Starting Over Read online

  “You look hot, Mom,” she said.

  Layla gasped and gave her arm a slap. “Adalee, be nice. I like them a lot.”

  “I can see it already. Go on,” she said and smiled.

  Layla walked out of the kitchen and to the front door.

  Adalee was surprised to see the two very good-looking older men enter the house. Both bent down to kiss her mom hello, and the sight brought on emotions Adalee hadn’t expected. At first, she felt a bit uncomfortable and protective, but then she felt happy for her mom. She had sacrificed so much as a single mother, and it had been difficult for her mom to accept when Adalee decided to go into law enforcement like her dad.

  “Wow, you must be Adalee. I’m John,” he said and reached his hand out for her to shake.

  She smiled. “Nice to meet you, John,” she said, and then the other guy, just as good-looking with matching dark hair and blue eyes, looked her over and smiled.

  “I’m Keith, and you are stunning, just like your mamma,” he said with a bit of a Texas accent she found appealing. They shook hands next.

  “We’ve heard so much about you,” John said as her mom ushered them into the kitchen. She got two beers out of the refrigerator for the two men, and they thanked her, Keith placing his hand on her mom’s hip as her mom stood right next to both men.

  “Well, John, I can’t say I’ve heard a lot about you two,” Adalee said and raised her eyebrows up at her mom.

  “Oh, Adalee, come on. I just didn’t know how to explain how things work in Cherry Hill or what your response might have been. I wanted you here with me, not going off on your own while you’re still recovering.”

  “How are you feeling, Adalee?” John asked her.

  “I’m hanging in there, thank you.”

  “I don’t know if your mom told you anything about us, but I’m a lieutenant in the state police, and Keith is retired from the Marine Corps, and now we both own and run Finnian’s bar in town.”

  “No, she didn’t mention that at all. State trooper, huh, how do you like that?” Adalee asked.

  “It’s rewarding some days, and others it isn’t,” he said and winked.

  “I know what you mean. So where is this bar, and how do you both run it if you’re still working full time?” she asked.

  “We have some friends helping us out, and John is thinking about retiring soon,” Keith said.

  “Yeah, well, I’m tossing it around, but every time I think about giving it up, I get worried I’ll miss it. Not getting any younger though,” he said and took a slug from his bottle of beer.

  “Are you actively on the road or what?”

  “Mostly in the office running command. I go out on more intricate situations and help keep things organized.”

  “Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t miss the paperwork,” she said to him, and he chuckled.

  “Definitely not. Seems more and more gets added to the process each day.”

  She chuckled.

  They continued to talk about the town and prepare for dinner. The conversation went well, and Adalee really liked the men and especially how attentive they were to her mom. She couldn’t help but to smile despite feeling a bit weird about the two men to one woman idea, but it could be more complicated and there could be more than two men. Walking through town, she was shocked and had to not stare at what she had seen. Five men with one woman had made her mind immediately go to the poor woman. How could one woman make multiple men happy, and not just physically, sexually happy, but emotionally? It just seemed impossible. By the end of the evening, she promised to go by Finnian’s with her mom on Saturday evening.

  “Well, if you want me to go with you next week to see Sheriff McCabe, I can accompany you and help make introductions,” Keith offered.

  She was a bit surprised by the offer, and she couldn’t help but to think about the whole men watching over women and children bit, but she was trying to be nice. These were her mom’s boyfriends. She laughed inside. Boyfriends. Jesus.

  “That’s very nice of you, Keith, but I think I’ll be just fine. I may stop in after physical therapy Monday to get things taken care of. I already put in for the transfer in license and carry permit for Texas, and things should come through fine. I read there’s a basic test they do at the range or something,” she said to him.

  “Yes, but it’s pretty informal. Usually they do a test every six months thereafter, but we have a few obstacle courses the public uses on a regular basis to stay sharp. As your mom probably mentioned, the very large number of retired military we have living in Cherry Hill.”

  “Yes she did, and I got to meet several of them the last couple of days.”

  “Adalee isn’t used to the friendliness of the town. She came back to the store yesterday and asked if it was normal,” Layla said, and they smiled.

  “You’re a beautiful young woman and stand out. I guarantee you’ll need to get used to the sporadic conversations even when just walking through town, and especially from the men,” John said to her and gave Layla a wink.

  “It would be my hope that Adalee can start a new life here, put all the dangers behind her, and maybe settle down,” Layla said.

  “Well, on that note, I’m going to call it a night, give you three some alone time.”

