Autumn
Ten years ago
“That was a nice gift you gave Lena.” The deep voice seemed to come out of nowhere.
“Jesus. You scared the crap out of me.”
“How long have you been sitting back here?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Maybe twenty minutes.”
The backyard was pitch dark, but I knew the voice. Braden Erlich. The son of my dad’s newest partner at work. Correction, the ridiculously hot son of my dad’s newest partner at work.
“Are the lights broken?” he asked. “The ones that go on when they detect motion?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Braden was quiet for a moment. “So that means you haven’t moved in twenty minutes?”
I smiled in the dark. “It’s sort of a hobby of mine. I like to see how long I can stay still before the motion detectors catch me.”
“What’s your record?”
I detected a hint o
