She made herself busy by rummaging through Dameon’s freezer. She removed two individually wrapped chicken breasts and put them on the counter to thaw. Then to chase the silence away, she turned on the TV and found a music station to listen to. At one point she wanted to toss her wet pants into a dryer, but realized there wasn’t one in the house. Instead, she stacked small pieces of wood in the fireplace and turned on the gas to get it going.

It took a good five minutes while the flames built up enough to push out heat. Once it was hot enough, she tossed on a couple of bigger logs and turned down the gas.

In the time she’d known Dameon, Grace hadn’t spent more than a few hours alone in his house. And even though he’d been working to improve the space, he was adamant that the house would be removed in the future. She had to admit, the place was growing on her. From the awful carpet to the window coverings that had been left behind. Maybe Dameon wouldn’t mind if she spent a little time making the place more livable. And damn if the chill from the single-pane windows wasn’t the worst. Even heavier curtains would help with that.

With nothing left to do but stare at the fire and listen to music, Grace moved into the dining area and rolled out the plans she’d been working on.

No matter who Richard assigned Dameon’s project to, they’d happily take any plans Grace mapped out, which would cut their work hours in half if not more.

She opened up her phone, listened to the notes, and transcribed them to paper.

Whenever she found herself in the zone of work, she lost track of time. In her head she asked herself if she could still work under Richard. If only the man would retire, and she’d be able to go back to her job without the politics. Her thoughts drifted to the office and all the things that had been said about her.

When Dameon got home, she’d talk it out with him. And that was a nice change. Yeah, she could discuss things with her family, but they had so many other concerns in their lives right now.

Three sudden, sharp knocks on the front door made her jump and drop her pencil.

She glanced at her watch. It had been close to thirty minutes.

“Did you forget your key?” she called out as she walked to the door.

Her hand hesitated over the doorknob.

She pushed open the window covering she’d closed to keep the heat in.

Next to her car, in the driveway, was a high-end SUV.

Her smile dropped and she peered through the peephole in the door.

Max? Her heart rate double-timed.

What was Maxwell Banks doing knocking on Dameon’s front door?

He stood far enough away that Grace felt comfortable opening it a crack.

She spoke through a three-inch opening. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, hi . . . ah, is Dameon here? I tried calling him, but the cell service sucks.”

“He’ll be here any minute.”

Max stayed where he was and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “I really need to talk to him. Any chance I could wait inside?”

Grace shook her head. “No. Last I looked, you and Dameon had a falling-out.”

Max blew out a breath. “I know. I get it. I’ll go into town. Can you tell him I was here? He doesn’t owe me anything, but I’d really like to talk with him.”

“I can do that.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” With that, Max pulled up the collar of his jacket and ran back out in the rain.

Grace closed the door and secured the lock and watched Max through the window as he jumped in his car. What the actual hell?

As he backed out of the driveway, she sighed in relief.

Dameon was halfway up the canyon road to the house when the paved roadway became a mess of mud and rock. He understood what Grace had originally told him about the area and the road conditions after a big rain. She wasn’t kidding when she said it could become impassable.

Driving through the area in the rain brought home his need for an investor. This was going to take twice the amount of roadwork and infrastructure to make it work. Not everyone buying a home in his development was going to want to drive a truck . . . or a massive SUV like the one headed toward him.

Driving slow enough to avoid the larger rocks that were being knocked into the road by the rain, Dameon passed the SUV. He made it less than two yards before he recognized the car and the driver and slammed on his brakes.

In the rearview mirror, he saw Max do the same.

What the hell are you doing out here?

The red backup lights went on, and Max slowly pulled his car alongside Dameon’s truck.

They both rolled down their windows.

“What are you doing out here?” Dameon asked over the noise of the drumming rain and the vehicle engines.

For a minute it didn’t seem like Max was going to talk. Then he did. “Lena left me.”

Ah, shit. Much as he wanted to pretend Max’s words meant nothing to him, they had too much history to ignore. But he wasn’t about to say he was sorry. Lena was wrong for Max. All wrong. “That’s hard.”

Max looked out his windshield and then leaned out the window and yelled, “I’m sorry, Dameon. I’ve been a shitty friend.”

Damn. What was he supposed to do with that?

“My dad’s sick. Really sick. It had me thinking.”

The girlfriend card Dameon could pass on, but the dad card? No way. He remembered how Max had been there for him when his own dad died.

Max turned his gaze out his windshield. “I feel like my world is falling apart. Lena called it quits right after Christmas, and I thought she hooked back up with you.”

“That isn’t who I am, Max.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I know. I went to the charity dinner thinking maybe she’d be there. And when I saw you and your girlfriend and the team . . . it’s like I reverted back to a cocky high school kid again.” Max turned his gaze to Dameon. “I just want to talk. I know you don’t owe that to me, but I want to make this right.”

Dameon watched the rain running down his windshield and the ticktock of the wipers.

Grace walked back to her drawings and picked up her pencil. She stared at the plans for two solid minutes and knew her concentration was off.

She moved to the fireplace and stoked the logs. There was some serious cold coming from the back bedrooms. After checking the vents in the main room and feeling heat blowing out, she walked through the hallway to make sure all the windows were closed. Sure enough, in an empty room at the very back of the house, a window was open, and the old curtains from the previous owner were blowing in.

Grace walked in the room and attempted to slide the window closed.

She tugged twice and then put some muscle behind it on the third.

The window slid closed with a loud click.

Grace shook off the rain that had blown in on her as she turned.

Her stocking feet then stepped in a soaked carpet. Only when she looked down, it wasn’t rainwater she noticed. It was mud.

Muddy footprints.

“I’m sorry about your dad. Damn, Max.”

Max kept shaking his head. “I fucked up, Dameon. I let my dick get in the way of a solid friendship.”

Dameon motioned out the windshield. “The house I’m using is just up the way.”

“Yeah, I know. I was just there. Your girlfriend wouldn’t let me in.”