  “No need to leave,” Keith said to her.

  “It’s okay. It’s been a long few days, and this week will bring a lot of plans and arranging. It was nice meeting you gentleman.”

  “We’ll see you on Saturday if not sooner,” John said to her.

  She nodded and then bent down to kiss her mom good night. She walked out of the room, her mind now on the ways of this town, the men who had tipped their hats and stared at her as she passed by, and the questions people asked, ultimately figuring out she was single. Oh, Lord help me, the last thing I need in my life is a man. Men just didn’t get her or her life as a cop. It was a reminder that she no longer was a cop, a detective, and this was a new start. She was just a regular single twenty-six-year-old woman now living with her mom again. That was sexy. She would attract losers. Jesus, could her life suck any more?

  Everett Perkins sat in his truck just staring at the building where he did physical therapy. He was practically snarling he felt so much anger. He woke up with his arm hurting worse than it had been and his fingers ached. Why the fuck was he even here? He didn’t want to go in, but he knew he needed to.

  His attention went to the sound of a sports car pulling into the parking lot a few spaces down from him. A classic antique convertible Mustang in blue he didn’t recognize. He watched through tinted windows and sunglasses on as the door opened, and a woman with long jet-black hair got out. She bent down to grab something out of her car, and the snug sweatpants she wore stretched tight against a perfectly round ass. He could see a little bit of skin from where her top ended, the string of her pants, and what appeared to be a tattoo on her hip. As she closed the door, turned toward the building, and then looked around her, he caught sight of the T-shirt in blue she wore that was snug against her belly and back, lifted slightly with a V in the front. She was hot. His body actually reacted, and he sat up, squinted, and watched her walk into the physical therapy building, looking around. He felt interested, got out, grabbed his shit, and then headed inside.

  “Morning, Everett,” Donny said, greeting him.

  The place was pretty empty. Just one other person was on a table, a guy from Central Valley who was recovering from knee surgery. The woman with the long black hair was placing her things down and talking to the other physical therapist, Bailey.

  “Come on over, Everett, and we’ll get started. How was the weekend?” Donny asked.

  “Same,” he said, and the woman in the Mustang turned around, following Bailey, and her eyes landed on him. He didn’t turn away, nor did she.

  “Everett, meet Adalee,” Bailey said, and Don stepped forward reaching his hand out.

  “Adalee, beautiful name. You new in town?” Donny asked, and Bailey chuckl
ed, but Everett felt jealous and was shocked. Like he saw her first outside and Donny better not hit on her or ask her out. Where the fuck did these thoughts come from?

  “I live in Cherry Hill. Just moved there,” she said.

  “Nice. Have you been out to any of the local hangouts?” Donny asked.

  “Donny, let’s get this shit done,” Everett barked at him. Bailey started talking to the woman, Adalee, and he listened as he spoke to Donny about his hand.

  “So I received all your information from the doctor and your PT in New York. Your progress is fantastic in such a short amount of time,” Bailey said to Adalee.

  “Well, I’m determined to get back to normal, maybe join some kind of training facility.”

  “We have an awesome dojo in town, but there’s also one in Cherry Hill,” Bailey said to her as Donny worked on Everett’s hand and arm.

  “You were doing shit, weren’t you? Everett, how are we going to make progress if you keep pushing past what is good for recovery?”

  “I’m fine. It’s a bit sore, that’s all.”

  Donny exhaled. And as Everett sat there while Donny manipulated the muscles in his arm, he continued to listen and learn about Adalee.

  “Well, let’s check your range of motion and see where your restrictions might be, and I can hopefully pull you through this the rest of the way.”

  “Great, and sounds good.”

  Everett watched her walk over to where some of the exercise equipment and mats were as Bailey went through some motions with her. Even as Donny worked on him, he kept looking at Adalee, especially as she did some leg stretches, bent low and her tight, sexy abs showed. By the time the session was over, his arm and hand hurt even more so, and he told Donny.

  “It fucking hurts. At this rate I won’t be shooting again. I thought this PT shit was worth it,” he snapped at Donny.

  “It is worth it, and you’ve come far in just a few weeks. Give it more time.”

  Everett exhaled as Adalee and Bailey went past him, and she looked at him, but he must have still had a pissed-off expression on his face. From there on out, she wouldn’t make eye contact. When he was done with the session, he walked outside and rubbed his jaw. He stretched out his hand and felt defeated.

