Page 36 of Glimmers of You


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“Gigi…” he growled.

“Sorry. I get punchy when I’m anxious. Someone possibly breaking into my house qualifies as anxiety-inducing.”

The annoyance on Caden’s face melted away, and for a second, I thought he might reach out and pull me into his arms. My traitorous heart wanted nothing more.

“We’re going to figure this out,” he promised. “But it would be a lot easier with police manpower.”

My annoyance was back. “No.”

Caden sighed. “Come on. It doesn’t look like anything is out of place here. Unless you keep cash in the freezer.”

“I keep ice cream in the freezer like a normal person.”

I peeked to make sure my insulin was still in the fridge, then headed out of the kitchen and down the hall. I looked in the bathroom—nothing out of sorts there. Then I made my way to my bedroom.

I fought the urge to squirm as Caden and I stepped into the space. Something about having the two of us in such a small place, one where I slept, did funny things to my insides.

He looked around the room, seeming to take in more than just possible burgled spots. His gaze landed on each photo and knickknack as if it gave him some invaluable piece of information about me.

He used to have a place among those things. When I was growing up, photos of him with my brothers and me had littered my room. The goldfish stuffed animal he’d won me at the fair one year. The movie stub from when he and Nash had snuck me into a PG-13 movie when I was still eleven. A million memories I’d shoved away in boxes in my closet.

I forced my gaze away from Caden and moved around my bedroom. As I approached my bed, my stomach tightened. The comforter was rumpled in a way that almost looked as if someone had lain on top of it.

I swallowed hard as I studied the bed. I’d sat on it to put on my socks that morning. Maybe that had caused it. I opened my bedside table drawers. Nothing was missing.

Moving to the closet, I opened the door and flicked on the light. All the clothes seemed to be in place. I glanced at the shelves above. All the boxes were there. My gaze caught on my hamper at the bottom of the closet, and my stomach bottomed out.

Something was missing. When I’d gotten up that morning, I’d tossed my pink silk pajamas on the top of the pile of dirty clothes. But they weren’t there now.

I crouched, pawing through the contents of the hamper. My heart hammered against my ribs. Nothing.

“What is it?” Caden asked, coming up behind me.

I pressed my thumbnail to the pad of my forefinger, almost hard enough to draw blood. If I told Caden my PJs were missing, he’d call Lawson and Nash for sure. I pushed to my feet and turned to face him. “Nothing. I can’t find anything out of place. Maybe it was kids doing something on a dare.”

That could very well be the case. We’d had a series of prank wars and vandalism this summer. Graffiti on the dock, bizarre items stolen from stores, houses egged. Someone even left a toilet on one of my neighbor’s front lawns.

Caden grabbed my hand and lifted it, gesturing to my thumb and forefinger. “You do that every time you’re freaked. What gives?”

A dozen mental curses flew as I tugged my hand free. “I’m just skeeved out that someone might have been in my house. I’m going to have to clean everything. Who knows what they got their cooties on?”

That much was true, at least. It was dumb to hide the rest of it from Caden. I knew that much. But what good would it do to worry him and my brothers? Everyone knew Nash and Lawson worked for the police department. I was sure whoever had broken in had been smart enough to wear gloves. But the fact that they’d left the door open made me wonder if they wanted me to know they had been here.

Caden studied me for a long moment and then pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a couple of times. “Hey, Jordan.”

My eyes flared.

“Yeah, we’re at Grae’s right now and a pipe leaked under her bathroom sink and made a mess. Any chance you could get someone else to cover that kayak trip while we clean it up?”

There was a pause for a moment. “Thanks, man.”

Another pause.

“No extra hands needed. I’ve already got it fixed. We just need to clean up, and she didn’t want to be late.”

I glared at the interfering bastard as he talked to my boss.

“Sounds good. Appreciate it.” Caden ended the call and then looked at me. “What?”