Tin

By Ellie Jax

What do you do when life hands you lemons? You pack those babies up with the rest of your s*it and move to grandma's house. That's what Tin Taylor did anyway and for a while things were great. Then an infuriating man shows up at her house, she decided to find a job, and it turns out the last tenent left a little something behind.
How does this affect another someone six states away? Simple, the last tenent was a drug dealing, money hungry jerk, and now he's after Tin. The problem is, she has no idea what he's looking for, and the man that hates her, now has to protect her.

This is the second book in the Heartache and Hitmen series, the books should be read in order. Eve (book one) is out now!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ellie Jax
• Release date: Jul 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311515568

Book preview

TIN

Heartache and Hitmen #2

By Ellie Jax

Copyright 2014 Ellie Jax

Smashwords Edition

Cover art by Thomas J. Galvin III

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with others, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

TIN

Heartache and Hitmen #2

Ellie Jax

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Other books by Ellie Jax

Prologue

Just tell me one more time

I’ve already said it Tin. You know this is the right thing to do. It’s not like you took off right away and sent for your things. You’ve waited a month for the renter to move out, and now you’re moving in. Simple.

Right. So I’m not running away with my tail between my legs? I still have my dignity in tact?

"Hon, you walked out of that restaurant without causing a scene and without looking back. I’d say your dignity was never in question.

Well, I guess that’s something I sighed, huge. I should finish packing, I want to leave pretty early.

All right. I’ll call you when I get back from Fiji. Don’t miss me too much.

And with that, she hung up.

Looking around my, now mostly empty apartment, I realized Julie was right. This is the right thing to do.

Really, there was nothing to tie me here anymore. I could work from anywhere; my family was spread out all over the country, and Stewart, well he didn’t factor in any longer.

Suddenly, I was a lot more energetic about getting my packing done. This was going to be a good thing. I was ready for good things.

Chapter One

Two months later

I had set myself a goal when I moved into my grandmother's house. So I've spent the last two months doing nothing but writing and sleeping when I could. There were moments when I realized there was no food left in the house and I would call out for pizza, or what ever could be delivered. I'm pretty sure that in a relatively small town such as Rounding West Virginia, there were rumors spreading. Part of the reason I was so sure was because of Benny. Benny took care of my lawn. His wife Jill's job was to gossip.

Benny has been taking care of the landscape here for a while now, but the last guy that was renting the place decided he didn't need Benny's services. Unfortunately, this meant it took Benny a while to get things back to where they should be. He became my first friend here. Though he was older, around fifty maybe, he was still in good shape. I guess you'd have to be when you work in landscaping. He and his wife only own half of the company, the other half was owned by another family member, but I never really asked about detail, but I figure whoever it is was probably in at least as good of shape as Benny.

Though this was my grandmother's house, we didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked here while growing up. My brother's and I kept busy during the summers with camps, sports, and as we got older, mischief. We came when we could, but until I'd moved in, I never realized how much this place could fill you with peace. It was old, but I had renovated it when I'd first received it. The updates kept the feel of the old house, but gave the conveniences of newer appliances and better flooring. The only place that hadn't been renovated was the basement. I don't go down there.

The outside needed minimal repairs; and the huge wrap around porch was the best part of the house. I wish I could spend more time out there.

The town, as I mentioned, is pretty small I think there are two stoplights here but no big name coffee spots or chain restaurants. There is however a wonderful bakery that Benny has assured me is still around and he was also sure that the woman running the bakery would love a little part time help. Even if I had to convince her she did.

I had one more chapter to finish before I would allow myself some time off and it was slow going. I'd hit a bit of a wall and I wanted to knock it down, but I must have misplaced my sledgehammer.

So instead, sometime around four on this random morning I'd decided I needed to cook. I haven't stopped since. This is bad considering I'm the only one here, but Benny reaps the benefits even as he tries to tell me he couldn't possibly eat all that food. We've been playing this game for a few weeks now, I consider myself the winner when I can hide just about everything I've made in the basket. Which was what I was trying to do when I heard the knock at my door.

Come on in Benny!

Hey there darlin'. How are things today?

