should probably expect locals to ask him about her. “At the moment, I’d settle for a friendship with her.”
Hamish’s eyes widened and met his, then shifted back to Lock’s shoulder as he nodded.
