Chapter Two
Jedidiah needed ajob. And an apartment. She’d been in Whiskey River over two weeks now, living at the main house on the Walker ranch, and she’d had about all the togetherness she could stand. Her brother Marshall and his wife, Jaclyn, hadn’t been married for long and while she tried to make herself scarce, she knew it must be annoying to have someone living with them when they were still newlyweds. Plus she wasn’t sure how long she could stand all this wedded bliss. And then there was Damaris and her new husband. They planned on building their own place on the ranch but for now they lived in the cottage behind the barn. As they’d recently returned from their honeymoon,theirwedded bliss was even more, well, annoying than Marshall and Jaclyn’s.
That didn’t even account for Chase and Ella and their baby girl. Ella had delivered not long before Damaris’s wedding. And now Gabe and Chantel were pregnant. Good grief, she needed out.
Not that she was jealous. She had no desire to get married. Every damn one of her siblings except Cole and her were married and deliriously, sickeningly happy. Honestly, she was happy for them. She loved her family even if she hadn’t been around much since she left right after high school. But damn, enough was enough.
She went down to the kitchen to grab something for breakfast before she started apartment hunting. She’d have loved to have a place in the Wildcat Tower, but from what she’d seen in the local paper, theWhiskey River Review, those were out of her price range. She had a pretty substantial savings but it wasn’t going to last long if she didn’t find a job and a cheaper apartment. Holding theReview, she grimaced over the ads for apartments. Her chances of scoring a decent, reasonably priced place to live were looking pretty damn slim.
“Hey, Jedidiah,” Nate said as he came into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Off to fly the friendly skies?” she asked. Her brother-in-law was a pilot, as evidenced by his T-shirt that bore the logo and sign of Devil’s Rock Airport.
“Yep. I have a lesson in a little while. What are you frowning about there?”
She set down the paper in disgust. “Apartments. There don’t seem to be any decent ones that don’t cost a fortune.”
“You want to move out?”
“Yeah. It’s very sweet of Marshall and Jaclyn to let me stay but I need my own place. And they need the place to themselves.”
“Damaris and Marshall will try to talk you out of moving.” He took a sip of his coffee.
“I know. But they won’t succeed, which they should both know. It’s not like we haven’t talked about this before.”
“Well, if you’re bound and determined to move, I can help you out. I’m paid up for another two months at my apartment. You can sublet it and then rent it if you like it. It’s in the Big Tree complex.”
“The Big Tree? Where is that?”
“It’s an older complex, over there close to Jalisco’s. There’s a nice view of the woods but it’s on the third floor. Outside entrance, stairs, no elevator. No security to speak of but this is Whiskey River and nowhere near the Barrels.”
She could deal with a few stairs. Lack of security didn’t bother her. Not here. Besides, she was armed. Plus, most of their crime occurred in or near the Barrels. “How much is it?”
Nate named a very reasonable price.
“This sounds too good to be true. Are you sure?”
“Yeah, if you want it. I can have everything out by the weekend.”
It sounded like the answer to her prayers. “I don’t want to rush you.”
He shrugged. “No problem.” He took a key off his key ring and handed it to her. “I’ll write down the address and you can go look at it today. And if you don’t want it that’s okay too. I’ll figure out something else.”
“I’m sure I’ll want it. This is great. I can’t tell you how much I was dreading trying to find an apartment. Or a house to rent, which is probably even harder.”
“I think houses for rent are few and far between. Let me know what you decide once you’ve seen it.”
“I will. Thanks, Nate.”
Things were looking up. Once she had her own place, she’d feel more like herself. A safe place where she could hole up and not have to deal with a lot of people. She’d always been a little antisocial, but ever since Noah died, she’d become a full-out recluse. And it was very difficult to be a recluse when you had a huge family with husbands, wives, a kid, and soon, more kids, living practically on top of each other. Sure, each couple lived on a different part of the ranch but they were all still within spitting distance of each other.
Again, she and Cole were the outliers. Cole had an apartment in the Wildcat Tower, but he spent a lot of time on the road. She wondered what it said that she and Cole, the youngest and the oldest of the siblings, weren’t living on the ranch. Of course, Marshall, Damaris, and Chase all were involved with the horses. Gabe wasn’t, although he helped out when necessary, but he’d built his cottage and workshop on an out-of-the-way area of the ranch. Her brother—an internationally successful metal artist—spent a lot of time creating magical creatures as well as real and abstract metal art that was in high demand. Although since he’d married Chantel, he didn’t spend nearly as much time working.
No time like the present, she decided. She went to her room to get her purse, then back to the kitchen to get her keys she’d left on the key rack, and walked out the back door. Since she didn’t have a lot of requirements for a place to live, she was sure Nate’s apartment would suit her perfectly.
*
A week laterJedidiah moved into Nate’s apartment. She’d liked it immediately, and liked even more that he’d left behind most of his furniture. There was no room for more furniture in the cottage he and Damaris shared. Rather than having to store it or sell it he’d been happy to have Jedidiah use it. She figured he might want some of it back once their house was built, but who knew how long that would take?
