Page 4 of Guarded Knight (Echo Valley #3)

Just two days after confessing the past month of drama to Xander, I said goodbye to what was an amazing run in one hell of a town.

We left Santa Fe in our small U-Haul at the crack of dawn, and I hardly slept in our hotel overnight, wondering if Cameron followed us and if I shouldn’t have done what the heroines in my romance books do... go somewhere nobody knows them. Then again, trouble always catches up with them anyway.

The second day of driving was brutal. By the time we spot the sign for Echo Valley, most of my resistance to this move has been eroded by the desperate need to get out of the seated position.

The first thing I see when we pull into town is a giant Tack and Feed store, and it gives me all the Starlight Canyon flashbacks.

I might have needed to get out of my small town to live more fully, alleviate my loved ones from the constant worry over my health and life in general, but one thing is certain.

You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl.

When we turn off the main road leading into Echo Valley and onto the Main Street, the quaint boutiques and lack of chain stores, along with the fact that I can just about make out where this main drag ends, gives me the cozy feels I love about small-town living.

I loved Santa Fe, but people can hide in cities. There are too many shadows and dark corners. I don’t know where I’ll go once this shitstorm has settled, but I’m thinking population five thousand max.

Freya squeals, and her black bouncy curls jump as she points at a man in a cowboy hat. “I didn’t know there would be cowboys in California!”

I thought the same thing, but I remember Xander telling me about Santi starting a ranch here and I learned there are quite a few.

“Apparently, the cowboy capital of the world is Oakdale, just an hour or so from here. But never use that title in Starlight Canyon. I’m sure those ranch boys wouldn’t take kindly. ”

Her perfect brown skin wrinkles around her eyes with a smile. “Noted. I like having your mom and dad on my good side. Best blueberry pie and whiskey sours, respectively.”

She focuses on the road again instead of those ass-hugging blue jeans we passed. I’d rather her keep staring than focus on her new boyfriend. Kevin is not only her new beau but also our boss, and sadly, I’m not a fan.

Especially since I discovered some shady movement of the funds that I worked damn hard to raise. There’s something fishy going on at Scarlet Hope and that, along with Kevin’s deck shoes, do not make him a good fit for my best friend.

She sighs. “I’m glad you decided to leave. And everything I see here is making me damn happy I came with.”

“I wish you never had to deal with all that.”

“What? You mean trade Santa Fe for walking onto a Hallmark movie set? I haven’t seen a cowboy since we were last in Starlight Canyon and I’m due a hit.”

I quirk an eyebrow. “Let’s hope it’s more Passionflix than Hallmark.”

“My eyes shalt not stray…” she jokes with a stoic tone.

And she wouldn’t stray. I’m not sure how into Kevin she is, but as long as I’ve known Freya, she’s never been able to date more than one person.

Freya is a smart girl. I have to believe she sees something I don’t.

Because for me? Kevin is the definition of pompous.

He’s got his nose so high in the air I can see the hairs.

I don’t insult him or go too far pushing my opinion, but I also like to make sure she’s still questioning it all in the ways I should have with Cameron.

Men should have to earn trust.

“Anyway, babe,” she adds, “where you go, I go. But I’m just saying, there’s something about a man who knows how to use his hands.” She quickly corrects herself. “I mean, Kevin can use his hands… I meant for work.”

I smirk and can’t resist. “Can he, though? Can he use his hands?”

She shrugs. “He’s all right.”

“I’m just saying, you’ve been together for about a month and you’re not exactly racing off to San Francisco every weekend for boom-boom.”

“He’s a busy guy.”

“Part of the problem I have with him. You deserve to feel important. Plus, most of the work he does is the same stuff you’re passionate about.”

Kevin’s charity, Scarlet Hope, raises money to support families that have children with sickle cell anemia. Once upon a time, Freya was that girl. She got a bone marrow transplant and is healthy now, but it’s one of the things that drew me to her.

She knows what it’s like to stare down the future and wonder how many steps you have left. Freya brings so much joy into my life with her effervescence, sunshine, and will to live.

Which is why I struggle to give up on the notion that Kevin should make Freya more of a priority.

I mumble, “He could take you to functions…”

She reaches over and places her hand on mine and uses a teasing tone. “But if I were gone every weekend, who would stop you from blowing your life savings on kumquats at the farmer’s market?”

