Page 5 of Embers of You (Amity #1)

Sutton

“I’m going to open every door and window in this place and let you fly free, Jerry Lee.” I can’t even appreciate my accidental rhyme as I threaten the bird who happily flies back to his perch by the front door after Jameson leaves.

As I try to focus on grooming the dog still on my table, I can’t shake the interaction I just had.

Especially the mortifying ending. I finish up grooming Daisy, figuring it’s as good as she’s going to get with what her mom was wanting.

I send her a quick text as I clean up my area while Daisy runs around the shop.

The front door opens, and when I look up, I see it’s Trish walking in.

“Hey, that guy Jameson came over here to do his fire check safety thing,” I tell her while I continue sweeping up fur.

“The what?”

“I don’t know, he said you knew about it.”

“Jameson did?”

I stop sweeping, leaning on the broom to look up at her smirking face.

“Yes?” I say slowly, not understanding why she’s questioning this.

“Interesting, what exactly was he checking?”

“Uh, I don’t know I didn’t watch him.”

She just nods without saying much else, her expression unreadable. There’s something in her eyes—hesitation, maybe, or something deeper that I can’t quite put my finger on. The silence between us stretches, not exactly uncomfortable but weighted, as if there’s more she wants to say but won’t.

“ Hot guy, Jameson,” Jerry Lee pipes in, and I strangle the broom handle as Trish smiles in my direction.

“He’s a good guy,” Trish says simply.

“Oh, I’m not?—”

She holds her hand up to silence me before giving me a small smile and walking toward her own station on the other side of the salon.

I go back to my task of cleaning up my area. When I’m dumping the last bit of fur into the garbage by the window I look up and see the garage to the fire station is open, and Jameson’s out there with a younger looking guy. He looks like he’s explaining something to him, and I can’t help but watch.

Jameson’s large arms are folded across his broad chest, his baseball cap flipped backwards on his head. He stands at least a few inches above the younger man, and his perfectly straight teeth show as he smiles through whatever speech he’s giving.

I’m so lost in my distraction that I don’t even hear when the front door opens or notice when Daisy starts running toward it. The only thing that pulls me out of my haze is the voice speaking to me.

“Hello?” I snap up and look over to where Mallory is now standing in the front while Daisy dances around her feet.

“Hi, sorry, I was…sorry.” I shake my head while grabbing my card reader that plugs into my phone.

“Checking out the view over there?” she asks with a smirk. “Hard to not miss, huh?”

I shake my head. “No, I was just cleaning up. How does she look?” I bring the conversation back to her dog.

Mallory crouches down to examine the excited puppy who won’t stay still long enough for her to get a good look. “She’s decent.”

“Glad you approve, it’ll just be fifty today,” I tell her, entering the information into my phone so she can pay.

She hands over her card, and I start to run it when she starts talking again.

“Looks like Jameson’s working today.”

I give a small hum of agreeance while focusing on the phone.

“He and I used to date.”

I can tell she’s trying to get a reaction from me, and I have to work to hide the pang of jealousy I’m feeling though, I don’t know why. I have nothing to be jealous of, the man is at least ten years older than me and clearly has a past. I’m not even in his present or future so it doesn’t matter.

“Then he left, and I didn’t want to do long distance. He was so torn up over our breakup, but I just couldn’t do it. Maybe now that he’s back, I’ll give him another chance.”

I finally finish ringing her up, handing her card back while trying to hide the slight tremble of my hands. I refuse to acknowledge anything she’s saying to me.

“Thank you for coming in, I hope you have a good rest of your day,” I say through a fake smile.

She looks me up and down, her gaze slow and deliberate, and I can’t help but shift uncomfortably under the weight of it.

I know I look like a mess—disheveled hair, rumpled clothes, exhaustion written all over me—but somehow, I feel even worse under her judgmental stare.

“Let me know if you want to meet up for coffee sometime. I can fill you in on all the info you need in this town.”

With that as her parting words, she scoops up her dog before leaving.

I will most definitely be passing on that invitation. I think back to what Jameson said about not wanting friends in my new town. It’s not that I don’t want friends, it’s that I don’t think I can trust anyone to let them in like that.

Trish is nice. I don’t think we’re necessarily friends, but I’m not completely alone here. Which is also why I quickly finish cleaning up the salon so I can get home to Bennet. I’ve been here all day, and I know he’s going to need to go outside.

As I’m leaving, I look over at the fire station without much thought, and see Jameson is still outside with a few other people. He catches me looking and waves. I feel my cheeks warm as I return the wave with a small one of my own before getting into my Jeep and taking off.

Bennet greets me with a wagging tail as I walk through the front door. I immediately open up the back door for him, and he runs out to do his business. The cool ocean air whips at my hair, and I can’t help the feelings that seem to take over as I let the reality of what my life is crash over me.

I left everything I’ve ever known to come to this place where I don’t know anyone or anything to start fresh.

But that was the point, wasn’t it? A fresh start.

A chance to escape the past that had unraveled so brutally before me.

The people closest to me betrayed me in a way I never would have expected, so trusting anyone after that is not something that will come easily.

Walking into my parents’ house. My house. Seeing my best friend, and…I let out a loud sound of disgust. Bennet looks up at me like he’s wondering what I’m doing. I wave him off.

“Don’t worry about me, bud, do what you need to do.”

He goes back to sniffing to find the perfect spot to go to the bathroom and I just look up at the sky. Everything will work out. I have to believe that. I didn’t walk away from everything just to crumble now. I don’t need any of them in my life, not after that.