Page 26 of A Lonely Road (Spruce Hill #2)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nora

T hough I stayed quiet as we loaded our bags back into Jake’s truck, a soft, satisfied smile lingered on my lips as I blew a kiss toward the lake.

I wrapped my arms around Jake’s waist before hopping up into the passenger seat, still smiling even as we headed home.

He linked his fingers with mine during the short drive, looking rather satisfied himself, and hummed along with the radio.

I caught him gazing over at me and realized I was absurdly, glowingly happy.

When we pulled into the driveway, I glanced over and gave a rueful grin. “It’s probably a good thing that wasn’t how our first time actually went, you know.”

His brows lifted in amusement. “Oh? Why is that?”

“I don’t think I would've survived it. ”

“Well, I might have imagined things slow and gentle, but I’m sure as hell not complaining about the way it turned out. I clearly hadn’t calculated our chemistry correctly at that point.”

His dimple peeked at me as he reached out to brush his thumb along my lower lip. After his eyes flitted to the heat rising in my cheeks, he leaned over to kiss me.

I couldn’t help but laugh when he drew away. “Chemistry, is that what we’re calling it?”

“What else would you like to call it?” he asked, his voice low, like he was tempting me to throw out the word he wanted me to use.

“Combustibility?”

Jake grinned. “That works,” he agreed, then gave me one more swift kiss before opening his door. “We do seem to be pretty damn combustible together, Nora Cassidy.”

“Yes,” I replied, the blush rising further into my cheeks. “Yes, we do.”

Jake lifted my small suitcase from the truck bed, then followed me up the stairs to the apartment. I heard him swearing as one wheel got caught on the planks halfway up, but by the time he’d wiggled it free, I stood frozen in front of the door.

It took only a second for him to reach my side, his gaze locked on my face.

“Talk to me, Nora.” His voice came out gruff, strained, as fear rioted within me, but the tone was enough to snap me out of my fog .

“The door is open. You watched me lock it when we left,” I said numbly, staring at the inch of space between the door and its frame.

When my gaze lifted to the door itself, Jake’s followed, focusing on the shattered pane of glass above the deadbolt. My body jolted, my shoulder striking him in the sternum.

“Oh my god,” I whispered.

“Don’t touch anything.”

Even if I’d wanted to, I could barely move, trapped beneath frothing waves of memory—walking up to my mom’s apartment with my father at my side, the chaos within, the paralyzing fear that we were about to find her body at any moment.

Jake slid the suitcase onto the landing and clasped me to his chest as he dialed the police. Calmly and clearly, he relayed our location and a description of the situation to the person on the other end of the line.

My eyes stayed caught on the door: the tiny gap where it hung open, the glass shards at our feet, the realization that someone had broken into my little haven here.

All the while, my mind whirled with possibilities, each one more dire than the last. In the midst of it all, I held myself completely still in his arms, like that stillness might keep me from crumbling.

As soon as the call ended, Jake shoved his phone into his pocket and rubbed my back until my breath came more easily.

“An officer will be here soon. Come on, we’ll wait downstairs. ”

I let him lead me back down to the driveway, where he wrapped his arms around me while we waited.

I wasn’t accustomed to letting someone else take control in an emergency, but if there was one thing I knew about Jake by this point, it was that he could stay calm under any circumstances.

Even if I were to break down and fall apart, he’d be there to keep me upright.

As we stood there, I leaned into him and Jake took his job in supporting me seriously.

The police cruiser showed up within minutes.

Fortunately, Jake knew the woman who stepped out of the car, an old classmate he introduced as Detective Rose Hanson.

She was beautiful and nearly as tall as Jake, with skin the same dark brown as my eyes.

Her sharp gaze swept over us both, then she clasped my hand, listened to Jake’s quick explanation, and told us to stay put while she checked the premises.

