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beer.  
    “Then around six, we’ll head up to Jack’s Pub where your dad arranged for Laverne’s to cater steaks and a bunch of sides,” Maddox adds.  
    “Entertainment?” Jake asks with the rise of one of his eyebrows.  
    “I plead the fifth. This way, if anyone asks you,” Maddox starts as I interrupt, coughing the name, ‘Erin’, “you know nothing about the rest of the evening.”  
    “I’m pretty sure she already knows,” Jake says with a smile.  
    “What are the girls doing?” Travis asks.  
    “Spa night, I guess. Sounds boring as hell, but the thought of Erin getting rubbed on in some strip club makes me see red. So, spa night it is,” Jake says.  
    Details are gone over and plans are finalized as we finish our drinks in the cave. Grant fell asleep in my arms about fifteen minutes ago so Travis gathers up his stuff and gets ready to head out.  
    “See you all Sunday,” he says quietly over his shoulder, referring to Sunday family dinner. Our family always gathers every Sunday afternoon at my parents’ house. As a bachelor, it’s one of my only links to real, home cooked food.  
    “No you won’t,” I say. “I’m working.” Since I work every other weekend, I’m only able to attend half of our gatherings.  
    “Us, too,” Jake replies with a nod towards Maddox, referring to their weekend shift as local county deputies.  
    I say my goodbyes to the guys and retrieve my car keys from my pocket. It’s after eight o’clock which is still plenty early for a Thursday evening since I’m off tomorrow. As I walk towards my Mustang, I contemplate calling Vicki. I haven’t talked to her in several days, but the thought of hanging out with her tonight has completely lost its appeal. Alluring blue-gray eyes and soft brown hair stands foremost in my thoughts.  
    I back out of the driveway and point my car towards my house.    
    I wonder what Lia is doing tonight?  
     

Chapter Two
Lia
     
    Nighttime is the worst. When the darkness of night sets in and the quiet of the apartment wraps around me, I can’t shut off my brain. I’ve been in Rivers Edge for just over two weeks now, and I was fortunate enough to find a job right away.  
    When I drove into this quaint little town, the first stop I made was to the bakery for a cup of coffee and something sweet. It was late morning and the place was empty. The young woman at the counter started chatting with me as she prepared my coffee and readied my warm cinnamon roll.  
    Talking to her had been so easy, which is completely unlike me. No connections. No emotions. Don’t talk about anything personal.  
    Before I knew it, we talked for over an hour and she was offering me a job as her full-time assistant. I wasn’t sure where the road was taking me yet so I decided to take her up on the job offer. I could hang around Rivers Edge for a few months.  
    Three months is the max that I allow myself to stay in any given location before moving on. I don’t get cozy. Cozy will result in dropping my guard. Dropping my guard will result in being found. I don’t want to be found.  
    The single bedroom apartment above the bakery was perfect for my needs. It was mostly furnished already which is good because I have very little in the way of personal effects. The clothes on my back, some personal toiletries and effects, and a small stack of extra clothing is all I brought in the old, used Honda Accord I got from a shady used car salesman. Tennessee? Kentucky? I don’t remember. The states, the towns, all seem to blur together into one big cluster-fuck of a mess.  
    Avery’s mother, Elizabeth Stevens, owns the building I currently call home. She’s the sweetest woman ever and waved the security deposit when I inquired about moving in above the bakery. She didn’t bat an eye to renting her place to a young woman that she didn’t know or who wasn’t from here. She just smiled and handed me the keys.  
    I actually have my degree in interior