Chapter 22: Chapter 21

After much prodding from me, most of our breakfast crew took their leave. Trace had required my promise of texts every time I moved from one place to another, in addition to me enabling a danged app that let him track my location. But no matter how stifling, I knew it came from a place of love. Just as I knew Fallon’s hovering did.

I leaned a hip against the counter. “You’re going to work now, and so am I.”

Duncan had texted early this morning, telling me to take the day off, but I’d assured him I’d be in, just a little later than usual.

Fallon’s face screwed up. “I think you should rest today.”

“If I lie around here all day, I’m just going to stew about everything that happened. I need to keep busy.”

Her lips pursed as she seemed to mull over my words. “Then I’ll come with you. Hang out with you and Biscuit.”

The pup lifted his head at the sound of his name.

“Fallon, are you trying to play bodyguard?” I asked, a smile tipping my lips.

She let out a huff. “I can be intimidating if I want.”

The laugh bubbled out of me before I could stop it.

Fallon scowled in my direction. “Well, that was just rude.”

I held up both hands. “I have no doubt you could kick a man in the balls when he least expected it, but you don’t exactly give off menacing vibes.”

Fallon radiated the gentlest energy of anyone I knew. Because she was. An empath through and through, she took on the emotions of everyone around her. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t tough. If you hurt someone she cared about, watch out.

“Do I need to get Kye to give me a face tat?”

I choked on another laugh. “Maybe a dagger by your left eye?”

Her lips twitched. “How about kill in big letters across my neck?”

I pulled her into a hug. “I love you. You know that, right?”

Fallon hugged me back, hard. “I was so scared when Mom called me last night. It was just like all those years ago.”

Shit. I hadn’t thought about how this might be triggering for Fallon, too. She’d almost lost me back then, and this would have brought it all back. I squeezed her tighter. “I’m okay. Promise. Trace’ll figure this out, and everything will go back to normal.”

I said the words as much for myself as for Fallon, needing to believe it, too.

“You’re right. He won’t stop until he finds this asshole. And I’m going to bust his balls when Trace brings him in.”

I released Fallon, my brows raising. “Vicious little thing, aren’t you?”

She grinned. “See? Intimidating.”

I chuckled. “Come on. I’ll walk you out.”

I wasn’t giving Fallon any other options because she needed to go to work. She had a ridiculous caseload with Child Protective Services, and even one day out would mean her working triple-time the next day.

“But—”

“Nope.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her toward the door. “You are going to work. I’m going to work. No one will worry because Trace has me basically implanted with a GPS tracker.”

Fallon grumbled something indiscernible under her breath but let me push her along. As we made our way outside, I came up short.

I’d thought Arden was long gone, but there she stood at the base of my porch steps, a tiny ball of fur in her hands. Silas stood next to her, holding a box and looking at her with a gentleness I didn’t think I’d ever seen on his face before.

Oh, shit. The last thing we needed was the town playboy setting his sights on Arden. She wouldn’t have the first idea what to do about that. Her life had been too guarded. Not by her choice, but out of necessity.

I cleared my throat, and Silas’s focus jerked from Arden to me.

“Hey. I was just coming to find you,” he said.

I arched a brow. “Were you, now?”

His face heated. “Yeah. Uh, someone dumped some kittens at the other jobsite. I thought maybe your rescue thingy could take ‘em. I don’t want to take them to the shelter.”

I crossed to him and Arden. The kitten she held was cuddled beneath her chin as she stroked its patchwork fur. Peering over the side of the box, I frowned. They were so tiny. My best guess put them at just over three weeks. They’d need to be bottle-fed every four to six hours, but they’d be able to go to the bathroom on their own.

“You’ll take them, won’t you?” Arden asked. I didn’t miss the worry in her voice. Any creature that received an especially difficult set of circumstances always tugged on her heartstrings. “I’d take them, but I don’t know how Brutus would do with them.”

As sweet as Arden’s massive dog could be, mixing him with three-week-old kittens probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Let me call Nancy. If Biscuit isn’t good with them, she’ll probably be able to keep them.”

The tension bled out of Arden. “Good. They should have a safe place to call home.”

Silas glanced at her, his brow furrowing before he forced his gaze back to me. “Thanks, Rho. All these critters are lucky to have you.”

