Beneath the Wreckage (Wrecked #5)

by Catherine Cowles

Nathan and Vic shared a look, and then Vic turned to face me. “Friends aren’t always forever. Sometimes, they’re just for a season. Others might fall away, only to come back when you least expect it. I have a feeling you and Jenn will find your way.”

“We’ve got this. Right, Bruno?” I glanced in the rearview mirror as if my one-hundred-and-fifty-pound dog might answer me.

The synthesized refrains and copious amounts of Diet Coke I’d ingested were the only things keeping me going this morning—that and the slightly feral panic I felt at getting this place ready in time for guests.

I hurried to shut off the music as Cyndi Lauper sang Time After Time. “Not a fan of the eighties?”

Hunter moved in closer. “Might help me take you seriously if you lost…this—” He slid my goggles to the top of my head. “—and this.” He tugged down my mask.

She was beautiful in a way that stole my breath and froze my brain. Especially when she seemed flustered or riled. And that only made me want to push her buttons.

This woman was a total kook. But it worked for her. Somehow, it was this potent mix of endearing and intriguing, and I didn’t doubt she’d keep me on my toes for however long the job lasted.

“Sometimes, I think things like that live in your bones. Become a part of who you are somehow.”

The soft smile on her face punched me right in the gut. A sick feeling spread through me. Jealousy, I realized. I hadn’t felt envy before over where a woman pointed her smile. Ever. The sensation threw me for a loop. And it wasn’t a pleasant ride.

But it was more than attraction. It was lust mixed with a healthy dose of understanding. And it packed a potent punch.

“Books are never random. And there’s a big ol’ empty library in the lodge that I just finished cleaning out. It’s time to fill those sad shelves. I want guests to have a place they can pick up a book for the week they’re here. Somewhere to curl up and get lost in a good story on a stormy day.”

As I did, the door to the attic slammed closed. The ferocity of the noise made me jump and startled a little shriek out of me. My hand flew to my chest as I caught my breath. I let out a laugh. “Just a draft.”

Understanding filled his eyes. “The door get stuck?” I nodded. “There are more than a few doors in this place that will do that. You have to be careful.”

I wasn’t sure which was worse: having someone vanish without a word or seeing them go.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a figure running away. Shouts sounded, and Nick ran up the deck steps.

“You loved someone who did something horrible. That doesn’t make you bad. It doesn’t make you blind. It makes you loyal. It makes you someone who wants to see the best in people.”

“You being prickly right now isn’t going to keep me from giving a damn. You know that, right?”

I kept telling myself the same thing over and over, but even that felt like a lie.

A friendship where I felt seen and understood after missing that for so long.

“There’s nothing about you I’d ever regret.”

The world around us could burn, and I wouldn’t give a damn. Just as long as Piper was in my arms.

Maybe it’d been dumb to try and play crime scene tech.

He wasn’t wrong. I just hoped Piper didn’t take off with my heart in her hands.

A muscle in his cheek ticked. “I’m saying it would be good to have a heads-up if you know you don’t want to make a family with me, ever.”

Hunter’s hands fell away as he took a step back. “You don’t want me to come home to you tonight?” The look of betrayal might as well have been an ice pick to the heart.

And when Hunter kissed me, it felt a whole lot like a goodbye on my lips.

And why, after a lifetime of wanting a family, I’d lied to Hunter on that dance floor.

“Suck it up. A lifetime of being alone means fixing your own lightbulbs.”

“You love her. You want forever with her. Cut yourself a little slack. You’ll make it right.”

I scanned the crowd for Cal, needing to have a more serious discussion with him about what not to say to Piper, but I didn’t see him or Ashley anywhere.

“Jenn. You—you’re the one who killed her?” He took the words like a physical blow. “Of course not. And my dad didn’t mean to hurt her either.”