Broken Beginnings: A High Heat Small Town Romance Suspense (Citrus Cove Book 1)

I HELD my phone to my ear as I opened the fridge, listening to Sarah talk.

“The house has been great. You and Cam should come over for dinner if he’s feeling better. The boys would love to see you. They talk about you all the time.”

“How are they doing with everything?” I asked.

“Hanging in there,” she sighed. “I didn’t realize how much they hated their dad, Hal.”

“Has he found you or anything?” I asked, feeling my stomach twist.

I pulled out a pitcher of sweet tea and kicked the fridge closed, pulling down two glasses. Cam was in the living room, relaxing on the couch and waiting for me to join him for snuggles. It was moments like this that I thought what the fuck? It felt so…normal. Even with everything that had happened.

And it was those moments that kept me going.

I smiled, glancing up at him out of habit.

Sarah let out a long sigh. I could hear her exhaustion. “No. It’s like he’s just gone. Maybe he had a work trip.”

I frowned. “What even is his job?”

“He works for an insurance company and travels a lot.”

“Does he? How is he doing that and being drunk?” I winced at my own words. “Sorry. That was harsh.”

“No, you’re right.” Her voice was firm, her tone weary. “I don’t know, Hal. I stopped asking questions. I just… stopped. I guess I gave up. Does that make me a bad person? A terrible mother? It does, doesn’t it?”

“No,” I said. “You’ve done the best you can.”

“It wasn’t enough.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“It’s going to work out, Sarah,” I said. “It will. You’re doing the right thing. You’ve made changes. I just hate that you had to deal with him.”

“In some ways I guess it hasn’t been terrible. Most nights he spent in the basement anyways when he was home. He’d leave us alone then…”

“When do you see the divorce lawyer?” I asked. I wanted those damn papers signed ASAP. The longer her last name was Connor, the longer I felt like her and the kids were being dragged through the mud.

A few loose curls fell in my face, loosening from my bobby pins. I fought them for a moment, and then held the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I readjusted the pins.

“Sarah?” I asked.

“Tomorrow.” She was quiet, her sniffle audible. “Haley, I can’t thank you enough for everything. You don’t owe me shit, but you’ve still pulled me out of a bad situation. I couldn’t have done this without you. For the first time in years, I feel like myself again.”

“I’m just happy I can help.” I sighed. “We’ve both been through a lot. I just want to rebuild my life now. I can’t believe I ended back up in Citrus Cove.”

She laughed. “Speaking of why you’re staying. How’s Cam?”

“He’s okay,” I said, pouring us each a glass of tea. “He keeps trying to hide when he’s in pain, but I can tell. It’s like he’s forgotten he got stabbed yesterday and wants to do everything himself.”

“I can hear you,” Cam called from the living room. “I have ears.”

I grinned. “But he’s doing good.”

“Good,” Sarah laughed.

“Is Colt still sleeping on your couch?”

She sucked in a breath. “Yes. He doesn’t want to leave for now. I can’t say the boys mind having him around though. If anything, he’s kept them distracted. Sammy has stopped by a couple times too.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Hmm.”

“Don’t hmm me.”

“I’m not saying anything.”

“You don’t have to.” She sighed. “Colt is just a friend.”

I fought the urge to snort. The way he looked at her was a lot more than friend. “Alright, then. Well, I’m glad he’s there.”

“Me too. I’m gonna go though. I need to run to the store.”

“Be safe,” I said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

We ended our call, and I left my phone on the counter, putting the pitcher back in the fridge. I grabbed our glasses and took them to the living room.

“Hey, sunshine,” Cam chuckled, beaming at me as I handed him his glass. He was sitting up, which was good.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Better now that you’re in here.”

I rolled my eyes but leaned over the couch and kissed him. He hummed with satisfaction.

“How are Sarah and the boys?” he asked.

“Well, it sounds like Colt is guarding them dutifully. That man is a golden retriever, I swear.”

“He is. Come sit with me.”

I raised a brow at him, kissing him softly again. “You mean, sit next to you while you lie down.”

“Maybe I can lay my head in your lap, Nurse.”

I laughed and went around the couch, sitting at the very end. I set my tea down on the coffee table, then patted my lap, raising a brow at him.

He grinned and started to lean forward to put his glass down and then winced.

“Fuck,” I said, jumping up.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“Clearly not,” I hissed, taking the glass from him. I felt a flash of worry. I kept forgetting that he was good at hiding the pain until he did something like that. “Babe, we should probably move you upstairs where you can lie flat.”

“I don’t like being hurt. I do like you calling me babe, though.”

“Shut up,” I mumbled. “I know you don’t like it, but you are hurt, and we need to make sure you don’t strain yourself,” I said. “You took care of me when I was hurt. Now it’s my turn. Come on.”

No amount of begging was going to make me budge on this, and he knew it. Cam made a noise of protest but ultimately gave in to my demand. I helped him up, slipping my arm gently around his side. We went to the staircase, and I helped him up, thankful when we made it to the bedroom.

“So eager to get me into bed, I see,” Cam mused. There was a strain in his voice, though, one that was far too telling.

