claiming he wanted to wait until I graduated and then go to college with me. But when I told him I wanted to go to Boston, he refused. He proclaimed he was just a small-town guy and wasn’t cut out for the big city. After months of discussions and arguments about college, we pretended to be happy for one last night: prom. We broke up that night and haven’t spoken a word to one another since.
We were supposed to be together forever and he dumped me. Well, basically dumped me. Because he was afraid to take a chance on city life. But his rejection had only furthered my ideas to get away. I didn’t want to be reminded of him every day for the rest of my life living in Casper.
I wondered what he was doing these days.
The shower spray was too hot and it pelted my skin painfully. I didn’t mind. I needed to clear my head. I had at least another hour until I had to go back to the hospital. I raised my face into the steamy water, cleansing my body but it felt like I was cleansing my soul. There were so many reasons why staying in Casper was a bad idea, but if I was going to stay, I needed to let go of the hurt, the regret, and the pain.
I shut off the shower and heard a loud thud from somewhere in the house. I froze, unsure of what to do. In the city, I would have called 911 first and asked questions later. But this was Casper. I hadn’t been out of the small town life so long that I forgot people didn’t knock here; They came right in, uninvited and full of gossip. I figured maybe one of the neighbors had seen me pull in and decided to check up on Dad’s place.
I wrapped a towel around my body and wrung out my blonde hair, letting it fall in ringlets down my back. I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the hallway. I made it all the way to the kitchen before I heard another thud. It was the unmistakable banging of a hammer to a nail. And it was coming from the front porch. I made my way to the front door, slowly pulling it open and peeking my head outside.
I was floored.
My eyes met the hard, chiseled body of a shirtless carpenter, complete with tool belt and a hammer in hand. His muscles were well defined and his skin was bronzed from the sun. I raised my brows and pretended to cough. When he turned to me, I couldn’t hide my surprise.
I was clad in nothing more than a flimsy towel and staring into the chocolate brown eyes of none other than Lucas Bates.
TWO
Luke
I stared back at her, certain I was seeing some sort of mirage, not the girl who broke my heart three years ago. I barely managed to keep my immediate anger in check. What the hell was she doing here? Joe Wells had been dying from cancer for years, and she decided to come home when he was on his deathbed? Who the hell did she think she was?
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
She sounded stunned, but I couldn’t tell which one of us was more shocked to see the other. “I could ask you the same thing,” I muttered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t play dumb, Mallory. Why are you here?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I live here.”
Was she serious? She was moving into Joe’s place? I sighed, a defeated sound. I would have to assign a new carpenter to do the repair work Joe hired me for. No way was I going to spend the summer at this house with her.
“Well then, I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” I said, looking her up and down.
She looked uncomfortable for a moment and then smiled brightly. “You could never disturb me, Luke.” She turned away, letting the door slam behind her as she went back into the house.
I let out a shuttering breath. The woman was as poisonous as a snake and just as quick, ready to strike at the first movement. I couldn’t imagine why she thought Joe needed her. He’d been battling his cancer for the last three years without a single visit from her. Hell, Joe even defended her when she demanded he visit her for holidays instead of coming home herself.
She was a spoiled rotten city brat, now, though in all honestly, she was