I took the box from him, staring down at the sleeping pile of fur. “Well, I get paid in cuddles.”

Fallon grinned at me. “The best kind of payment.”

It really was.

I carried the new box with fresh blankets and a hot water bottle toward Duncan’s open office door, hoping my boss was in a magnanimous mood. He was leaning over his laptop, frowning at the screen. Lines of strain creased the area around his eyes as he frowned.

“Crunching numbers again?” I asked.

Duncan jerked upright. “Jesus, Rho. Make a little noise when you walk, would ya?”

I chuckled. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to be quiet. You were just in super focus mode. Mathing again?”

He shook his head, quickly shutting the laptop. “It never makes my head hurt any less.” His gaze roamed over me, taking stock of every detail. “You okay? You didn’t have to come in.”

“I’ll be better if I keep busy. And I’m all right.”

A frown pulled at Duncan’s mouth. “Trace called this morning. Wanted me to keep an eye out for anything suspicious while you’re working.”

I fought the urge to curse. It wasn’t that I’d planned on lying to Duncan, but I certainly hadn’t intended to give him every detail of the truth. “He’s just being extra careful.”

“Exactly as he should be,” Duncan clipped. “This is serious, Rho. He said someone left a threat behind.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, worrying the tender spot. “I know, I know. But we’re being careful. Trace has a tracker thing on my phone, he has his deputies doing drive-bys, and, as we speak, Shep is installing some security system that would be better suited to NASA.”

I expected at least a lip twitch at that last part, but there were no signs of amusement on Duncan’s face.

“Worried about you,” he said finally. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay at my place? There’s plenty of room.”

I shook my head. “I’m good, really. I can stay with Nora and Lolli if I get spooked.”

Duncan’s mouth pressed into a hard line. “I’m not trying to be some sexist pig but staying with two women of retirement age doesn’t really make me feel any better.”

“Don’t let Lolli hear you say that. She’ll whoop your butt.”

“I’m serious, Rho.”

I sighed. “Fine. If I get spooked, I’ll stay with Shep or Trace.”

“That’s a little better,” Duncan grumbled. “Now, you gonna tell me what critter you have in that box that you want to keep in my office while you’re working?”

I pasted on my brightest smile, but before I could utter a word, a mewl sounded from the box.

Duncan groaned. “Kitten season?”

I winced. “Kitten season. They’re super sweet. But I can’t leave them home alone just yet.”

“First the dog, then the cats. Before long, this will turn into an animal shelter.”

“We have gotten some cuties adopted out of here. That has to count toward your angel points,” I said, giving him my best hopeful look.

Duncan pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. “Fine. Tell me what you need.”

After I got the kittens all set up in Dunc’s office and gave them each a bottle, I headed out to find Thea so I could help with the watering. I waved at Heather behind the counter as I passed. “Thanks for watching Biscuit!”

“He’s the best male company I’ve had in months,” she called back, bending to give his head a rub.

I chuckled as I headed out the door and into the sunshine. I couldn’t help but sweep my surroundings, looking for anything out of place. I hated that this was my instinct. And what did I think I would see? Some ominous figure holding a lighter? Someone in a hoodie making a throat-slitting motion across their neck?

Letting out a sound of frustration, I headed toward the far greenhouse. I forced myself to take in the good things. The scent of ponderosa pine in the air. The way the light caught on the blooms all around me. The feel of lavender between my fingers as I passed.

There was so much beauty. So much to be grateful for. I just had to pause to let it all in.

My phone dinged just as I reached the greenhouse. Pulling it out of my back pocket, I glanced down at the screen, and my good mood fled.

DAVIS

I told you messing around with that old house was a mistake.

My stomach twisted like the grasses to my left spiraling in the wind. The moment I’d told Davis about my plan to rehab my old home, he’d been against it. Having grown up here, too, I’d thought he would be supportive, but he was dead set against it from the beginning.

All he had was a laundry list of reasons why it was a horrible idea. He’d wanted me to sell instead, to invest the money in stocks and buy something new. Something he’d hinted at us living in together. He’d never understood why I wanted to do this as part of my healing.

And when I’d used the Victorian as another reason for why I didn’t have time for dating, he’d hated it even more. But did he hate it enough to try to scare me this way? And if he did, what else was he capable of?