28 Days(33)

“I’m not sure how, but I’m certainly going to try to untangle the secrets still buried.”

“God, it’s no wonder I have grey hair,” her father groaned, and pulled her in for one last hug.

“Dad?”

“Leave it, Saige.”

She wanted to ask more, but her father looked as though he had enough, and not just with her questions and talk of the past.

“I love you, Dad.”

He smiled at her confession. “It always makes my heart feel lighter hearing those words. I love you, too.” He kissed her forehead again, and let her go.

Her dad stood on shaky legs and gave her one more glance before he slowly walked out of the dining room. Saige was left to get herself under control. Not only did she have things to tell Alex, she also wanted answers about the comment he made toward her stepmother.

He made it in anger, but why, if it wasn’t true?





Day 9





2:00pm



* * *



The sun beat down on Alex and Saige as they walked along Main Street. The wooden buildings had been looked after over the years, and despite how much he hated the town, he had to admit it had a southern charm to it. Sidewalks bloomed with color from all the flowers that ran along the wooden porches; even the steps down to the street from each store had flower planters.

Of course, the town kept quiet about the Peterson family because who would want to visit Port Jude when a convicted murderer had lived there?

Alex had hated it then and he still did. His family was ostracized and snubbed. Ridiculed. Even now as he put one foot in front of the other, he felt the stares following him.

Glancing across the street, Alex paused and frowned, his hand going to Saige to keep her close. Outside of the barbershop, the same four wooden rockers sat in front of the window. The same four old men still rocked in them.

“You know what I’m thinking,” he whispered. “If anyone knows anything, it’s going to be those four guys over there.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe they’re still going.”

“Um,” Saige gave a noncommittal murmur. “Let’s go and talk to Agnes in the pharmacy first.”

Alex frowned when Saige gave the old men one last glance before walking off, leaving him standing on the street.

“If it isn’t Alexander Peterson,” a female drawled in front of him.

Alex glanced at the woman and smirked. “Tracy Adams.”

She grinned. “You remember me, huh?”

His gaze swept over her long legs, and he remembered the bare and silky feel of them as they caressed his body and wrapped around his waist...but then he met Christina, and everything changed.

Christina bothered him in more ways than one, and after the other night, he had questions. What happened shouldn’t have because she was still married and they had a whole lot of lies and hurt between them. The woman had always driven him crazy, and he hated that she still had the power to bring him to his knees.

Looking Tracy over, Alex realized she could be a needed distraction, help keep Christina away from him. Because no matter what he told himself, he knew that one signal from Christina and they’d both be naked.

“You remembering us?” Tracy asked, moving in closer.

“How could I forget you?” He offered her a sexy grin that he knew made the ladies weak in the knees. “We need to catch up...for old times’ sake.”

“I have somewhere to be now,” she whispered, and looked hesitant to walk away. Grinning up at him, she said, “I moved back into my old house after my parents died a few years ago, so come by and see me.” Tracy trailed a finger down his chest and dipped into the waist of his jeans.

“Soon,” he agreed, and licked his lips as he watched her saunter away in her tight little shorts.

She’d been the only girl in Port Jude to be a regular port of call when he’d been in his late teens and early twenties…until he’d met Christina.

Sighing, Alex took one more look around him, and realized that Agnes’s son, Paul, had caught the whole exchange before he’d darted back inside the pharmacy. The barbershop quartet also focused on him. That reminded him that he needed to convince Saige to go and talk to them.

He entered the pharmacy and caught up with her. “What did they do?”

She didn’t hesitate and knew exactly who he was asking about. “It was a long time ago.”

“Saige, we’re on the same side.” He grabbed her wrist and gave her a slight tug.

“When I eventually came home, they weren’t very pleasant to me. Taunted me really. It got to the point that I wouldn’t come into town.” She shrugged. “I’d drive to Tampa once a month for things I wanted because it was big enough that no one would know who I was. If it was something small, then I’d drive to the next town over.” She gave him a weary smile. “After a few attempts, I avoided town and haven’t really been in it since before I was taken.”

That had been the last thing he expected. The Lockwood name was one of the names around town. The fact that they had treated Saige poorly was a huge surprise.

Whatever questions he had would have to wait because she disappeared deeper into the pharmacy, which was just as he remembered. Old shelves held the items for sale, and the wooden floor creaked in the same place since he was a child. Nothing had changed. The wooden and glass display case housing the old, round glasses and medical journal of the first town doctor was still in one corner of the store.