I hated seeing him in pain. I pressed my lips together, trying to smother the rage I felt about everything that had happened. We’d already been through so much.

“Hey,” he whispered. “Hal, I’m okay, baby.”

I held his gaze, breathing in deep. He was right. He was okay. He was alive and here with me. “I’ll get your pain medicine. Should be time for you to take it.”

“Just lay with me for a moment,” he said. “Please.”

He got onto the bed slowly, wincing as he leaned back. I shot him a dirty look as I climbed in next to him, trying to ease myself down.

“Don’t give me that look,” he growled.

“You worry me,” I said. “That you’ll push yourself or do something you shouldn’t and then tear open the stitches.”

He sighed—a long, dramatic one. “I’m a bad patient.”

“I can kiss it better,” I said, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

He smirked. “I think a kiss on the lips might work a little better…”

“Hmmm. Let’s see.” I grabbed his face and planted a kiss on him. “I don’t know, let’s try again.” I kissed him again, and his hand slid behind my head, pulling me into a deeper one.

He drew back, relaxing against the pillows. “There. I’m healed. My body and soul are all new again.”

“Nice try,” I whispered, curling up next to him. “I’m going to lay here for a couple minutes and then run downstairs for your meds. They’re on the counter.”

“Fine.”

I smiled and relaxed next to him. “Still haven’t heard from Bud today.”

“Don’t even think about that right now,” Cam murmured.

“It’s hard not to,” I admitted. “But you’re right. I should start thinking about my life again. I…I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Cam. About everything. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said.

“I want to stay here.”

His eyes lit up. “Here?”

“Yes. If you want. I mean, I can always move out, but I⁠—”

“I want you here. I want you here forever, Haley.”

I grinned at him. “Back in Citrus Cove. Look at me. Emma may or may not be considering moving down too…she could live with Sarah and the boys. At least temporarily.”

“Perfect,” he whispered. “Perfect. Fuck. I love you so much. I can’t stop saying it.”

I teared up. After everything we’d been through, I didn’t want to stop saying it either.

I could see it all now. If Emma moved down, then I’d have everything I needed. A life with Cam here sounded perfect.

“I’ve been thinking too…” Cam said.

“Oh yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah. Well, I was thinking that we should plan a trip somewhere. You have so many recommendations and I’d like to see the world. Especially if it’s a place you love.”

That made my heart flutter. “We have the winery though.”

“It can wait,” he said, his hand slipping into mine. “We’ll rebuild it from the ground up. But a mini vacation sounds nice right now…and then we can come home.”

Home.

I liked this idea a lot.

We could have the best of what we both wanted. Travel and then coming home to our small town where we had our family and loved ones.

“Okay,” I said. “Yes. I want this.”

“Me too,” he chuckled.

“Where would you want to go?” I asked.

“What’s your favorite place in the whole world?”

“I should say Citrus Cove because that’s where you are.”

He laughed and then groaned. “Fuck. This wound is a bitch. But what place, really?”

“I’d take you to my favorite beach in Queensland. We could go to the shops that are in the Daintree Forest. Get some fresh ice cream. Eat amazing fish and lounge in the sun.”

“Sounds like a dream,” he said. “Let’s do it. Let’s book our tickets right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. Why not?”

I lifted my head, looking at him.

I couldn’t think of one damn reason as to why not.

“You really want to?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Truly. Let’s get the hell out of here. Let’s restart everything, okay? Enjoy some time away from everything and when we get back, we can start everything up.”

“I don’t know if you can travel like that…”

“I’d be fine in a couple weeks,” he insisted. “I’m sure.”

I studied him a few moments longer. It wouldn’t hurt to at least look at booking tickets.

And the idea of Cam on the beach shirtless was certainly appealing.

“My life is with you,” he said. “Wherever we are. Wherever we end up. I’m in it forever, Hal. I’m yours.”

He had a way with words. I felt my heart melt and leaned forward, giving him a sweet kiss.

I broke out in a grin, and so did he. “Well, my phone is also downstairs,” I said, already rolling out of bed. “And your medicine. I’ll be back.”

I went back down the stairs swiftly and went to the kitchen, grabbing my phone off the counter. If we booked our tickets so last minute, we might actually be able to get a deal. And I liked deals. That was part of why I liked writing travel articles, because I liked finding such things.

Cam’s medicine was sitting on the edge, so I snatched it up, turning to run back up⁠—

And froze.

My brother-in-law stood in front of me, his gaze fixed on me.

“David,” I said, taking a step back.

But…

This wasn’t David.

There was something slightly different about him. This was the man that I’d seen at the gas station, or that I swore I saw at the winery. Someone who looked like David, but wasn’t him…

The two of them looked almost exactly alike, but the way he smiled made every part of me freeze. His nose was slightly more crooked, and his clothing was pressed and starched.

“I’m not David,” the man chuckled.

His voice.

I knew that voice. I knew that fucking voice. The night of the murder came back to me, the snarl that I’d heard from the man that killed my neighbor.

You’re next.