“No one’s inside,” she called back to us several minutes later. “Would you two come on up so you can tell me if anything is missing? I’ve got a team on their way out here, so don’t touch anything, if you don’t mind.”

Though my imagination immediately summoned a scene of carnage, something even worse than when we walked into the wreckage of my mother’s home with Shawn, the apartment didn’t look any different than when we left. My meager belongings were just where they should be.

At least, it appeared that way as we walked slowly through the kitchen and living room, then we headed toward the bedroom .

“I really don’t have anything of value, nothing worth stealing,” I murmured, but finding the apartment undisturbed made me sag against Jake in relief. There was no mess, no destruction, nothing broken but that single pane of glass.

When we reached the bedroom, though, the ruffled skirt I'd worn during my shopping trip with Sam was laid out in the middle of the bed, a bundle of shriveled forget-me-nots resting atop it. They looked like they’d been torn straight from the ground, each blossom crumpled in death, the roots still clinging to clumps of soil.

My breath stalled as panic washed through me anew.

“What the hell?” Jake whispered.

He'd been standing right there in the doorway while I finished packing my suitcase, had watched me smirk at him as I zipped it closed, thinking about the underwear reveal I had planned. The bed had been neatly made for once and the skirt tucked away in a drawer.

“You were here when I packed up. You asked about the skirt making the cut—it wasn’t there when we left. Right?” My voice trembled as hysteria rose in my chest, threatening to choke me.

“No, it wasn’t there.”

“Forget-me-nots,” I said shakily. “Are they from your yard?”

“They might be. Nora, look at me.”

Frozen, I stared at the flowers. The skirt was bad enough, but those withered blossoms felt like a harbinger of doom.

He turned me toward him, tearing my horrified gaze from the bed, and cupped my face in his hands. “You’re staying with me for a while, okay? Is there anything else here you need, once the police are done?”

I shook my head, not in answer but in an attempt to force my brain to function again. It felt like my insides were vibrating, threatening to shake right out of my skin.

“No, I brought my laptop to the inn, just in case I had a chance to do some work. My notebook should be on the coffee table but I don’t need it right away if the police want me to leave it here. Other than that, I’ll just need some extra clothes, I guess.”

With his hand wrapped firmly around my elbow, Jake led me back through the living room, but we both paused when I looked toward the low coffee table in front of the loveseat.

“No notebook,” Jake said quietly.

I frowned at that, but by then, the rest of the police officers had arrived. Jake spoke in low tones to Detective Hanson, then lifted my suitcase again and led me downstairs.

“I told her we’ll be out on the deck. Someone will be over to take our statements soon.”

I nodded, letting him steer me along like an errant duckling. “Why would anyone do that? What was the point?”

Jake’s fingers tightened around mine and he said, “I don’t know. Maybe kids screwing around, a game of truth or dare gone wrong?”

“But the skirt,” I whispered. “And the flowers.”

He paused for a second. “When you were sick, there were flowers outside your door. Forget-me-nots. I thought maybe you’d picked them from my yard and dropped them at the door when something happened, but then you were sick and it slipped my mind.”

“It wasn’t me. Someone was on my porch.” My lungs felt too tight to draw a deep breath.

Whoever it was I bumped into that day with Sam, I had a hard time believing that the break-in wasn’t related, not with the skirt front and center.

After talking it through with Jake, I didn’t really think it was Shawn, but who else would've seen the skirt I barely ever wore except for whoever the guy in the crowd was?

And why the flowers? Was it a warning? A cruel prank? How the hell would anyone even know where to find my apartment? The uncertainty rattled me.

“Hey,” Jake said, unlocking his door to set my suitcase inside before cupping his hands on either side of my face. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. In the meantime, I’ll keep you safe. Trust me?”

“Yes,” I replied, covering his hands with my own.

“Then it’ll all be okay. I promise.”

It was late in the afternoon by the time we finished speaking to the police. Every time panic spiraled upward from my stomach, Jake managed to ground me again. I absorbed his calm, let his steadiness settle my racing thoughts.

