“Don’t worry. You know how it is. Everyone will talk for a while, but it’ll die down. Sooner or later, something new will come along and give them something else to talk about.”

I tucked my straight brown hair behind my ear. Actually, I didn’t know what it was like. I barely remembered living in Tilikum. But I decided not to point that out. “Should I go see him at the hospital?”

He shook his head. “No, you don’t need to do that. Like I said, they won’t keep him overnight.”

I glanced away, feeling an odd dip of disappointment. Why was I so preoccupied with seeing him again? “I still can’t believe I did that.”

“Accidents happen. Even Gavin knows that. Truth be told, I’m surprised it took this long for him to get hit by a car.”

“What?”

He hesitated for a moment. “Gavin Bailey hasn’t exactly grasped the concept of his own mortality yet.”

Gavin was a Bailey?

“So you don’t just know him because he’s a firefighter. He’s that Gavin.”

“Yeah, you remember Gavin Bailey, don’t you?”

I didn’t. Not personally. Only the things Dad had said about him, as well as his brothers, over the years. It seemed like he always had stories to tell about the Bailey brothers.

“I haven’t actually seen any of the Baileys in a long time,” I said. “But I guess this will make for an interesting ice breaker.”

Dad cracked a smile. “I suppose so.” He paused again, like he was thinking about something. “Speaking of ice breakers, I know you just got here, but your mom said you might need some help getting to know people.”

“You talked to Mom about me already?”

“We’re your parents,” he said with shrug, as if that explained everything.

Not that Mom was wrong. I’d always been shy, and I had a hard time meeting new people. It made me nervous.

“I’ll be fine, Dad. And I already met Gavin Bailey.” And maybe I really should go see him at the hospital.

“I think she probably meant you might need help making a friend or two.”

“And by that you mean a girlfriend or two, not a firefighter I hit with my car.”

He chuckled. “By that I mean not a playboy firefighter with a very charming smile.”

God, his smile had been charming. Hypnotic, even.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Guys like Gavin Bailey aren’t interested in girls like me.”

He looked skeptical. “You’re a pretty girl, Skylar. Guys like Gavin Bailey are always interested in pretty girls.”

I tucked my hair behind my ear, not sure how to reply to my dad’s compliment. “Well, he and I didn’t exactly get off to a great start. And I’ll be fine. I’ll admit, meeting people is not my best skill. But Mom’s only worried because she’s such a social butterfly, she doesn’t understand my introvert ways.”

“Hmm.” He rubbed his chin. “I realize you’re an adult who can take care of herself. But I’m still your dad. I worry.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll be okay. I just need to get my feet under me.”

He nodded slowly, but I could tell he wasn’t convinced. “You’ve been through a lot recently. A breakup is never easy.”

I glanced away. That wound was still open—raw and fresh. “It’s hard, but I’ll get over it. And I know I could have gone to live with Mom, but I don’t know. I just needed to get out of town for a while. Get my head together.”

When Cullen had come clean about his affair with one of his other clients—a married woman, no less—he’d informed me I needed to move out immediately. Asshole. For reasons I still didn’t understand, the first person I’d called was Dad. His barely masked anger when I’d tearfully vented to him on the phone had made me feel a bit better. And he’d offered to let me come stay with him if I needed a place to go.

I hadn’t gone that day. I’d spent the last week at my mom’s, just a few miles from the apartment I’d shared with Cullen.

I’d been an anxious wreck. It had been hard to make myself leave the house for fear I’d run into Cullen. Spokane was a city—albeit a small one—so the chances of randomly seeing him out and about were low. And Cullen only lived there part time. He kept a studio apartment in New York City—ostensibly to be closer to his publishing industry contacts, but now I knew he’d used it for other, more cheaty reasons.

In any case, the city I’d grown up in had suddenly felt like a pressure cooker of terror. So I’d taken Dad up on his offer.

“Do you need me to take care of anything for you?” His eyes narrowed and his voice hinted at some protective-father danger.

“No, Dad. I just want to start over.”

He nodded in understanding. “Okay. You take your time getting settled. I need to go pop in to the station for a couple of hours. I was out at the incident command post for the wildfire all day and now I’ve got some work to do for my regular job. Do you need anything before I go?”

It was probably my fault that Dad had to go back to work. My car accident had interrupted his day. “No, I’m fine. I’ll just bring in my clothes and stuff. Then probably watch some mindless TV.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I’ll get dinner on my way home, how about that?”

“That’d be great. Thanks, Dad.”

He stood and placed a light kiss on the top of my head before leaving.

Closing my eyes, I let out a long breath. It was beautifully quiet, the absence of noise doing wonders to soothe my raw nerves.

Although I was off to a rocky start, maybe coming to Tilikum had been the right move. Maybe small-town living would help me get my mojo back.

Maybe I’d actually be able to write again.

That would certainly help my floundering career, although I no longer had an agent. And I wasn’t exactly swimming in my own industry contacts. I didn’t like that part of the job. I just wanted to write books, not network with people.

Of course, the writing books part wasn’t exactly happening either. For months I’d been struggling with the worst case of writer’s block I’d ever had.

I checked my phone and saw a text from my best friend Ginny. She’d been checking up on me regularly since my life had imploded last week.

Ginny: Hey, sweetie. Did you make it to your dad’s?

Me: I’m here. But this should probably be a phone call conversation.

Ginny: Oh god. What happened now? Don’t text back, I’m calling.

A second later, my phone rang.

“What happened?” Ginny asked as soon as I said hello. “You never want to talk on the phone.”

“I know, but I don’t want to type it all out.”

“Did Cullen come crawling back already?”

“No. Definitely not. I’m sure he’s happily making room for Pepper Sinclair’s designer wardrobe and makeup collection.” I paused to take a fortifying breath. “I ran over someone.”

“What?” she shrieked.

Wincing, I moved the phone away from my ear. “Okay, maybe that’s not exactly accurate, since I don’t think my tires touched him. But I definitely hit a pedestrian.”