Page 19 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay (Spotted Cottage #4)

It was too much information to take at once. The car, the brakes, the tree.

Rick.

She thought he’d be impressed she’d found the guys. Yes, maybe a bit annoyed that she’d done it without him, but to act like that? And the car…

Addy sat in the driver’s seat, her hands frozen on the wheel.

“What was that noise?” Patty shouted, walking out of the tea shop. She shrieked when she saw the car. “Adelaide! Are you okay?”

Sheila ran out, beating Patty to the car. “What happened?”

“I hit the tree,” she stammered.

Rick opened the door and reached over her to pull up the emergency brake.

“It’s okay,” he said softly.

He unbuckled her seat belt and lifted her hands from the steering wheel. “It’s okay. Come on out.”

Pain shot through her shoulder. She winced, falling into Rick as she put one leg on the ground, then the other.

Her car hadn’t randomly broken. The brakes hadn’t melted away on their own. They’d found her, and they’d cut her brakes, hadn’t they?

She released her grip on Rick and looked down, away from his gaze, away from his righteous anger.

Eliza came running, her apron still tied around her waist. “Aunt Addy! What happened?”

“I’m fine,” Addy said, nodding. “Everything’s fine.”

She found herself back in the tea shop, sitting at a table.

Patty carried in a pot of tea. “She’s had a shock,” she murmured, setting the tea down.

“You forgot how to stop a car?” Marilyn called from across the room, a half-smile on her face.

Sheila poured a cup of tea and pushed it toward Addy. “Mom, that’s not funny.”

Addy looked up. Eliza had disappeared into the kitchen.

“They cut my brakes,” Addy said quietly.

“What? Who cut your breaks?” Sheila asked, leaning in.

Marilyn sighed. “I hope you didn’t cause any damage to the car. That’s a nice car. You should take care of what you have.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Addy said, staring at the table.

“I just got it washed and waxed for you,” Marilyn added.

The door opened and Rick walked in, his forehead glistening with sweat. His eyes darted back and forth, scanning the room.

“I pushed the car back into a parking spot,” he said, slipping into a seat next to Addy. “I’ll find someone to tow it. It doesn’t look like the tree suffered much damage, but your bumper has a crack in it.”

Addy nodded. “Thank you.”

“When you talked to those guys,” he continued, “did you give them your name? Or where you were staying?”

She shook her head. “No. There’s no way they could’ve found me. It must’ve been something else. There must have been…” Her voice trailed off.

Rats? Could rats chew through the brake line? Maybe some particularly aggressive sea otters?

Anything except the possibility that she’d behaved like a spiteful teenager to Rick, lashing out at his imagined Shane-isms when all along…he had been right.

“You think someone did this to Addy’s car?” asked Sheila, her voice low.

“I know they did,” Rick said. “I just don’t know who.”

Phil walked in, a smile crossing his face when he saw Rick. “Hey man. You’re back.”

Rick shot to his feet, crossing the room and stopping inches from Phil’s face. “Get out of here.”

He put his hands up. “Whoa, dude! What’s your problem?”

“My problem? It’s not my problem, it’s yours. You’re completely negligent. Adelaide’s car was tampered with. Where were you?”

“I was – I thought you were –”

Rick stepped forward, pushing his chest into Phil’s space. “Get out of here. Find yourself a new career.”

Phil stumbled backwards, catching himself on a chair before skittering out the door.

“That seems a bit dramatic, Rick,” Marilyn said. “My Adelaide has always been a terrible driver.”

“I got in one car crash when I was seventeen,” Addy said. “That doesn’t make me terrible driver.”

“Looks like two car crashes now,” she said, pursing her lips. “You really need to be more careful.”

Rick turned his fiery gaze onto Marilyn. “If you think –”

Sheila cut him off. “Wait. Mom, what did you say about washing Addy’s car?”

“It’s my little secret,” she said with a smile.

“It’s not a secret,” Sheila snapped. “Where did you have this done? Who did it?”

“If you must know,” she said with a sigh, “I got a call that I’d won a free car wash – a hand wash, mind you – with a custom wax. Now, seeing that I don’t have a car at the moment, I thought it would be a nice thing for Addy after she’s done so much for me.”

Addy shut her eyes. “Mom. You got scammed. Again .”

“No, I didn’t. The car was cleaned today, wasn’t it?”

