“If my phone was working, I could have texted you,” Halley said.
“You’realwayson your phone, Charlie.” Nova said in singsong, making Scorpio dance, completely oblivious to the underlying tension between him and Halley.
They might be spending their summer in Honey, but he wasn’t on vacation. He still had to work.
Halley’s phone was another source of conflict. In Fort Worth, she’d obsessed over friends’ constant texting and social media posts and parties and teen drama. Instead of doing her homework or her extracurriculars, she’d close herself in her room with her phone—especially after Yasmina’s death. That had been concerning. When he’d walked in on Halley cuddled up with some boy with patchy facial hair and a car, he’d been more than concerned. There was no way,no way, he was prepared for that. Halley and boys? No. Hell, no.
His reaction? Getting out of Fort Worth. He could have handled the sale of his aunt’s place from home or he could take the girls and attempt to reset everything. Plus, he’d hoped being in Honey would make life a little easier for him. Nova was Nova, she had Scorpio and was happy enough. Halley had yet to forgive him. If she knew her phone was acting up because he’d limited her data and turned on parental controls, she’dneverforgive him.
Work was the only thing he had a handle on. His office had been amazingly accommodating since Yasmina’s death, but he knew better than to take advantage of that. There was no wiggle room with his work, none. It had always been that way. Now that Yasmina was gone... Well, that hadn’t changed. He took a slow, steady breath. If he couldn’t get the job done, they’d find someone else. He might be the best in his field but that wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t deliver.
“I have to work.” It was that simple.
“You work a lot, Charlie.” Nova hugged Scorpio close. “All the time. Even when it’s dark outside.”
Charlie didn’t respond. Other than worrying about the girls, work consumed him. If he stopped or let his mind wander, he’d get lost in this reality without Yasmina and that sent him into a tailspin. After almost twelve months, the realization that he was parenting alone still sent him into a panic attack. It made no sense. He wasn’t wired for this. He would—hewasscrewing this up. But he was all they had left.
“My job is important, Nova.” Charlie smiled at her—at least, he tried to. “But nothing is more important than you two.”
Nova smiled at him.
Halley continued to stare at the sidewalk.
Charlie wanted to get home, out of the sun, and away from the too-prying eyes of Honey, Texas. He wouldn’t be surprised if the occupants of every shop were watching them from their storefront windows. What else would they be doing? It was a quiet Wednesday, not that he’d ever seen Honey bustling with activity.
Everything moved at a snail’s pace. Everything. Even business. It was what he wanted, initially, but he hadn’t considered just how glacial Honey’s pacing was. From arranging the property appraisal to finding a real estate agent to list the property, no one appreciated his sense of urgency. Due to a health crisis, the earliest the lawyer could schedule Aunt Rebecca’s will reading was in two weeks—even though she’d been gone for months. With luck, his sisters would continue to stay disinterested in all things concerning their “weird aunt” and her “bug-infested” property. If they did, he’d sell, divide the profits amongst the three of them and go back to Fort Worth, their condo, a tightly scheduled week for the girls and real life—minus Halley’s stubble-faced boyfriend, that is. He hadn’t exactly worked that part out, but he would.
The faster this was done and over with, the better.He set the bike down and looked at his swelling knuckles.
“You can leave the bike here, if you like.” A woman stood under a store awning, shielding her eyes against the bright sun.
He’d been too wound up to care about anything beyond the girls. But now... He swiped the back of his arm across his head. The woman from the shop. Hazel-green eyes. Long strawberry-blond hair. Watching and waiting with a smile on her face.
It wasn’t a happy smile, though. It was sympathetic. Almost pitying. Too much. Which was akin to rubbing salt into his wounded pride. He didn’t like it. Then again, he didn’t do well with people. Especially those he didn’t know. He wasn’t exactly a people person.
“It will be safe.” The woman looked less certain now, glancing from him to the bike and back to him. “The bike, I mean.”
He frowned.
“Charlie,” Nova whispered, too loudly. “You look grumpy.”
Right. His gaze fell from the woman. According to Nova and Halley, he tended to look grumpy most of the time.
“That’s Astrid.” Halley managed to actually whisper.
Nova’s attempt at a whisper was a little quieter this time. “Aunt Rebecca’s friend?”
Thiswas Astrid Hill? His aunt’s letters had painted Astrid as her peer. An older, eccentric, free spirit of a woman with a penchant for gardening, walking barefoot, and tending to and talking with bees. He glanced at Astrid’s feet. She was wearing sandals. For some reason, that was reassuring.
If he calmed down and cleared his mind, he might be able to acknowledge that he needed help.Fine. With a deep breath, he carried the bike back onto the sidewalk and leaned it against the shop next to her. “I’ll come back for it.” He forced himself to make eye contact.
“There’s no rush.” She was studying him, her green eyes unsettling this close.
Studying and judging, no doubt. He nodded, his mouth too dry to speak, and tore his gaze from her. Making eye contact was hard for him—maintaining eye contact was a nightmare. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After all the years of therapy and self-help books, the eye-contact thing was still a huge issue for him. That, and touch.
“I’m Astrid Hill.” She held her hand out. “I suppose we will be neighbors for a bit?”
Great. He shook her hand, horrified by how sweaty and grimy he was. He wiped his hand against his leg—and realized his mistake. Now he’d made an even greater ass out of himself by wiping his hand off after they’d shaken hands. “Yes.”
