Page 5

Chapter four

Mika

“Oh, look at that one!” I pointed at the afghan made of hundreds of little crocheted flowers. “I wonder if Mary Ellen could show me how to make those.”

“I don’t know,” Andy said. “But between her and Hazel, I bet one of them could show us. They’d work great for me because if I had to stop because we got a call, I could stop and not worry about losing count.”

Andy and Jesse lived right across the street from Jesse’s grandmother, Hazel, and she’d been teaching him how to crochet just like Mary Ellen had been teaching me. I was better at it than he was, but I didn’t have a hunky Daddy at home to distract me.

“The only thing is it would take sooo many flowers. I think I’ll stick with my granny squares for now. Well, those and scarves. Let’s see what else we find.”

We’d come to the local Farmers Market, which was actually more of a bazaar than a traditional farmers market. Now that I had a place that was all mine and didn’t have any roommates, I was getting more into decorating, and we’d come here to find a lamp to go on the table by my couch.

The market was really crowded today, partially because they had live music playing, but also because the weather was starting to get nice enough for people to enjoy being outside. It was still a little early in the year for much produce, but there were people selling asparagus, strawberries, and a variety of herbs.

“Oh, look at those.” I pointed to a booth selling mixed bouquets of wildflowers. “I love cut flowers.”

“Do you?” Andy asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, I just love flowers in general, but I love to have them in my house.”

“What’s your favorite?”

“Peonies,” I said without hesitation. “But I also like roses. Not the long-stemmed ones, although they’re nice, but I like the ones that grow in clusters on bushes. They’re so pretty. My grandmother has a bunch of those in front of her porch. Every year, as soon as they start to bloom, she cuts off a bunch and puts them in a short vase on this old table that sits in her entryway.”

“You should plant some.”

I shrugged. “I’m just renting the place. I don’t really want to invest a bunch of time and money in the yard just to leave when my lease is up.”

“I get that. I saw someone over near the stage who was selling plants. You could get one of the mini rose bushes, though, and keep it in a pot for now. I bet they have some.”

“I’d like to have one if they have them. Let’s go take a look.”

There was quite a crowd gathered in front of the stage listening to the band, so we had to push our way through to get to the lady with the plants. I made it through first and turned back to check on Andy—and that was when it happened.

I caught a glimpse of a tall guy wearing a biker vest, with a braid of dark hair streaked with gray, moving in the opposite direction.

My heart lurched. It couldn’t be, could it?

I strained my eyes for a better look, but his face was turned away. My palms broke out in a sweat. I was torn between waiting for him to turn so I could see if it was him and hiding just in case it was. The crowd shifted, though, and between one blink and the next, he was gone.

I stood there for a minute, trying to spot him again, but he was nowhere to be seen. It had to be my imagination. There was no way Butch was in Vesper. We were hundreds of miles from Las Cruces. It was probably just some other biker. A lot of them wore vests like that.

“Mika, what’s wrong? You’re pale as a ghost,” Andy asked when he caught up to me.

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, taking one more quick scan of the crowd.

“Nothing. I’m sure it was just my overactive imagination playing tricks on me.”

He followed my gaze, looking for anything that might’ve alarmed me.

“What did you think you saw?”

“I thought I saw Butch.” My shoulders slumped, and I shook my head. “I thought I was over this.”

Andy was one of only a few people who knew what I’d been through before I came to Vesper, and he’d been nothing but super supportive. He was also the one who’d saved me from a jerk-faced loser months ago at Kirby’s—the local gay club his boyfriend owned with his brother. That was a big part of why I’d started taking self-defense classes. I’d saved myself once by running away, but when that jackwagon Sebastian had targeted me that night, I’d frozen.

I don’t know what it was about me that attracted assholes, but I was taking steps to make sure if it ever happened again, I was prepared.

“Hey, you went through hell, but you pulled yourself back out. It’s not surprising that you’re still jumpy.”

“I know. Let’s just check out the roses and then get out of here.” I was like ninety percent positive it wasn’t him, but that ten percent was enough to make me anxious and to keep me from enjoying the market. I hated it, but it was my reality.

“Sure thing. Do you want to come back to my place and play with Seph?” I didn’t miss the way he used his dog, Persephone, to offer me a way to avoid going home alone. Some days, I might’ve tried to put on a brave face and insist I was fine. But I hadn’t seen Seph in ages, and I kind of wanted to go see her—not to mention the fact that I really was pretty shook up.

“That sounds good. Will Jesse be home?” I didn’t want to impose if they were planning to spend the day together.

“Nah. They’re having a queer bingo at the club today, and Victor’s out of town, so he had to work. They make sure at least one of them is there for any of the event nights.”

“Okay. As long as you and Jesse don’t have plans, I’ll come hang out with you.”

It didn’t take me long to pick out a few mini rose bushes and pay for them before loading them into my car. No matter how many times I told myself I was being ridiculous, thinking I’d seen Butch had spooked me—and I didn’t relax until I was on the road to Andy’s house.

An hour later, we’d demolished the food and were a couple of episodes into a new show we’d both wanted to watch. I was sitting on one end of the couch with his dog’s head in my lap, mindlessly stroking her velvety ears.

“You know, you really should get a dog now that you’re out of that apartment.”

I looked down at Seph. She looked like she was sound asleep, but I knew better. If I stopped the pets, her eyes would fly open, giving me a wounded look like I’d betrayed her. I’d seen it before.

“I’m really thinking about it. I like not having roommates, but it’s really quiet now that it’s just me.”

“Well, you can consider dog-sitting Seph while we go out of town as a test run, then.”

I often pet-sat for Andy when they traveled, but usually, I stayed at his house. However, they were having some work done on the house while they were gone this time, so I’d offered to bring her home with me.

“I doubt any dog I got would be half as good as she is, but I’m looking forward to spoiling her. I know you’re ready to get back out on the water now that it’s warmed up some.”

“I am. I wish we could go this weekend, but since Daddy Night is this Saturday, we have to wait. You are still coming to the club with us, aren’t you? Daddy night is way more fun when you’re there. Besides, it’s the day after my birthday, and we need to celebrate.”

“You just want someone to keep you company so you don’t notice all the pretty boys flirting with your Daddy behind the bar.”

“Nah, that doesn’t bother me, because number one”—he held up a finger —“I can’t blame them because my Daddy is hot AF. And number two”—he added another finger—“I know who he’s going home with.”

I smiled at my friend. I was so happy for him. He’d been a bit of a mess when he first came to town, but now he had a job he loved and a man to call his own. Truth was, I didn’t know anyone who deserved it more than Andy did.

“So anyway, you’ll be there, right? Caleb and Keith are coming, which means Keith will drive us so we can drink as much as we want to.”

“I’m planning on going, but I’ll get a rideshare there so Keith and Caleb don’t have to go out of their way to get me.”

“Doesn’t matter to me how you get there, as long as you come.”