Rhodes cast me a quick look. It wasn’t as heated as earlier, but it certainly wasn’t happy. Still, she did as Shep asked without protest.
When she finally disappeared from sight, Shep let out a low whistle. “Jesus, Anson. I’ve never seen anyone piss her off that quick.”
I forced my gaze away from the now-empty spot Rhodes had filled and looked back at her brother.Her brother, I reminded myself. “I thought someone had broken in. You could’ve gotten sued if someone got hurt.”
“So, call the cops,” he argued. “They’re the ones who deal with break-ins.”
My jaw worked back and forth. “You know my feelings on cops.”
Shep shook his head. “This is a small-town county sheriff’s department, not the FBI. It’s my brother, for fuck’s sake.”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter if it was Mother Teresa; I didn’t want anything to do with law enforcement anymore. “Thought I could handle it myself.”
“Well, do me a favor next time.”
I simply waited for Shep’s request.
He didn’t disappoint. “Don’t.”
I didn’t bother agreeing because it’d be a lie. “You wanna take a look around the place or not?”
Shep groaned, casting a look over his shoulder. “Actually, let me talk to Rho first. Make sure she’s all right.”
Something about that made my sixth sense prickle. Not that Shep wasn’t someone who checked in, he was, but something else was going on. I bit back the urge to ask questions. I didn’t need to know. Didn’t want to. The less information I had, the better.
“Need to make sure she’s shutting that gate and locking her doors. She’s not living in town anymore. She needs to be careful.” I pinned Shep with a stare to punctuate my point.
He jerked his head in a nod. “I will.”
“Good,” I muttered, heading into an area on the lower level with the worst fire damage and trying not to worry about whether Rhodes would take the appropriate precautions. Because I knew what could happen to people, especially women, if they didn’t.
5
RHODES
I tookin lungsful of fresh air as I walked from the main house to the guest cottage. The scent of ponderosa pines filled my nose instead of stale air laced with smoke. Each inhale washed away the tendrils of panic and haunting memories still swirling.
What they didn’t erase was my annoyance. I could still see Anson’s smug expression. There was no hint of a smile. The opposite, in fact. He seemed pissed the hell off that he had to deal with me at all.
I’d heard Shep talking about his best friend from college countless times, but the stories he’d shared from their days at the University of Oregon didn’t match the man I’d met today.
The Anson that Shep had described was easygoing and almost mischievous. The person I’d met today was cold with a harshness that didn’t compute. Even if hehadsaved my ass, quite literally.
I winced at my reaction. Biting someone’s head off wasn’t me—not even when they deserved it. But Anson had caught me at my most vulnerable, and that wasn’t something I liked anyone seeing. Ever.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I tugged it free,grateful for the distraction. That gratitude fled the moment I saw my ex’s name on the screen. No,exwasn’t right. But what did you call someone you’d gone on all of four dates with, who now wouldn’t leave you alone?
Davis
How about dinner tonight?
I scowled at the phone. There would be no dinner tonight, tomorrow night, or next year. I blamed the stroke I’d clearly had when saying yes to more than one date. Either that or the memory of who Davis had been in high school. That guy had been funny and into hiking and rock climbing back then. A bit of a player, but not a jackass about it. The guy he was now was a pompous douche canoe.
The sound of boots crunching gravel had me turning around and sliding the phone back into my pocket. Shep strode toward me with a single-minded purpose. Even with his ballcap hiding his eyes, I saw the concern there. My stomach twisted. I hated being the source of Shep’s worry. He took far too much on his shoulders already.
He pulled me into a hug before I could get a word out. “You okay?”
I let out a long breath. “I’m good.”
