he didn’t already know about the man.
How much of what I had going on with Austin was purely because of Edward? And how much longer could it sustain itself once I ran out of stories about his dad, once Austin felt like he’d gotten enough information out of me to be satisfied for the rest of his life?
Goddammit, Garrett.
Maybe that asshole really was onto something.
“Fuck me,” I cursed underneath my breath as I stared up at the dingy bathroom ceiling. “And fuck you, too, Garrett.”
12
Austin
“Out damned spot…” I mumbled to myself as I scrubbed a spot on the cabin’s kitchen countertop, over and over. I’d been focusing on the same area for what felt like the last thirty minutes, attempting to remove even the slightest hint of dust or grime. Thanks to Parker, the cabin looked fairly clean at first glance, but once Jack and I had taken a laser focus to the place, we were able to spot a few problem areas, here and there.
“Out, I say!” I then cheered in blissful victory, raising my hands away from the counter when I noticed that the spot had finally disappeared.
“Why are you quoting Lady Macbeth in my kitchen?” Jack asked as he walked into the room. “Did you murder someone to feed your own ambitions over being King of Scotland?”
“Nope.” I grinned. “I just encouraged my husband to do all the dirty work.”
“Ha. Very funny.” Jack grinned before a serious look came over his expression. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Sure.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“I just wanted…” Jack paused for a moment. “What’s your plan? For when you’re done with Park City?”
“Done with Park City? What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean,” Jack went on. “For when you want to get back to your real life. For when you want to get back to being the best detective in the city of your choosing.”
“I… don’t really know if I have a plan for after Park City,” I admitted. “To be fair, I didn’t really come here with too much of a plan, either.”
“So, what? You’re just going to spend the rest of your life here?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “That might not be the worst idea.”
“Are you serious?”
“I might be?”
“Austin.” Jack lowered his voice. “I can’t… you can’t just stay in Park City. Don’t you have bigger plans than that?”
“I mean, I might?” I shook my head. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, Jack, but I don’t exactly have a crystal ball. I have no idea where my life’s going to head next. I’m just… following the winding road.”
“And what if the winding road leads you right into someone like Garrett?” Jack pressed. “What if you end up spending the next few years of your life with that asshole before everything burns down in some messy divorce?”
“Is that what we’re really talking about right now?” I scoffed. “Do you think I’m seriously interested in Garrett?”
“Why wouldn’t you be? He’s handsome. He’s your age—”
“Jack, he’s an asshole!” My frustration showed in my tone. “You just said so yourself. Why the hell would you want me to end up with someone like that?”
“I don’t want you to end up with Garrett,” Jack clarified. “I just… Austin, you have to have some kind of plan for yourself.”
“I do. Kind of,” I admitted. “But I also know that it’s less about what I want out of life, and more about the opportunities that come my way.”
“And what is it that you want out of life, Austin?”
“The same thing everyone else wants,” I replied. “I want to travel to all the places on my bucket list, and I mean, really travel there, not just spend the night and hop on a connecting flight to somewhere else. I want to have enough memories to fill a whole scrapbook. And then, once I’m done with that, I’ll probably want to settle down with someone, get married in a friend’s huge backyard, something not too pricey because what’s the point if we’re just going to end up broke after the ceremony?”
I lightly laughed at my own joke before I continued with my thoughts. “And then, I’ll probably want some kids, too. Two at the most, I think. Anything more than that, and I’ll have to make them wear name tags until they’re old enough to speak. You’d think I’d be better with faces, because of what I do