Nate ran a hand over his face and stood abruptly, the swing swaying back and forth unevenly. He paced to the railing around the porch, paused there, and then turned to face her again.
“I pretty much fell for you the first time we met. Then you and Joe hit it off, and there was nostopping what was between you. I wouldn’t have wanted to because it was obvious you were made for each other.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I was genuinely happy for you both. Please believe me on that. You were two of my best friends, and I wasn’t going to jeopardize that. Jeopardize your happiness together.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” Bailey used her foot to stop the swing’s movement. “I had no idea.” Her words came out barely above a whisper.
“Which is exactly the way it was supposed to stay.”
Until now. Until a wrench was thrown into the machine of life, and circumstances changed.
The reality of what Nate was saying burrowed into Bailey’s chest. To keep a secret like that for over eight years… She couldn’t even imagine.
Nate leaned against the railing, his hands gripping the edge. “I’ve prayed for these feelings to disappear—to fall in love with someone else. But no matter how much time passed… It was always you.” He groaned. “Joe was like a brother to me. Even now, I feel like I’m betraying him just by saying all of this out loud. The last thing I want to do is hurt you or Seth or Jordan. Bailey, I worry about losing you, too. It wouldkillme.” The truth of his words was written on his face as his eyes found hers.
She stood slowly, suddenly aware of the pressure of her feet against the wooden planks beneath them—of the humidity in the air and the crickets chirping in the fading sunlight.
But most of all, she was aware of the magnetic pull she felt toward Nate. A pull that wouldn’t go away no matter how much she tried to focus on the scary unknowns in the future. “You can’t lose me either.”
Nate pushed away from the railing and took severalsteps forward, stopping an arm’s length away. “How can you be so sure?”
She stepped forward then, the tips of her shoes touching his. She tipped her chin up so that she could see his face. “Because I’m falling in love with you too.”
With one strong arm, he tugged her close and leaned in to kiss her, his other hand cupping her jaw. The kiss was intense as their worries and fears collided with the relief and adrenaline of knowing that they felt the same way.
Nate broke the kiss long enough to smile at her. With a hand resting against the back of his neck, she smiled back and then gently tugged him close again.
This time, when they kissed, it was sweet and slow. He pressed his lips against her cheek, another by her earlobe, and then pulled her into a hug.
Bailey rested her cheek against his chest and listened as his heart thrummed in her ear. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there before his phone started to ring. He kissed her forehead and withdrew the phone from a back pocket. He looked down at her with a sparkle in his eyes as he answered.
“This is Nate.” He paused as he listened. “Hold on, Paris. I’m going to put you on speaker so Bailey can hear you, too.” He hit a button. “Okay, you’re good.”
“Good evening, Bailey.”
“Hey, Detective. You’re working late tonight.”
“More often than not. The only reason I get away with it is because Eve works just as much.” He chuckled. “I wanted to pass along some information. First of all, the lab dusted the cardboard box that was left in front of your property for prints. There were none other than Bailey’s. No surprise given the lack of fingerprints on evidence collectedpreviously.”
Nate motioned toward the house, and Bailey nodded. They went back inside and took a seat at the kitchen table, the cell phone lying in front of them as Detective Paris continued.
“We spoke to animal control. They were young Western diamondback rattlesnakes. Unfortunately, they could’ve been caught in the wild in any number of places nearby.”
So far, there wasn’t much in the way of encouraging news. Bailey fought to not let it get her down. There had to be a way to find this guy. To track him down and stop him before he did something else to harm her family.
Nate reached over and took her hand in his before speaking. “We were hoping the team would be able to get more info than that.”
“Me, too. But we did find some information that might be helpful. Logan dug into the history of your property, Bailey. He’s here now. I’m going to turn the call over to him.”
Nate quickly hit the mute button. “Logan Alcott is our IT guy. If information exists somewhere, he has a way of finding it.” He took the call off mute. He still held Bailey’s hand, running his thumb over the back of hers.
“Hey, guys. So, it took a little digging, but I found some interesting tidbits. Your farm was owned by the same family for years until you and Joe bought it. Adam Tinsley inherited it from his parents when they passed in the late nineties. Adam and his wife, Cici, had a large estate built along with the barn that’s there now. Apparently, there were living quarters on the top floor of the barn for hired help to stay on the property.”
Bailey tried to picture it in her mind. “Wow, sounds like the barn was quite impressive back in the day. Whatkind of livestock did they have that warranted such a fancy setup?”
“They considered raising thoroughbreds, and that’s what it was designed for. However, they never did pursue it. Adam and Cici had one child. A daughter named Sophia. She was in and out of trouble a lot. Her parents reported her missing two separate times, only to have her show back up a few days later. According to the reports, it wasn’t unusual for her to sneak out of the house or run away after an argument with her parents.”
Bailey felt for the girl’s parents. Her boys were still young, but the idea that either of them would sneak out of the house at night or disappear without telling her where they were going sounded like an absolute nightmare.
There was some shuffling in the background as Logan continued. “At some point, things started to fall apart between Mr. and Mrs. Tinsley. She filed for divorce in 2012 and walked away with half of everything in the bank account, but he kept the house and property.”