Not bad, I'm closer to almost done with the book for now. I've also managed to make you and Jill a wonderful dinner. I turned and smiled while handing Benny the basket.

You know, Jill's starting to get jealous. She thinks I do your lawn myself just so I can get you're cooking. He's smiling and rummaging through the food as he's talking. He takes a deep breath in, Is that…apple pie I smell.

Yes it is. And you better keep your hands off until you get home. Last time Jill said it was only half a pie.

I think he actually pouted, Awww.

Turning back to the sink, I started wiping off the dishes that were done.

Do you know of anyone looking for handy man type work? I have a few things that need to get done around here, that I probably shouldn't attempt on my own.

Sure, next time I stop by I'll bring my nephew. He should be able to help.

Thanks Benny.

With that, I gave him a quick hug and sent him on his way.

###

I went about my days the way I had been, working on the book and fixing odds and ends around the house. I had even started to rebuild my grandmother's garden. This was new for me. Gardening wasn't something I had even thought about before now. I was happy to be distracted; it was strange though. I didn't even feel bad about not feeling bad when it came to Stewart. So I'm not sure why I needed the distraction at all. Although; I did feel pretty bad about wasting three years with someone that didn't want me. I should have known better, but now, I didn't even miss him.

I couldn't wait to show Benny the progress I'd made, so when he called to say he was on his way, I told him to check out the garden first.

That's why; when I heard footsteps behind me I was sure it was him so I didn't bother turning around. Hey Benny. I hope you're going to stay and help me eat some of this food… But it wasn't Benny behind me. It was a tall (maybe six foot three) dark haired dark eyed short bearded dangerous looking man. His shoulders were broad and muscular, his arms looked like they were going to pop out of his t-shirt; which must have been painted on, and he was wearing cargo shorts and heavy boots.

Uh, you're not Benny. I wasn't sure if I should be scared or not, but before I could lunge for my cookie jar, Benny came up behind him.

Hey there Tin. I wanted to walk my nephew in, before heading to the garden. I told him you might need a little help around the house. Then he walked back out the front door.

Right. I could see the resemblance now. I figured Benny wasn't going to be eating lunch with me so I started to pack everything up for him. I'd already had the table set for the two of us. I really should have remembered he was bringing his nephew.

I wasn't sure how to start the conversation, so when I turned back to the table in order to start cleaning up; I just looked at him for a minute. Then he made the mistake of opening his mouth.

I'm not interested.

Well, if he didn't want the work why was he here?

Ok.

Food isn't going to reel me in. My uncle should have known better than to try and set this up.

I narrowed my eyes at him. That was an awfully large leap he was taking.

"I don't remember asking you to help me eat this food. It wasn't meant for you."

Right.

He had a smirk on his face that I wanted to smack off, instead I stayed silent and finished packing up the basket. His face became a scowl after a minute or two and stayed that way.

He stood silent while I made myself busy washing dishes waiting for Benny, who seemed to be taking his time.

It must have been at least another twenty minutes. The silence wasn't bothering me as much as it felt like he was watching everything I did. It would have been rude to ask him to leave, though I really wanted to.

The garden looks great Tin. Let me know if you need any help, I'll send Jill over.

Thanks Benny. I was getting more uncomfortable, partially because the big guy, who by the way, had not given me his name, was still staring at me.

I have another basket for you. Just reheat the veggies and I put a couple of steaks in there. I figured those only take a few minutes, so you can cook them when you're ready. Also, I got tired of pie, so there is a chocolate cake in there too. I handed the basket over and stepped away. I felt a vibe coming off the big guy and it didn't feel nice.

You are spoiling me rotten, girl. But I know Jill thanks you for the break from cooking. It's not really her favorite thing to do. He looked between his nephew and myself and continued, Your business all set here?

Yup, all set. There was no way I was letting this man back into my home. He was too…hostile.

You haven't given me a list of what you want done. Or when you want it done by.

Really? He actually said that with a straight face, like he hadn't been an ass in the first five minutes he'd been here.

Right, well, that's because I'll be finding someone else to help me. Thank you for coming out here though.

He looked offended, like it was my fault he was rude to me. Benny looked surprised and confused. I couldn't say