“Thank you, that’s so sweet.” The woman accepted the pie with her right hand, using her left only for balance.
Zane’s fists balled at his sides as he imagined all the awful reasons why she wouldn’t use her arm. Her range of motion was limited, but she seemed to move it adequately when necessary. He doubted anything was broken, but with the way she was babying that arm, it looked to hurt like hell.
He stepped closer and added softly, so his voice wouldn’t carry through the open window, “I, uh, just got back from the Navy. SEAL buddy of mine recommended Foothills; he just got hired on with the police department. So, you know, I’ve got a lot of time on my hands while I settle in. Like if you need any help fixing the gutter or anything like that.”
Sienna bit her lips together and nodded. “That’s good to know. Thank you.” She backed up a few steps. Whatever she gleaned from the conversation, at least she knew she wasn’t alone.
A thundering growl sniped from inside the house. “Sienna? Where the hell you at? Late for work, aren’t you?”
She cringed, then pasted on a phony smile. “Our new neighbors brought pie,” she said as he slammed the front door open and stepped onto the porch.
Clearly, the guy used to be quite the athlete, with a tall, muscular build that had become soft with beer and inactivity. Nodding, he smirked appreciatively at Zane’s truck. “Wasn’t that nice of them,” he was suddenly all politeness. Passing right by Freya, he extended his hand to Zane, “Toby. Which place is yours?”
Nodding toward the house, Zane didn’t bother clarifying he was just renting the place over the garage until he figured out what the hell he wanted, “Zane.” He accepted the handshake, resisting the urge to roll the asshole’s knuckles, but squeezed just shy of causing injury.
“Whoa, firm shake there,” he pulled his hand back and shook his fingers dramatically, a charming smile on his face.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Zane added an extra flex with the movement for a number of reasons, none friendly. Backing up a few steps, he said, “We’ll get out of your hair.”
Once Freya was in the truck, he climbed in the driver’s seat, never turning his back on the neighbors. He flipped on the engine and got the hell out of there. Fists clenched tight on the steering wheel, he forced his breath in and out.
Glancing over, he saw Freya wasn’t any calmer. Her eyes were glazed over, cheeks pulled tight. Her dimple no longer the exclamation point to her vivid smile, but instead the hyphen that said she wasn’t finished yet. “Thanks for coming with me.”
He nodded, “I just hope she gets help before it’s too late.”
“Me too. You weren’t exactly subtle,” her lips turned up in a feisty smile. Shit, she was downright bloodthirsty when she wanted to be.
“Can’t believe that asshole. The money he spent on that truck could have fixed up the house and bought her a decent car.”
Freya raised an eyebrow, “How do you know it’s not her truck?”
“Just a guess.”
She sighed and leaned her seat back a click. “I’ve never been able to imagine how a person ends up in such an awful situation.”
“You don’t always know what you’re getting into when you sayI do.”
“That’s why a long engagement is a good thing. Gives you plenty of time to back out of it.”
“You sound like you speak from experience.”
“So do you.” She rotated in her seat to face him.
Back on the main road, he took the next turn toward their place. “Married the first girl I slept with.”
“High school sweetheart? Sounds romantic.”
He snorted, “Late bloomer. College sweetheart. Not as romantic as it sounds. Huge wedding after our second year. We rented this incredible apartment she and my parents had picked out, an architect’s dream, so I worked full time and paid on the overpriced high rise with my student loans.”
“What about her student loans? Didn’t she work?”
“She was trying to pull a double major, so she didn’t have time to work. And with my income and loans, she didn’t need to borrow more than tuition.”
“You’re an architect? How did you end up in the Navy?”
“By the time we graduated, I was so deep in debt, realized that I didn’t give a shit about architecture, and my marriage was not everything I’d hoped. Blaire was out late partying every night, claiming she was networking and that I should do the same. So, I said fuck it, I was done living somebody else’s dream, and decided to do what I always wanted.”
“And you wanted to be a Navy SEAL?”
