owe me for the windows?”
“Right.” The teen frowned. “About paying you back… how do you feel about me and the guys redistributing what we owe you into a form of physical labor?”
“Is that your over-educated way of letting me know that you don’t have any cash and want to pay me back via favors?”
“Yeah, man! Exactly.” The young man beamed. “See, because labor is basically just as valuable as cash, right? So, we figured, instead of pitching in with the green, we’ll just help you fix up the windows, and maybe the rest of the cabin, too, if you want.”
“That’s… actually not a bad idea,” I admitted. “I do need about as much help as I can get with the cabin.”
“Right? And money is so outdated, anyway.” The teen chuckled. “I knew you were cool. I mean, I didn’t know you were cool when you were holding that metal stick to my chest, but I knew you were cool when you didn’t call the cops.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve all been kids before.” I shrugged. “And you’re not any use to me if you’ve been sent off to military school—” I stopped myself short as I noticed a familiar frame walking into my line of sight.
Austin.
Why the hell was he in the park right now? And what was he going to think if he saw me sitting over here on this bench? Was he going to think I was stalking him?
I really didn’t want him to think that I was stalking him.
“Hey! Austin!” The teen shouted, excitedly waving him over to the bench. “Austin! You remember me? Look! It’s cabin guy!”
Austin turned to look at us both, his face immediately blanching.
But a few seconds later, the color returned to his cheeks as he strolled over to the park bench, his hands buried deep in his pockets. “Hey, window-breaker. Hey, cabin guy. You two figuring out the whole payment for the window thing?”
“Already figured out,” the teen explained. “We’re going to pay him back by working on the cabin.”
“Sounds like a fair deal to me,” Austin offered.
“It is. More than fair. Paying for something is way easier than fixing it, you know?” The teen lightly chuckled as he moved away from the bench. “Anyway, see you around, Austin! I’ve got to meet Danny down by the skate park. Later!”
“Later,” Austin replied, waving the teen goodbye. Austin then looked back over at me as he spoke again, “Who the hell is Danny? Was he another one of the window-breakers?”
“No idea.” I shrugged, flashing him a wide smile. “So, you’re actually talking to me?”
“Why wouldn’t I be talking to you, Jack?”
“Because I thought you hated me,” I explained. “Because you’ve ignored every attempt that I’ve made to contact you—”
“Only the romantic ones,” Austin interrupted. “If you would’ve just sent me a normal greeting card or something, I probably would’ve replied.”
“I’ll make sure to keep that in mind for next time,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. “What brings you to the park today, anyway? I always figured that if you wanted to go for a walk, you’d stick to the trails near the B&B.”
“Oh. I was just familiarizing myself with the area.”
“Familiarizing yourself?” I scrunched up my nose in confusion.
“Yeah, just so I know how to get everywhere,” Austin replied. “Royce told me that was going to be pretty important as the new deputy, especially in a smaller town like this.”
“You’re… the new deputy?” I asked as I tried and failed to hide my surprise. “When did that happen?”
“Today actually, but I won’t be starting until next week,” he answered. “Which is perfect timing, because it turns out that the guy who I left all my furniture with, when I moved here to find out more about my dad, is moving to Portland in a few days. I’ll need that free time before the job officially starts to go and pick up the rest of my stuff, unless I want him to donate it or sell it on the street.”
“Are you flying down? Or driving?”
“Driving,” Austin replied. “The plan is just to rent a U-Haul truck and figure out the loading stuff as I go—”
“Do you want me to help?” I offered, trying to make my tone as casual as possible. “It just… it really sucks when you’re trying to move by yourself—”
“I meant what I said, Jack.”
“What?”
“I meant what I said,” Austin repeated. “The last night we spoke, when I told you that I was done, when I told you that I wanted to get