“What number did they call you from?” Rick demanded.

“I don’t know. It said restricted. Now ,I normally don’t answer those numbers, but they left me a message telling me I’d won, so –”

“There it is,” said Rick. “Your mother handed you to them on a silver platter.”

“I didn’t hand Addy to anyone,” Marilyn said. “I got her a free car wash.”

“Mom, they cut my brakes!” Addy said. “Did you tell them where I was staying, too? What else do they know?”

“I just – they didn’t do this, I’ll have you know.”

“What did you say, Mom?” Sheila said sternly.

“I told them her car was outside the tea shop and they should have no trouble finding it.”

Addy let out a breath. At least they didn’t know where she lived. Maybe.

But were they still around? Watching her? She sat up, glancing around the tearoom.

Eliza walked in at that moment, her jaw dropping. “I’m sorry. I was on the phone, but I heard everything. I can’t believe those guys cut your brakes!”

Patty swooped in. “I didn’t see any suspicious men around, but when I do…” She slammed her hand on the table. The teacup jumped and clattered back into place.

Addy stood. “I think I need to get some air. Excuse me.”

She brushed past Rick and through the back door to the patio. The picnic table sat empty. She wouldn’t be able to work there anymore, would she? With the fear of goons looming over her? She’d have to run back to Canada, her tail between her legs…

She took long strides down to the water. When she got there, Rick was two steps behind her.

“I’m sorry about exploding like that,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me,” Addy said, turning to face him. She clutched her shoulder. “I knew what I did was wrong. I was being defensive.”

He sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t have left.”

“No, it’s not your fault.” She shook her head. “I just…I got it in my head that I needed to figure this out. I needed to prove something.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, Addy.”

Easy for him to say. He wasn’t a washed-up middle-aged divorcée. She wasn’t going to get into that now. “I can’t believe they found me. And they wanted to…”

She couldn’t say the words. She should’ve listened to Rick. Addy had no idea what she was doing after all.

“I know.” He shook his head. “I’m going to find them.”

“I was supposed to be in danger from some random group in Canada, yet here I am, stirring up my own trouble like an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Rick said gently. “You’re just trying to help your insufferable mother.”

Addy laughed. “Hey.”

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe what she did. The danger she put you in.”

“She was trying to be helpful, I guess.” Addy looked at her feet. The water lapped at the tip of her shoes.

If it were a little warmer, she’d go for a swim. Maybe she still would.

Rick cleared his throat and she looked up at him.

“About what I said. About losing you.”

Her chest constricted. She had heard that right. “Have you lost someone before? As a bodyguard?”

A smile flashed across his face. “Not as a bodyguard, no.” He turned, looking at the tea shop, then at her. “I went away for a memorial. It was for my cousin Cody.”

Her heart sunk. “I’m so sorry. Were you close?”

He nodded. “Cody was six years older than me. I always looked up to him. I never thought…” He shook his head. “After I joined the army, he was inspired to join, too. But after he deployed, he was never the same. He started drinking to deal with the fallout.”

Addy stood perfectly still.

Rick went on. “At first, no one wanted to admit it was a problem. He still held onto a job. He was fun to be around. What could I say? I was his little cousin. I never told him what to do. But then…” He shook his head. “I should’ve said something. I should’ve done something.”

“What happened?”

“He didn’t tell any of us, but his liver was failing. I found out when they called me as his emergency contact. He tried to stop drinking and started having seizures.”

“Oh, Rick.” She wanted to grab his hand. She wanted to pull him in, wrap him up.

“I thought maybe it’d be a wakeup call. I wanted to get him help, but he didn’t want to miss work.

He stopped answering my calls. I found out he’d gotten evicted from his apartment.

” He sighed. “I promised I was going to come out again, make him at least talk to me, but he got into a bar fight. He hit his head on the curb and never woke up.”

Her eyes flashed with tears. “Rick, I’m so sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. You didn’t need to know this,” he said.

She grabbed his hand. He squeezed it once before letting go.

“What I’m trying to say…” he trailed off, shaking his head. “That’s why I was gone. It was important, but it’s over, and I’m not going to leave again, okay? I won’t let anything else happen.”

“I know.” She nodded, staring at him.

His eyes were hard again, looking out at the water.

“We should get back,” he said, turning around. “I’m sure everyone’s worried about you.”

She didn’t know what else to say, so she followed him up the hill.