or my family. Maybe I should consider moving away from this place. I could find a new place to start over, someplace where no one knew that my mother had drunk herself into a stupor until one morning she never woke up. Coming home to deal with that mess had been hard enough without the whole town gossiping about it. It eventually died down, and I wasn’t the topic of conversation now, but I never really got over it.
Taking a deep breath, I decided that I wasn’t going to think about Robert or his stupid, fancy car. We were the past, and going to his brother’s house for Thanksgiving would only bring up those bad memories for me. I had to focus on what was in front of me, and at the moment, that was Carter Roy.
I locked up the office for the night and headed downstairs to my car. Leaning up against his truck across the street was Carter Roy, looking just as sexy as he did this morning.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” I said, looking both ways before I crossed the street. “Are you off for the night?”
He glanced down at his plain clothes and smirked at me. “If I’m not, I’m one helluva bad police officer.”
“So, what did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking we could grab a drink before dinner.”
“That sounds good.”
He jerked his head toward his truck and I rounded it to get in. He yanked the door open and helped me inside. His truck wasn’t fancy or anything. In fact, it was probably at least ten years old, and that made me like him even more. Not every man had to have the latest and greatest.
I shook my head, chastising myself for thinking about Robert nonstop. I was going out with a sexy man. Robert was the last person that I needed to be thinking about.
“So, I was thinking we could go to The Lakeside Grille. We can grab some drinks and, if you’re hungry, get some dinner.”
“That sounds good.”
The Lakeside Grille sounded fancy, but it was actually a bar that was located next to a swamp. They had greasy food and cheap beer, which was pretty much what everyone in this town liked. The other option was The End Zone, but that tended to attract a rougher crowd.
“Did you have a good day?” he asked.
I thought about how my day had gone after I left him and sighed. “Well, it was good up until Eric showed up for work and demanded that I join him for Thanksgiving to piss off his brother.”
He nodded in understanding. “Do you keep in contact with Robert?”
Carter knew about Robert and I. Hell, everyone in town knew about us. We were crazy in love in high school. I wasn’t around for the aftermath of our breakup, but I heard all about the town gossip when my mother called me at my aunt’s house.
“No, I mean, I’ve seen him twice in the last year. He’s the one that got me the job working for his brother.”
“That was nice of him.”
I snorted. “He felt guilty because I was still working at the gas station. And then my car broke down Friday night and he was passing by. He stopped to help.”
He chuckled. “Does he even know anything about cars?”
“I doubt it. He wanted to drive me home, but I refused. He followed me home on foot in his expensive suit,” I said with a grin.
He laughed slightly, rubbing his jaw. “Remind me not to piss you off. So, is there something going on with you two?”
“No, why would you ask?”
“Anna, I remember the two of you in high school. You guys were inseparable. I just don’t want to step on any toes.”
The fact that my relationship with Robert was still considered something to be wary of even thirteen years later really ate at me. Robert had no control over me, and I wouldn’t let the ghost of our past relationship follow me everywhere I went.
“Robert and I are nothing. We haven’t been for years. He has his life in the city and I have my life here. Other than the fact that I work for his brother, there’s nothing else between us.”
He grinned and pulled into a parking spot out in front of the restaurant. “That’s good to know.”
Robert
“What?” I snapped as I stepped out of my meeting.
“I need you to get down here,” Eric grumbled. “The town is holding a meeting tonight to start planning my wedding!”