  “Some days it feels like you take ten steps back.” He heard the female voice, turned, and saw Adalee there.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Sometimes it seems like you take freaking ten steps back after a day or so of thinking you’re moving forward. It sucks,” she said and then continued to walk.

  “How long have you been recovering?” he asked.

  She opened her car door and he approached closer. He noticed her slight limp and then she rubbed her hip. “Week six since I was able to start PT. I think sitting around in the hospital hurt my recovery time, but doctors, ya know?” she said, and he nodded. She was really stunning, and he towered over her, yet she had this toughness about her.

  “Seven weeks for me,” he said to her and looked her over.

  “Well, what choice do we have, right?” she asked, and he didn’t want to stop talking to her.

  “How did you get injured?” She swallowed and looked away. “Sorry, you don’t need to tell me.”

  “No, it’s okay, the way these towns work and considering I found out that Bailey’s brother is a deputy in Cherry Hill, I’m sure it won’t be a secret long.”

  He snorted. “I know her brother, Faris. Good guy. So is that where you moved to, Cherry Hill?”

  “Yes, just got here a few days ago. Anyway, don’t give up on the PT. I’m trying to stay focused, too. Not exactly a great thing to have a limp,” she said and rolled her eyes and prepared to leave.

  “When do you come back?” he asked and shocked himself.

  “Wednesday.”

  “Same time?” he asked.

  “Why?” she asked, and he couldn’t help the reaction he had to her. She was stunning, sexy, sweet, and holy shit, he felt interested and that hadn’t happened in months, hell in over a year.

  “I’ll be back then, too. Thinking since you’re so full of motivational words, I may rely on another line of supportive bullshit in two days from you,” he said and then headed toward his truck.

  He heard her chuckle, and he turned around, and she laughed, shook her head, and got into her car. He followed her the whole way back to Cherry Hill until she stopped outside of the sheriff’s department, and he kept going, heading home. He didn’t do anything in town these days. Kept to himself on the ranch and didn’t even go out except here and there to Finnian’s. Forget about Harper’s. The last thing he needed was to feel weak and inferior around a bunch of single women. His mind remained on Adalee and how instantly she lifted his spirits. Then came the thought that he would see her again on Wednesday. He shook his head and exhaled. Who the fuck was he kidding?

  Adalee couldn’t stop smiling or thinking about the hot older guy at PT. My God, the man was gorgeous, rugged looking with a shadow of a beard along his face, big thick muscles bulging from his T-shirt and tattoos along his arm. He was hot and then some. He actually caused a reaction in her. She assumed he was a cop or someone in law enforcement as she overheard him say he just wanted to be able to shoot again and sounded frustrated that things were taking so long. She could understand that. As she found a parking spot in front of the sheriff’s department, she saw a few deputies outside talking and even a state trooper, and then she realized it was John. He turned to look right at her and smiled to another guy. Before she even got around the car, they approached and John was introducing the deputy.

  “Adalee, meet Faris Montgomery,” he said, and she smiled and reached her hand out to shake his.

  “Nice to meet you, Deputy Montgomery, and to put a face to a name. I just finished PT with your sister,” she told him.

  “Please call me Faris. That’s great, and she’s really good. What do you need PT for?” he asked.

  “Just recovering from an accident. How are you doing, John? I didn’t expect to see you around here, I thought you would be stuck at a barracks doing paperwork.”

  He chuckled. “I figured you would be by here soon, and thought you might need the support.”

  She eyed him strangely, but then someone called his name, and they turned to look and saw another guy, a Texas Ranger she believed, approaching and carrying a folder. Despite him wearing glasses, he looked right at her as John and then Faris shook his hand hello.

  “This is Layla’s daughter, Adalee. Adalee, meet Jeb Perkins.”

  She reached her hand out for him to shake, and he was a big guy, and his name hit her. “Wait, you aren’t related to the mayor, are you?” she asked.

  He pulled off his sunglasses, and she could see his blue eyes that matched Rhett’s. “That’s my brother, have you met him?”

  “First day in town,” she replied and then looked toward the building.

  “She was just in Central Valley doing PT with Bailey,” Faris said to him.

  “Your brother goes there, too, right?” John asked Jeb.

  “He was there this morning. Should be back now.”

  He stared at her, and she was putting things together and the whole multiple men to one woman thing and perhaps this being a cult. She panicked. “Well, so nice meeting you. I need to get inside.”

  “I’m heading back in. I can introduce you to the sheriff,” Faris said, and then they walked toward the building.