“David is an oaf. I love him, but he’s not intelligent. Just a drunk.” He moved his hand up, and I realized there was a gun in it. “If you scream for help, I will kill you. And then I will go upstairs and kill Cameron Harlow.”

“Who are you?” My heart thundered in my chest, my adrenaline spiking. “Why are you in my house?”

“Not your house, last time I checked,” he said.

Fuck.

Fuck.

My heart pumped, terror icing my veins.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Doing what I wanted to do so long ago, Haley. Now, go to the door. Leave the items you’re holding.”

“Haley?” Cam’s voice came down the stairs. “Everything okay?”

I stood still, unmoving. “I’m not going,” I said. “I don’t know you. I don’t⁠—”

He pulled the trigger, my ears ringing as the bullet whizzed past me, grazing my arm. “You know me. Go to the fucking door.”

I heard Cam’s shout, but he was already moving. I reached for the knife block on the counter, but he grabbed my hair and slammed my head forward hard enough that I saw black. Pain burst through head, my ears ringing.

This couldn’t be happening.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Everything was supposed to be over.

“Fucking bitch.”

“Haley!”

David dragged me out of the kitchen and down the hall, straight to the front door. Pain blinded me as he threw me out onto the front porch, waving the gun.

“Get in my car, or I will kill him.”

“Haley!”

Cam’s cries were like knives through me. But the thought of this man killing Cam made me move. I got to my feet, staggering. I went down the steps, tears streaming down my cheeks as I stumbled to the car. I got into the passenger side, shutting the door as blood trickled down my face.

What am I doing? I could run.

But I couldn’t let him hurt Cam.

He followed behind me and got into the driver’s seat. He slammed the door and pointed his gun at me, cranking on the little car. It was the electric one I’d spotted before. It came to life and he put it in reverse, peeling out of the drive as Cam came to the front door.

His expression broke me.

Cam, Cam, Cam.

He’d broken open his stitches. I could see the blood.

I let out a sob but then swallowed it as I felt the cold nose of a gun against my neck.

“Stop fucking crying.”

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to keep every word level and calm.

I still trembled.

David let out a low laugh. “Taking you someplace I can take my time with you. I’ve been wanting this for so long. There’s just been so many fuck ups along the way. I should have just taken you before, but my brother had all these plans.”

I felt sick. “Brother?” I asked.

He hit my face with the gun, pain splintering through my cheekbone. I gasped, curling against the door.

“Cam will just follow you,” I sobbed.

“Not with slashed tires.”

The nausea increased. “Why are you doing this?”

“You talk too fucking much,” he snarled. He jerked the steering wheel, stepping on the gas until we came to the road that led back into Citrus Cove. “You’re next. I meant what I fucking said. To think it was supposed to be you to begin with anyways. You’ve ruined my fucking life. And my brother’s life. David marrying your sister was just to help me get closer to you, and then of course, you just never came back here. Why would you do that? Abandon your family like that?”

“David’s your twin,” I said. Things were starting to click into place.

“He is.”

“Why didn’t anyone know?”

“My mother always kept me home. She swore the devil was in me. Maybe she was right. She should have kept her mouth shut, though. You look like her. Your blonde hair. The curls.”

“I’ve never done anything to you,” I rasped. “Just let me go. Let me go and leave me alone and we can put this all behind us.”

“David married your sister and took a job that allowed him to travel, which was very convenient for increasing my radius and access to women since we look alike. He could go drink for days and I’d pretend to be him. It paid enough for me and my brother to change positions.”

I thought about the boys. They were twins. It certainly ran on that side of the family.

“I’ve been doing it since high school, experimenting, playing, killing. Our parents didn’t really care for us right. And well…they’re no longer alive.”

Fear rolled through me. I looked up at him, wiping at the blood that continued to drip down my swelling face.

His breathing was heavy, erratic. His eyes darted back and forth on the road as he spoke. “It’s the sounds of their terror I enjoy most. You were supposed to be my first—I would have killed you that night so long ago if Cam hadn’t interrupted us. Do you even remember?” He glanced over at me.

I glared at him, even if it might cost me my life.

“I was at a party at his house and he slipped his arm around you. Cameron Harlow and his friends were always ruining things. I had been planning it for weeks. If you wouldn’t have taken off that night, I might have been able to get you to the car. David was already drinking by then and didn’t go to the party and everyone is too dumb to tell us apart. Cam picked a fight with me though. Son of a bitch.”

For once, I was glad that Cam was an asshole in high school.

“When you left Citrus Cove, David married Sarah because she was weak and naive, and she was easy to manipulate. She doesn’t know about me. Doesn’t know that those kids could be his or mine. But she just kept talking about you all the fucking time. All the goddamn time. I finally decided to go back to where it all started. Your neighbor looked like you, you know. Her hair, the curls. Like an angel.”

“You killed an innocent woman,” I whispered.

“Yeah. That was your fault, Haley.”

My eyes fell down to the door, to the handle. I wasn’t buckled. Maybe I could jump out and live.

“Put your head down.”

I hesitated for a moment, but he shoved me forward. My head hit the dash, my vision blurring.

I felt the butt of the gun on the back of my head, and everything went black.