Fire lit along my throat, and I did my best to swallow it down. “I’m so sorry, Hayes. One action and so many lives were affected.” It wasn’t just Shiloh. It was every member of the Easton family. Mine, too. Even Addie was paying the price.
Hayes leaned in and grabbed the seat of my chair with both hands, pulling me close. “Don’t you dare take that on. It’s not yours. You did everything you could to right that wrong, even though it wasn’t on you.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “I guess we’re more alike than I ever knew.”
“Careful, Hayes, I might start to think you like me a little bit.”
“Heaven forbid.”
“You really didn’t have to walk me to my car.”
Stubbornness flitted across Tim’s features. “Yes, I did. And you’re just going to have to get used to it because I’m doing it from now on.”
Warmth spread through me at his words. Somewhere over the past couple of months, I’d started to develop a little community of people who genuinely cared. “I appreciate it. But I don’t think anyone’s going to jump out of the bushes in broad daylight.” I gestured around at more than a few people walking down the streets, locals and tourists alike.
“Don’t care.” Tim came to a stop in front of my SUV. “I felt like the lowest of the low after I heard what’d happened. I left you here alone, and—”
“Oh, Tim. No.” I reached out, grabbing his arm. “What happened wasn’t your fault.”
His face hardened. “Maybe not, but I could’ve stopped it.”
“You’re going to have to let that go,” I said softly.
“I’ll try to if you’ll let me walk you to your car at the end of the day.”
“I think I can live with that.” I went on impulse and threw my arms around him for a quick hug. It was so fast, he barely had time to react before I let him go again. “You’re a good man.”
Pink hit his cheeks. “I’m working on it.”
“You’re doing a good job.”
“Get in that SUV before this ground swallows me whole.”
I laughed and climbed behind the wheel, giving Tim a wave and starting the engine. He headed down the block towards his apartment over one of the shops in town. As I went to set my phone in the cupholder, it dinged.
Shay: How’s your week going?
I winced. I hadn’t exactly filled my best friend in on all that had gone down lately. Not the fire or my attack. But there wasn’t anything she could do. I typed out a quick response.
Me: Good. We’re about to start on shelters for the critters. Once we actually have some animals, maybe you can come to visit.
Shay: You say the word, and we’ll be on our way.
That might take a little longer than she thought, but that would give me time to get my stitches out, and hopefully for the scar to fade. I set the phone back in my cupholder and moved my hand to the gearshift, but a flicker of movement caught my eye. Someone had shoved a folded piece of paper under my windshield wiper.
I opened my door and stood to pull it free. Settling back in my seat, I shut the door and opened what I was sure was a flyer. Only, it wasn’t. The pulse behind my eyes intensified as I took in the sloppy scrawl.
Next time, you won’t be so lucky. Just remember, I’m watching.
27
Hayes
The muffled sound of my cell phone ringing came from somewhere on my desk. “Crap.” I patted the stacks of paper and the map I had spread out across the surface. When I couldn’t find it, I finally sent the map flying to the floor.
I grabbed up the tiny device and hit accept without checking the caller ID. “Easton.”
“Hayes? It’s Everly.”
It was the first time she’d called me, and that alone had the hair rising on the back of my neck. The hesitancy in her voice only put me more on edge. “What’s wrong?” I was already pulling open my desk drawer and going for my keys.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine,” I growled.
“I’m in my SUV outside the vet. Someone left a note on my windshield.”
My steps faltered as I pulled my door open. “What kind of note?”
“Not the kind asking me to a friendly tea.”
I muttered a slew of curses and picked up my pace, winding my way through desks and past reception. “I’m leaving the station now. Are your doors locked?”
A click sounded in the background. “They are now.”
“Stay on the phone with me.”
“I’ll be fine. You shouldn’t drive and talk on the phone.”
I hit a button on my screen as I climbed behind the wheel of my SUV. “You’re on speaker, happy?”
“So grouchy.”
“Damn straight, I’m grouchy. And you should be, too.”
Everly sighed. “I’m too tired to be grouchy.”
Hell. She’d been through the wringer since she’d been back in Wolf Gap, and these last few days had been the worst of it. She needed a break, and I was going to do everything in my power to get her one. “Just hold on, Ev.”
“I’m holding. Think we should play a game while I wait?” Her voice trembled slightly as she asked.
“What kind of game?”
“How about would you rather?”
I pulled out of the department parking lot. “Isn’t that something teenagers play?”
“Humor me. We’re gonna play the PG version.”
“All right.”
She cleared her throat as if getting ready to give an important speech. “Cookies or cake?”
“Cookies. Easier to bring with you wherever you go.”
Everly made a hmm noise in the back of her throat. “Lemonade or iced tea?”
“Depends on who’s making it.”
“Fair enough. I’ll always go for lemonade.”
“My mom makes the best there is. I’ll have to bring you some.” I pulled into a spot two down from Everly’s SUV. “I’m here.”
“Okay.”
Her voice was so damn soft, I wanted to hit something. That wasn’t the Everly I knew, the one I was falling for. Her voice was strong, never wavered. I slid out of my SUV, scanning the area. Nothing seemed out of place—the usual mix of tourists and locals peppering the streets, taking advantage of the late-summer light. I couldn’t pick out a single person who was focused on Ev’s vehicle.
I pulled a kit out of the cargo area of my SUV and started for Everly. She’d already climbed out and waited for me as I approached. She pointed to her passenger seat. “I put it down so I wouldn’t get a bunch of prints on it.”
“Smart.” I hadn’t even told her to do as much because the moment I’d heard her voice, that little hint of fear, I hadn’t been thinking straight.
I set my kit on the hood of the SUV and, instead of going for the note, I went for her. I pulled Ev into my arms and held on tight. The small hitch in her breath echoed around my rib cage like a cannon, pinging off my heart. “You’re okay.”
“I know.”
“Give me a sec to reassure myself of that.”
Her hands fisted in the sides of my uniform shirt. “I really am all right. It just spooked me, is all.”
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh air and that hint of jasmine that was all Everly. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”