Greystone Alpha
Contents
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
Greystone Alpha
by Alyssa Jacobs
Greystone Alpha
Copyright © Alyssa Jacobs, 2019
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
DISCLAIMER. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Addie Wilson scowled at the display of ice cream in front of her. It offered only the basics: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. None of the fancy flavors she could buy at the ice cream parlor by her old apartment in Brooklyn. She begrudgingly grabbed a pint of chocolate.
Perhaps moving to River’s Bend, North Carolina for the summer had been a bad idea. After her breakup with Todd, she felt she needed a change to get her head back on straight. A summer in the quaint little mountain town she’d vacationed in as a child had seemed about as big of a change from Brooklyn as she could get.
But now her decision meant she’d have to spend the entire summer without proper ice cream. How had she not thought of that? How did the residents of this small town survive without peanut butter crunch ice cream? Or raspberry cheesecake ice cream? Addie shook her head. It was going to be a long, hot summer.
She closed the freezer door and continued down the aisle, picking up whatever she felt like. Mom always said that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. Now Addie understood why. She was picking up everything that sounded good — pizza bagels, corn dogs, cheese crackers, soda, chocolate. She wasn’t on a diet, but if she were, well… it was going out the window tonight.
Her stomach grumbled. She was grouchy when she was hungry. Honestly, River’s Bend wasn’t so bad. There was lots of space and fresh air compared to New York. And everyone she’d met so far seemed friendly.
She looked down at her growling stomach underneath the oversized tee shirt she wore. She’d spent all day unpacking in the little cabin she’d rented for the summer. While she’d usually never leave the house looking like a mess, she was tired and honestly didn’t give a hoot about what she looked like at the moment. Like a lion, she was on the hunt, and this grocery store was her hunting ground.
She rounded the corner of the next aisle too fast and accidentally rammed her shopping cart into something.
Flustered and embarrassed, she looked up to see what she hit—it was another shopper’s cart.
“So sorry!” she fumbled out while trying to straighten the contents of her cart back up. She looked up, ready to apologize.
He cocked his eyebrow, then shook his head and laughed. “It’s all right.” He said with a southern drawl and a sexy smile. His eyes lit up a bright, clear green when he smiled, and Addie had to force herself to look away so she didn’t stare into them like a creepy psychopath.
She nervously tucked the baby hairs that framed her face behind her ears. Okay, he was really attractive, and now she regretted the oversized tee shirt and messy bun.
Not really knowing what to do, she turned and picked up a bag of chips that had fallen off the shelf when her cart rammed into it. “Yep, that’s probably fine…” she said, awkwardly patting the chips as the man continued to look at her.
Then she gave him a polite nod and hurried off in the other direction, leaving the man behind, still leaning against his cart.
She stopped to compose herself on the next aisle over. She definitely looked like a lunatic back there. There was something about that man that made her lose her mind. She’d acted like she'd never been in a grocery store before. After a deep breath, she looked down at her shopping cart and decided she had more than enough food to last her a couple days.
Really, she just wanted to go back to her cabin, open the bottle of wine, crack open her pint of ice cream, and take a bath to unwind from the long, exhausting day.
Because nothing says self-care like sipping wine and eating ice cream in a bubble bath.
She made her way up to the front of the store and stood in line for the only register open. River’s Bend was one of those small towns where everybody knew everybody else, and the elderly couple in front of her apparently knew the cashier. They were having a long conversation involving grandchildren and church gossip as the cashier slowly rang up the couple’s groceries. She was clearly more interested in conversation than with making sure the couple paid and left before Addie’s ice cream melted.
Addie felt her impatience rising, then reminded herself that this wasn’t Brooklyn. Things moved slower here, and it was something she’d need to get used to. Maybe it was a good thing. You know, small town charm and all that.
She hadn’t always been so tightly wound. Something about the last few years with Todd and working a high-stress, low pay job as a journalist had changed her. The pressure to be something she wasn’t had practically crushed her, and she hadn’t realized it until she arrived in River’s Bend.
She sighed, then looked over at the newspaper display to her left and grabbed one that caught her eye.
The Bender. It looked like River’s Bend had its own tabloid magazine, and Addie thought it funny that a town with a population of 500 would have such a thing. She flipped it open and thumbed through the stories.
“Asheville Man Claims to Have Befriended Bigfoot.” read a voice from behind her.
She turned to see the man she hit with her cart earlier. His bright green eyes and boyish grin made her heart beat faster, and she felt heat rising in her cheeks. She opened her mouth, confused, then looked back down at her magazine. He had read the headline.
“Interesting.” he drawled out, flashing her a giant smile as he leaned onto his cart.
She put the newspaper back up on the rack and shrugged, trying to play it cool.
