Page 81 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 1

I thought about texting him to ask, but I didn’t want to run the risk of waking him if he’d actually let himself drift off to sleep. We’d eaten fairly late, then stayed at the dinner table talking for a long time. By the time I snuck back into Rockley Lodge, it was close to midnight.

I went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water and caught Tiller watching SportsCenter on low in the kitchen’s sitting area.

“Hey,” he said, stretching. “How was it?”

“Good.” I moved over to the cabinet that held the glasses.

Tiller let out a surprised laugh and turned off the TV before joining me.

He wore nothing but a pair of basketball shorts and his pro-football body was on full display.

I’d always thought it was the height of irony that my best friend had ended up with a pro baller after spending a lifetime hating jocks.

Life was funny that way.

“Surely you’re going to tell me more than that,” he pressed. “You know Mikey’s going to give you a full interrogation over breakfast.”

He was right. Mikey was nosy as hell. We’d been friends for years, and we usually told each other everything. I wasn’t as much of a talker as he was, but I was still expected to share my shit with him.

Shit like dates and hookups.

I shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, to be honest. The man lives in Colorado. I live in Texas. I’m just here till my bike is fixed.”

Tiller slid onto a stool at the kitchen island and reached for an apple from the fruit bowl between us. “That right?”

I sighed. “My whole life is back in Houston. My mom, my sisters, my business.”

He nodded and took a bite from the apple. “True.”

Silence descended between us. Talking to Tiller was a very different experience than talking to Mikey. I liked his quiet calm.

After a while, I said more. “But I feel like I need some distance from my mom and sisters. As long as they have me to rely on, they don’t need to learn to rely on themselves.”

He nodded again. “Seems likely from everything I’ve seen.” He took another bite and chewed.

“And it’s not like I have a man back there. Or even good friends besides you two.”

“Mm.” Tiller kept chomping on the apple.

“And my construction business is fairly transactional. I don’t have any big projects looming right now. It’s how I was able to finally take a break.”

Tiller’s eyes sparkled. I knew he was happy to hear me getting around to his point without him having to say it.

We both knew he wanted me to move here and help with the resort remodel.

But it was a large undertaking, and I wasn’t sure I was up to the challenge.

It would be easier to stay in Houston and keep building the business I’d already put so much blood, sweat, and tears into.

“Even if I lived here,” I continued, “would I really be the best person for Truman? I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“He deserves someone more… I don’t know. Polished? Educated? Interesting?”

Tiller’s smirk dropped, and he leaned toward me over the island.

“Do you remember who dropped everything to board up my house when a hurricane was coming and I was in Cleveland for a game? Do you remember who picked my parents up from the airport in the middle of the night when I was stuck in San Francisco? And by any chance do you remember who stood up to five fucking asshole tough guys who tried to beat the shit out of Mikey in the high school parking lot one night after band practice even though your dad had been arrested only a week before and your mom was still in the hospital?”

“None of those things imply polish, education, or interest,” I said.

“True. They prove that you’re better than any of those things.

You have a giant fucking heart, and you take care of people.

You are selfless and protective, kind and hardworking.

You are one of the most steadfast people I’ve ever known, and in almost six years of leaving Mikey behind while I traveled for work, I’ve never once had to worry about him.

Because of you. Because I know you’re there and you love him as much as I do. ”

I couldn’t meet his eyes. I didn’t like being the center of this kind of attention. “With a hundred percent less dick involved,” I clarified, in hopes of breaking the intense emotions of the moment.

He barked out another laugh. “Damned straight.” Tiller studied me for a minute. “Truman may not want to be coddled, I don’t know. But he could definitely use someone strong and protective in his corner, and he’d be lucky if it was you.”

“Thank you. Now shut the fuck up.”

“Detroit traded Owen Watson to Seattle,” he said as if we’d been talking football all along.

“No shit? Who’s going to replace him?”

Tiller and I spent a solid half hour speculating and talking smack about the league until a sleepy Mikey came shuffling out of the bedroom. “You two are not quiet,” he grumbled.

Tiller grabbed him and pulled him in for a kiss. “Sorry, babe.”

“How was your date?” Mikey asked with a knowing smile.

“Really fucking good. The man is an award-winning kisser. He showed me the view of town from his patio. I learned that he has a sister who teaches dance at a college, and his aunt actually got the farm in a trade from a homeopathic patient.”

Tiller’s jaw fell open in shock while Mikey begged for more details.

“You’re kidding me,” Tiller said. “I asked the same question, and you answered with a one-word grunt.”

I shot Mikey a wink. “You have to know how to ask.”

Tiller lifted his middle finger at me.

After I stopped laughing, I asked, “Do you guys know anything about a sheriff’s department fee the shop owners in town have to pay for law enforcement service?”

Tiller’s forehead wrinkled as he thought about it. “I don’t remember anyone mentioning it when I went over the licensing and business fees associated with getting the resort back up. Maybe it’s just for businesses in town? The ski resort is outside city limits.”

“If we go into town for breakfast in the morning, would you mind asking your friends there?”

Tiller and Mikey both nodded. I stood up and thanked them before heading to bed. I got as far as the bathroom to brush my teeth when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

It was Truman. And he was sobbing.

