Both of them were right. And both of them were wrong.
“I need to think,” Tyler said finally.
They let him go, let him retreat to the bay where a simple job waited. Tyler threw himself into work, trying to quiet the war in his head.
He wanted Brooke. Wanted what they’d started building. Wanted to believe he could have something good without destroying it.
But the note in Edi’s evidence bag suggested something else.
You have blood on your hands. Who’s next?
What if it was Brooke? What if his curse, his poison, his whatever-it-was that killed everyone he loved, reached out and took her too?
Could he live with that? Could he look at himself in the mirror if something happened to her because he’d been too selfish to stay away?
His phone buzzed. It was another text from Brooke.
The running club is planning a trail run this weekend if you want to come. No pressure though. :)
Tyler stared at the message. He could go. Could see her, be near her, and pretend everything was fine.
Or he could stay away, keep his distance and protect her the only way he knew how.
He didn’t know which choice was right, or even if there was a right choice.
Chapter 19
Brooke
Brooke laced up her trail runners and checked her watch. She had twelve miles mapped out, a nice, long Saturday run on one of her favorite loops. The weather was perfect—cool enough that she wouldn’t overheat, but sunny enough to lift her mood even higher than it already was.
Which was saying something, because lately her mood had been pretty good.
She grabbed her water bottle and headed out, smiling as she thought about the past two weeks. Tyler had told her about the note someone left on his truck—creepy and unsettling, sure—but like Edi said, it was probably just some bored person trying to stir up drama.
Tyler thought it might be the game warden who had shown up the day they found Sheila. He had dated Sheila and even went to her funeral. Plus, he had gone to the shop earlier in the day when the note was left, wanting to order something that Tyler said he could buy anywhere.
Brooke agreed it was weird that he’d shown up at the shop, especially since he had a history with Sheila, but that didn’t mean much. Lots of people in town had a history with Sheila.
They had both agreed to be careful, to pay attention, but not to let fear run their lives.
And they hadn’t. Tyler had shown up for the trail run that Saturday, keeping pace with the group like he’d been running with them for years. Natural athlete, that man.
He’d been to each Wednesday night run since then, and they’d gone out running on their own a handful of times, even celebrating his birthday together earlier in the month. Dinners, running together, talking, building something that felt real and solid and good.
The trail wound through familiar terrain, pine trees thick on either side, the path well-worn and easy to follow. Brooke settled into her rhythm, breathing steadily, mind drifting.
She’d asked Tyler if he wanted to come today, but the shop was open. They stayed open one Saturday a month, and this was the day. He’d sounded genuinely disappointed when he said he couldn’t make it, which made her smile even as she’d told him it was fine, that she’d see him later.
Things were good. Really good. Even Adam had backed off—no more following Tyler around, no more random appearances at the coffee shop or the running club. She liked to think he realized Tyler was innocent. At the very least, he received the message she wasn’t interested, so that was a plus.
She felt a little bad that she was spending so much time with Tyler. Gina understood, of course, since she was deep in her own relationship with Nick. But Brooke got the sense that Steph was feeling left out, so they had gone out together for dinner and the community theater’s newest production last night.
It was fun. At dinner, they caught up on all sorts of gossip, especially about how Steph was upset over a guy who had recently moved to nearby Elkridge and started a running club there. Brooke thought it sounded like a greatthing. Another running club might mean they could do things together.
But Steph said he’d called her, suggesting his new running club and Basin County Running Club plan a weekend run together to get to know each other. He was totally stuck-up and arrogant, and Steph wanted nothing to do with him or his club. He was some sort of failed Olympian and had people in his pocket. He not only started a running club, but he was also planning to start hosting races.
Brooke understood why Steph was upset. She had long dreamed of hosting road and trail races that would draw people not only from the state and region, but eventually as aworld-class event. She had come close a few times, but something always got in the way. While she’d been instrumental in organizing dozens of fundraiser runs, turning it into a business was a completely different challenge.
