I narrow my eyes at him. “Stop talking riddles. Alicia gave me full access to sisterly insults.”
He snorts. “I sure hope you’re better at it. Let’s go.” He gestures for me to follow.
All three of us walk inside the garage and toward my vintage treasure, still caked in mud.
“Is she okay?” I ask.
He gives me a funny look. “She is. You’ve got a couple of dents there,” he points to the passenger side, “a blown tire and jacked door handles. It’s an easy fix, but I’ve got my hands full right now, so it might take a couple of days. Besides, you can’t drive anywhere in your baby until the roads dry out. Alicia can drive you around, or you can take her car, I’m sure she won’t mind. I have a spare truck, but it’s a stick if you’re okay with it.”
I drove a stick half of my life because we didn’t have fancy cars, but I’m not about to tell him that since maintaining the appearance of a spoiled, rich brat is apparently easier than breaking people’s assumption by hinting that I have some depth to me. Even though I don’t think Justin sees me that way. I’ve heard a lot of things about him from my friend, and it looks like Justin has perfected a mask of his own.
“Okay, I think I’ll ask Alicia.” I walk to the car and pull the handle. It opens right away, so I glance at Justin. He notices my confusion and points at the door.
“It will get jammed again. I need to replace the lock. I have one that might fit, but I need to take it off another car and clean it.”
“Okay,” I sigh and pull two bags with essentials from it. Archie immediately rushes to my side and silently takes my bags from me. He gives me a stern look when I try arguing and pulls them away from my hands. “Thank you,” I tell him quietly.
“I’ll be in the car,” he says and walks toward his Rover.
“Joz,” Justin calls out.
I turn to him. “Yeah?”
“Does Sheriff, I dunno,” he slightly shrugs one shoulder, looking unsure, “make you feel weird?”
I see asking this question makes him as uncomfortable as me hearing it, but I see the answer is important for him. His sister went through hell, and he wants to make sure that no one else ever does. My heart melts a little despite some stories I’ve heard about him from Alicia. Told in a loving way, I must add.
“No, Justin.” I gently place my hand on his forearm for a moment. “I don’t think that Sheriff Benson is capable of making anyone feel that way.”
He scratches his chin. “I know. But you still tell me if something gets weird. Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I smile, feeling that one of the most important people in this town just became important to me too.
“Where are you staying?” he suddenly asks.
“I—” I pause, trying to come up with something to say quickly.
“Don’t lie to me.” He glares.
“I don’t know yet,” I reply honestly, even though I don’t know why.
“Why not at Alicia’s?”
“They just started living together, and I don’t know how long my project here will take. I just can’t do that to them.”
He chews on the inside of his cheek, thinking about something, giving me more time to really look at him. The more I look, the more resemblance to his sister I see. The same highlighted, natural blond hair, the same sun-kissed nose, the same perfect skin. Even their eyes look so much alike. And their height. Justin is a tall man, even taller than Alicia. Who stands at what? Five-eleven? Yeah, these people have something in the water here.
“Don’t tell her, or she’ll stop sleeping at night.” His voice pleads, and I see just how much he cares for her.
“I won’t. I told her I’m staying at the Ghost House.”
“That piece of shit that’s falling apart?” His brows draw together. “You can’t stay there, Josie. It’s not safe.”
“I’ll fix it.” I shrug one shoulder—people keep forgetting that’s what I do for a living.
“Stay there after you fix it. Seriously.” He shakes his head slowly. “It’s not a safe place to spend the night.”
“Why? Because of the ghosts living there?” I smirk.
