“Ouch!” He held his shirt out from his skin.
“Oh, Curtis, I’m so sorry.” Faye rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a towel. She soaked it in water and hurried back to her husband. He was already peeling off his shirt. “Let me take it. I’ll get you a clean one.”
“I’ll get it. I need to get out of here.” He hesitated then kissed her. “Don’t worry about this, Faye. You keep your mind on meeting your family, and I’ll take care of the business stuff. We might turn things around yet. I don’t want to sell the dolphins, but I may have no choice.”
“We could just take a loss,” she pleaded. “I could get a job if I need to.”
His gaze softened. “That won’t be necessary, sweetheart. We’ll be fine. It’s the principle of the thing for me, I guess. I don’t like to lose. I’ll try to figure out something.” He kissed her again then went down the hall to the bedroom.
Faye wrung her hands. Kaia would hate her if Curtis sold the dolphins. She took the empty coffee cups to the kitchen. The phone rang as she put the last dish in the dishwasher and turned it on.
She glanced at her watch. Heidi was late. “Latchet residence.”
“Faye, it’s Jesse. I’m not bringing Heidi today. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh no, that’s fine. Is everything all right?” She thought his voice sounded strained.
“Someone tried to take Heidi last night.” Faye gasped and put her hand to her mouth. “I’d better keep her close until we figure out what’s going on.”
“Oh, Jesse, that’s terrifying! Is she all right?”
“She was fine once the chloroform wore off. I hope we’re not messing up your day too badly.”
“Not at all. I’ve got some errands to run. But how will you get any rest?”
“We’ll all take turns guarding her. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay, well, give Heidi my love. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“I will.”
The phone clicked in her ear, and she put it down slowly. She wished she’d told Jesse she could come there to be with Heidi. Jesse was competent though, she reminded herself. No harm would come to Heidi while he was around.
She heard the garage door go up then saw Curtis drive his car onto the street. The day stretched ahead of her. She could spend it cleaning house or shopping, but she knew what she needed to do.
Where are we going?” The wind tugged tendrils of hair loose from Kaia’s braid, and she pushed them out of her eyes as she turned in the seat of the Jeep to face Jesse.
Jesse tried not to watch her. He imagined that glorious hair flying in the wind. “My brother-in-law bought a security business. Remember when he mentioned it at church? He might be able to help us. I thought we’d get some motion detectors for the boat and maybe some security lights.” Jesse turned the SUV into the parking lot of Prickett Security. He pulled into a spot near the door. “You’d both better come with me. I don’t dare leave you alone.”
“I think I did pretty well by myself last night,” she reminded him. “I’m not some insipid female who faints at danger.”
He grinned. “Sorry if that sounded chauvinistic. You were amazing.” He got out of the Jeep and flipped his seat forward to let out Heidi. He noticed Kaia’s cheeks turn pink and hid a grin. Maybe she wasn’t immune to him. He’d tried to ignore his attraction to her, but after last night, he realized there was something more between them, something he couldn’t blame on the goose egg on his head.
Slamming her door behind her, she followed him into the first building. The complex consisted of four slump-block buildings painted an institutional gray and trimmed in navy.
A receptionist greeted them and went to tell Steve they would like to see him. Steve stepped out of his office. His shirt was rumpled and his eyes shaded with fatigue. His face brightened when he saw them though.
“Jesse, it’s good to see you.” Steve grabbed Jesse’s hand and pumped it.
“Looks like you haven’t been home all night,” Jesse remarked after making small talk for a few minutes.
“I haven’t,” Steve said. “You know how a new business is. Let’s go back to my office.”
“Things that busy?” Jesse pointed out a chair to Kaia then dropped into the one closest to Steve’s desk.
“It’s crazy here. We’re behind schedule, and my foreman quit, so I stayed to keep things on track.” He went to a coffeepot on a caddy by the door. “Coffee? I’ve got Red Bull in the fridge too.”
“Coffee’s fine.” Kaia and Jesse spoke together.
He poured them all coffee and asked the receptionist to bring Heidi some juice. “Now what can I do for you?”
Jesse told him what had happened. Steve’s abstracted air turned to sharp focus as he listened.