“It said he leaves out food for Bigfoot on his back porch.” she said. “I’m sure his grocery bill is through the roof.” She snickered at her own stupid joke as he cracked a smile.
“Maybe Bigfoot splits the bill with him.” He replied.
Addie laughed out loud. The belt finally moved up, allowing Addie to put her groceries on it. She could feel the man watching her, and suddenly she wished she had gotten a fruit or vegetable or something so she at least appeared to have her life together.
She shook her head, dismissing the thought. What did it matter what this guy thought of her?
The couple in front of her paid and left as Addie nodded a little greeting to the cashier. She waited while the cashier rung up her items, doing everything she could to ignore the gorgeous man behind her. She wasn’t ready for a relationship.
A relationship? Holy smokes. Calm down, Addie. He’s just a cute stranger. He’s probably married, anyway.
But as the cashier took her sweet time, Addie couldn’t help but sneak a peek at this left hand.
No ring.
Hm.
“That’ll be $41.88.” said the cashier, interrupting her daydreams about the sexy mystery man behind her. Addie nodded as she swiped her debit card.
“Oh, it was declined, sweetie.”
Addie’s heart dropped. That didn’t make any sense. She had more than enough money to cover groceries. She was sure of it. She hadn’t left her job in the city without making sure she had plenty of savings to get her through the summer.
“It must be a mistake. Let me try again.”
The cashier gave her a sympathetic look as Addie swiped her card again.
“It declined again.” the cashier said low.
“Hey Debbie, I’ve got it.” said mystery man to the cashier.
Addie was mortified. She wanted to melt into the floor. Or turn to dust and blow away, right out the front door and as far away as possible.
“You don’t have to…” she weakly protested as the man put his groceries up on the belt too. He gave her a dismissive wave. “It’s no problem.”
Addie stood there awkwardly as the cashier rang up his items. Mystery man paid for their combined groceries, then loaded up his bags into her shopping cart and looked at her expectantly. “Where to?” he asked, waiting for her to lead them out of the store.
She timidly pointed to her car across the parking lot as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and read a text alert from her bank.
Suspicious activity detected. Account temporarily locked. Call for more information.
She frowned. So that’s why her card was declined.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, evidently noticing her reaction to her phone as they approached her car.
“Yeah, it’s my bank. My card was just locked for suspicious activity. I just moved to town today and I guess the bank thought my card was stolen or something.”
“That sucks.”
She nodded her head in agreement as she popped the trunk and reached for her groceries.
“No, let me.” he said, waving her hands away and giving her a smile.
She blushed, surprised, but stepped back to get out of his way. It must be a southern thing, being all gentleman-like, insisting on putting away her groceries. Todd hadn’t ever been so kind. But she had to admit, she didn’t hate it.
As he loaded up her groceries, she couldn’t stop herself from noticing the way his tee shirt stretched across his strong arm and back muscles.
Tall, tanned skin. Brown hair cut short and hidden under his baseball cap. Effortlessly sexy scruff on his jaw. Jeans and work boots, tight white tee shirt that accentuated his muscle-y shoulders, chest, and arms. He was nicer than Todd, and Todd hadn’t looked nearly as good.
He looked back, catching her staring.
She blushed. “Thank you for helping me out,” she blurted, not sure what to say. “I’m starving after unpacking all day. I don’t know what I would have done for dinner if I couldn’t pay for my groceries here.” She paused, frowning, then crossed her arms. “And now you’re putting up my groceries. I should be putting up your groceries.”
He chuckled. “It’s okay, I can load up my own groceries.” Oh, she had no doubt about that. And he’d probably look better than her when he was doing it, too.
He gently shut her trunk and turned toward her with his hand extended. “I’m Jason, by the way.”
“I’m Addie.” she replied, shaking his hand. “At least let me repay you for buying my food. I can call the bank and get them to unlock my card. There’s got to be an ATM around here somewhere...” She looked around.
Trees. Only trees. Of course there was no ATM nearby. River’s Bend was more forest than town.
“You don’t have to pay me back.” He leaned back against her car, looking all cool with his arms crossed and an easy smile on his face.
“Please, I insist.” she replied. She was new in town, but she’d heard enough about small towns to know that people gossiped. And she didn’t want anybody thinking she was a freeloader.
He sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. “Fine. You can repay me. How about coming down to Harvey’s tomorrow night for a drink? On you, of course.” he added, winking.
“Harvey’s?”
“It’s a bar on the edge of town. They have live music there on Friday nights.”
Addie hesitantly nodded. This wasn’t really what she meant by paying him back. She wasn’t a bar person, and she wasn’t looking for a date, either.