“Well, I have Kevin to thank for that and my health insurance.” I dig my finger into my cheek. “You’re right, I should focus on his finer qualities.”

She laughs. “It’s early days for us. You know you’re my boo.”

Finally, after two days of leg cramps and fruitless neck rolling, the GPS announces, “You have reached your destination.”

“Thank God,” Freya mutters.

The truck bumps slightly as Freya pulls into a spot, and we waste no time getting out like two creaking folding chairs, testing our limbs to make sure everything still works, then slamming the journey behind us with two loud bangs.

“I have sea legs,” Freya winces, stretching her arms overhead. Her eyebrows furrow. “Where is this place?”

The map says we’ve arrived, but there’s no bookstore in sight. I check my phone and see our address is off the main street on Grenvista Trail—a true dead-end street. Wider than an alley but not made for cars.

Freya follows me, and sure enough, on Grenvista Trail we find the entrance to Pages and Perks. My eyes follow the fading clematis flowers climbing the front window and upward to what I guess are our apartment windows.

The bookstore is cute. There’s a freestanding hammock and an egg chair out front, plus a little outdoor bookshelf the owner clearly doesn’t worry will get stolen. That’s the kind of thing that happens in small towns. There are upsides.

It’s all very charming, but I’m sure the telephone tree was already activated the minute we rolled onto the main drag. I have to remember that though there’s something beautiful about neighbors caring for one another, they can be meddlesome, too.

Leaving Starlight Canyon was a push and a pull. I was pulled toward freedom, but I was pushed by that meddlesome nature. No matter how many years went by, every time I bumped into Joy Hunter at book club, she never stopped asking me how Gabriel was. As if I knew.

Maybe because she knew I wanted to know.

The whole damn town knew I had a crush on him when we were kids. It was glued to my identity right alongside my name, and since I never moved on to any of the hometown boys, that label stuck.

Unless I get a ring on this finger, Joy Hunter will still be asking till the day I die.

Freya throws herself into the hammock and sways gently with one long leg on the ground. “This town is a vibe.”

“Yeah. Claustrophobia,” I joke, secretly relieved she likes what she sees. Santa Fe was the least populated place she’d ever lived. She’s a city girl through and through.

Just then, a short, curvy woman who looks a lot like Lucy Liu comes out of the shop with a sandwich board.

Book Club 5 PM. Wine in Stock. Possible Alien Abduction (if you’re lucky).

Chili peppers and open books are doodled around the border, and I’m pretty sure this book club is of the spicy variety. Right up my alley.

Cute Lucy wipes her hands on her jeans. “Hey. You here for book club?”

I stroke my chin, gazing up at the store signage. “It depends on what the perks are.”

She laughs. “Spicy books out front, toys in the back. If you get my drift.” She checks her watch. “We’re not set up yet inside, but all are welcome. Even if you haven’t read the book, the drinks are free.”

Freya scrambles out of the hammock. “Good marketing strategy. Give ‘em the first hit.”

She winks. “Keeps ‘em coming.”

“We’re the new tenants in 2B,” Freya says cheerfully.

“Ah! Nice to meet you. I’m Penelope, Pen to friends, and I run this place and the book club with Luis.”

It can’t be. Joy Hunter did text me that Gabriel’s dad joined the spicy book club back home before moving to Echo Valley. “Not Luis Mendez by any chance?”

“Is there any other? You have to come. Consider it a welcome party.”

Freya and I glance at each other, nothing but green lights in our eyes.

“Of course,” I chirp. “We can at least stop in.”

“Super. If you need anything, you know where to find me,” she says, waving us goodbye.

Freya brushes imaginary dust off her leggings. “Wow, small towns move fast. We’ve already been invited to a party.” She wraps her arm around my shoulder. “Let’s go see what home looks like.”

Her words make it sound easy. Normal. But normal isn’t something I get to take for granted anymore.

I scan the quiet street out of habit before turning toward our front door. No shadows. No wrong cars.

I thought I’d stop doing this when I left Santa Fe. That the checking, the way my eyes dart to corners and windshields, was part of that place. A habit I could leave behind. But I guess it hitched a ride.

Maybe Cameron got under my skin more than I let myself believe.

I’ve never been the nervous type, and it turns out anxiety isn’t what I thought it would look like. It’s not big and loud with a mouthful of fangs. It’s quiet, ordinary, and tucked into the corners of new beginnings.