Sam stopped over to deliver bags upon bags of takeout. She hugged both of us tightly before she left. “You let me know if you need anything, got it?” she demanded .

I managed a faint smile as I promised that I would. Jake’s house seemed even quieter than usual after Sam departed.

“So, now what?” I asked.

Jake laced his fingers with mine. “Now we let the police do their jobs. I have an alarm system here, we’ll be safe.” He cocked his head at me. “Do you want to get in touch with your dad, let him know about the break-in?”

For a long time, I didn’t respond. Even without mentioning recent events, especially that panic attack, the fact that my apartment had been broken into would likely have him rushing to my rescue.

I loved my father, but I didn’t particularly want him intruding on the bubble of contentment that had formed around us—even if that bubble might already be on the verge of popping.

“Not yet,” I said finally. “I don’t want to worry him. Nothing was missing from the apartment, except my notebook, which cost eighty-nine cents during back to school sales last year. There’s not even much written in there. It could’ve just been some kids messing around?”

“Yes, it definitely could have been,” Jake replied, but his reassuring smile looked forced. “You hungry? Sam brought enough to feed an army.”

“You do know the way to a lady’s heart,” I said, but first I leaned into him, drawing comfort from his sturdy, steady presence.

For once in my life, I wanted to trust that things weren’t as bad as they might seem.

I’d been doing everything alone for a long time.

It felt good to accept reassurance from somebody else, especially if that someone was Jake.

Even now, his hands stroked through my hair, soothing, establishing a connection that was reciprocated in how my fingers tightened in the sides of his shirt, the way I nuzzled my face into his chest.

A sudden, overwhelming flood of emotion washed over us both. I felt it ripple through my limbs, and Jake tightened his arms around me.

“I didn’t realize how boring life was around here until you showed up,” he said gently.

I gave a short laugh. “I think you must be a little twisted to enjoy all this.”

He drew back just enough to give me a knowing look. “Well, I’m not enjoying this , per se. But sometimes being twisted can be fun,” he murmured. “I think even you would have to agree with that.”

With my cheeks rapidly heating under his gaze, I smirked.

“Truer words have never been spoken.” Then both of our phones signaled an incoming text.

I got to mine first and laughed. “Sam says there’s a Princess Bride marathon on TV tonight and that it would take our minds off things if we need a distraction. ”

Jake groaned in mock horror. “I had other distractions in mind, but I guess I could handle a movie night instead. It is a classic, after all.”

“You didn’t get enough ‘distraction’ over the last few days? I’m impressed, Mr. Lincoln.” I batted his hand away as he reached for me. “I would've thought you’d be looking forward to some actual sleep. Your stamina is truly impressive.”

“What can I say? I can’t get enough of you,” he said, lowering his voice to a seductive growl.

I shrieked with laughter when he lunged forward and slung me over his shoulder. Instead of heading toward the stairs, however, he brought me into the small lounge tucked on the opposite side of the kitchen, then bent to lay me on a worn leather sofa.

“Welcome to my Dude Lair.”

I laughed even harder at that. “Really? Man cave is too trendy for you?”

It was a nice little room, cozy and welcoming, with dark wood paneling and built-in shelves lining the wall on either side of the television.

There was a recliner that matched the sofa, a tattered coffee table, and gleaming hardwood floors.

Despite my teasing, my eyes widened with appreciation.

Aside from his bedroom, the Dude Lair showed the most evidence of Jake’s personality.

“You better stop laughing at me, Cassidy, or I’m going to get a complex.” He caught my wrists in one hand and stretched them over my head, then leaned down and blew a raspberry against the strip of skin visible above my jeans.

“Oh, you will pay for that, Lincoln,” I warned, but he winked as he stood up and tossed me the remote.

“Lady’s choice on dinnertime entertainment. Dessert, however, is my domain.”