He noticed her hesitation, and his demeanor immediately changed. “You don’t have to.” He quickly stumbled out. “I just thought that you might be interested in getting out and seeing the nightlife around here since you’re new to town.” he shifted his weight to his other foot and ran his hands through his hair like he was uncomfortable. This whole time he’d been playing it cool, but apparently he was affected by her at least a little. Addie smiled at how cute it was.
“You can bring along a friend or… boyfriend?” he cocked his eyebrow.
“No boyfriend for me.”
She paused, thinking. She rarely went out to bars, but part of the reason she moved down here was to change things up. She wanted to try new things and meet new people. And here Jason was, standing in front of her on her first night in River’s Bend, asking her to step out of her comfort zone. Maybe this was a sign. Maybe this was supposed to be her first adventure in River’s Bend.
And just because she was meeting him for a date didn’t mean it was anything serious. People casually dated all the time, right? Her and Todd weren’t together anymore, and she knew he wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to date other people. Maybe she should too.
“Fine, I’ll meet you at Harvey’s tomorrow night. And I’ll buy you a beer or two, and then we’ll be even.”
He smiled and Addie’s stomach fluttered.
“Great. See you then, Addie.” he replied, then he turned and pushed the shopping cart toward the other side of the parking lot.
Addie watched him walk away, then smiled to herself.
She’d been worried that moving to River’s Bend was a mistake, but she suddenly thought it might have been the best decision she’d made in a long time.
Chapter 2
The woman leaning next to Jason at the bar was an all-American beauty: tall and thin with straight blonde hair down to her waist. She wore a tight denim skirt and a white blouse that clung to her curves like saran wrap.
Addie had been under the impression that her meeting with Jason was a date. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment at the thought she may have misunderstood his intention.
She frowned down at the purple floral sundress and cream cardigan she wore. It wasn’t the latest style, and it was way more conservative than the blonde’s outfit, but it was the only option she had. Her wardrobe didn’t contain anything that screamed “sexy date night”.
She looked back at the door, debating whether to leave and let Jason think she never showed up. What were the chances she’d ever run into him again, anyway?
Actually, probably pretty good in this small town.
His eyes met hers as she turned to leave. “Addie!” he called over the jukebox from his seat next to the blonde.
Jason smiled and stood as she approached and took her into a side-hug.
Now she was really confused. Maybe the blonde wasn’t a romantic interest. The blonde didn’t seem jealous or confused, at least.
“Hey, how’s it going?” he said, pulling out the barstool beside him for Addie.
Addie nodded a greeting as she looked back and forth between Jason and the mystery woman next to him.
“Addie, this is Claire. Claire, this is my friend Addie. I invited her to hang out with me tonight.”
Addie relaxed a little at the word friend. He was quite possibly the most attractive man she’d ever met, and her nerves had been all worked up thinking about this being a date. Maybe she could keep her head about her if she thought of this as only a friendly outing.
She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, though.
Claire’s eyes lit up. “So, you’re the girl from the grocery store? It’s great to meet you. Jason hasn’t stopped talking about you since you two met. She is pretty, Jason!”
“Claire is a family friend. She’s leaving tomorrow morning to start a summer internship. We’re all really excited for her.”
His tone was sarcastic, but Addie could tell that it was all in good fun. She swore she even heard a little pride in his voice at the mention of the internship.
“Yeah, excited for me to leave.” Claire said as she turned to Addie. “I like your dress.”
From anyone else, the statement would have been awkward, but the look on Claire’s face was genuine, and so Addie couldn’t help but smile. Genuineness was a rare quality amongst her social circle back in the city. It was refreshing to meet someone so unapologetically open and nice. Someone that didn’t treat everything like a competition and whose main focus wasn’t on keeping appearances.
“Thanks, it’s just the first thing I dug up. Most of my clothes are still in boxes.”
Claire took the last sip of her drink and stood. “That reminds me, I really need to finish up packing. I wish I could hang around longer, but I think I’m going to split.”
And then Claire wrapped Jason and Addie in a bear hug, one arm on each of them. Addie awkwardly patted her on the back and made eye contact with Jason over her shoulder. He gave her an apologetic look as Claire gave a final squeeze and backed away.
“It was nice meeting you Addie. Let’s hang out if you’re still in town when I get back.”
“Absolutely.” Addie replied, deciding she liked Claire’s combination of strange and endearing and wondering if Claire always gave out hugs to almost strangers.
“You two kids have fun.” Claire said as she gave an exaggerated wink to Jason.
And for the second time that night, Jason’s face went red. “I’m like, 10 years older than you!” He stuttered out as she walked away.
Addie stifled a laugh into her shoulder.
“Sorry about that.” Jason said. “She’s always like that.” Behind them, the bartender chuckled to himself, as if this was a typical interaction between Jason and Claire.