“It’s on fire! The shop. On fire, Sam. It’s on fire. On…” I could barely understand him through his tears. I raced out of the room and barged into Mikey and Tiller’s room without knocking.

“Fire in town at Truman’s shop,” I said quickly. “Taking the SUV.”

Mikey quickly asked if we wanted them to come, too, but I didn’t want to wait for them to get dressed. “No. I’ll call you.”

As I ran back through the house to grab the keys, I tried getting Truman to calm down. “Where are you, sweetheart? At the farm?”

“No, Barney came to get me. I’m at the shop. It’s awful. Sam… Sam… can you… Can you come here?”

“I’m on my way, baby. Hang tight, okay? Stay away from the shop. Are the firefighters there?”

The drive to town seemed to take forever, and every hiccup of Truman’s slowed down the flow of information. I finally saw the commotion out front of the shop and pulled the SUV over to the side of the road before hopping out and making my way through the growing crowd of onlookers.

I finally found him with the older man’s arm around his shoulder. I skidded to a halt, not wanting to upset him by yanking him out of his ex’s arms. I didn’t know their history. For all I knew, Barney Balderson was a great comfort to Truman. I’d known the man all of a day and a half.

“Truman,” I said as I approached. He let out a garbled sound as he spotted me and then lurched in my direction. I wasn’t sure if he’d intended to fly into my arms or not, but he tripped halfway there and landed against me anyway. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight.

I could see the confused face of his ex in the shadows caused by the fire engine’s swirling lights.

I closed my eyes and breathed. “Are you okay? You didn’t get close, did you?”

I finally opened my eyes and looked at the building. It was completely engulfed. The windows were broken, and large columns of water shot through several of them from thick hoses managed by firefighters on the ground and in one of the truck’s ladders.

“It’s ruined,” he breathed without even looking at the building. “Everything Aunt Berry worked for. Everything she built. I’ve ruined it all.”

“How did you ruin it?” I asked, keeping my arms banded tightly around his back.

“They set my shop on fire because they hate me,” he said in a small voice into my chest.

I pulled back and gripped his face so I could meet his eyes. “What? Who did this? This was set on purpose? Do you know that for sure?”

Truman’s eyes were wet with tears, and his face was golden in the light from the fire. I looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear us, and the only person was Barney.

“No, I don’t know it for sure, but the building passes safety and code inspections every year. Why else would my store catch on fire?”

Barney stepped closer and patted Truman’s shoulder.

I wanted to snap and growl at him, break his fucking hand off his arm for even thinking of touching Truman right now, but I recognized that as entirely inappropriate and uncalled for.

Barney was more of a friend to Truman than I was.

I’d only known the man a couple of days, and I was heading back out of town before the week was out.

The older man cleared his throat. “I think Truman might be right. Plenty of people in this town have had it out for Truman for a long time. He needs to take better care of his safety. I keep trying to tell him, he’s safer at home.”

Truman pulled out of my hold enough to include Barney in the conversation, but I noticed he kept a tight grip on the back of my shirt with one hand.

Barney looked at Truman with parental-type affection. “Truman’s going to come stay with me for a little while, aren’t you, sweet pea?”

I felt Truman’s hand tighten on the back of my shirt. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Truman said. “I’ll be okay.”

His words from earlier in the evening about not treating him like a child echoed in my head, and it took all of my self-control not to go full alpha on him by swooping in and making protective demands the way Barney seemed to be doing.

Barney pursed his lips. “But your gate is broken, and I don’t feel comfortable letting you stay alone all the way out there.”

“The gate isn’t broken anymore,” Truman said, turning to face me. “Sam fixed it for me.”

I reached out and brushed an errant curl out from behind the frame of his glasses. “I was going to fix that fence tomorrow, too, so I’m happy to come bunk on your sofa and get started on that first thing in the morning if you don’t want to be alone tonight.”

At this point his grip on my shirt was nearly causing me to choke. I glanced over to see his body practically humming with tension. His eyes were fixed on the fire again.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said absently.

Meanwhile, Barney’s glare was still completely focused on me.

I noticed he was sweating from the heat of the nearby fire.

“I think he’d be better off at my place.

This traumatic experience is clearly taking its toll on him, and he needs someone to care for him.

I’ve been looking out for him for a while now. ”

He wasn’t wrong about Truman needing someone to care for him. His slight body was swaying heavily against my side and trembling. I moved an arm around his shoulders to help keep him upright.

Two women I didn’t recognize came hustling through the cluster of townspeople who’d gathered to watch the firefighters attempt to subdue the blaze.

“Truman, sweetie, no! Oh my god, what happened?” one of them cried before grabbing him in an embrace.

Barney sucked in a breath and stepped back to avoid being trampled on by the two women sandwiching Truman in a hug.

“I don’t know, Mia,” Truman said faintly. “I don’t know what happened. It’s all gone.”

My heart broke at the sound of his voice, at the change from his happiness earlier in the evening when he told me about Aunt Berry and her special gift for healing and helping the people of Aster Valley.

“It’s not all gone,” one of the women said fiercely. “It’s all in your head and in your heart, Truman Sweet, and we’re going to help you rebuild it. Okay?”

They fussed over him as one of her words hit its target in my own head and heart.

Rebuild.

My specialty.

But first, I needed to figure out what the hell had happened here.

And who needed to pay.