Page 53 of The Moments You Were Mine

“I understand. We hope to see you next year,” she said before saying goodbye.

My stomach turned. “Was that a guest canceling their reservation?”

“No. It was the band we had planned for the Fourth of July celebration.”

Frustration returned in full force, squeezing my chest. “Hell of a way for you to return from vacation, Andie. I’m sorry things are such a mess, but if worse comes to worst, we can set up the outdoor speakers and manage a playlist ourselves. It won’t be the same, but it’ll be music.”

“We can, but I’ll go down our list of usual bands and see if anyone can take their place on such short notice.” Her eyes drifted to Parker again.

“You remember Parker Steele?” I asked.

“Of course. Nice to see you again.” Her eyes lingered on him as many eyes did. After all, he was something to behold. But it was Theo who brought the wide smile to her face. “Who’s this cutie?”

“I’m Feo,” he said with an innocent bravado that tugged at my heart.

“Nice to meet you, Theo.” She looked from him to Parker and then back to me, grin disappearing. “Where do you want to start?”

“We need to put out a press release, but I want to meet with the sheriff first and see what he does and doesn’t want us to say. Can you call a meeting with all the department heads? I’m pretty sure Olivia can keep our social media and ads focused on our summer activities instead of the bad news, but we need to brainstorm a canned response for the staff to have at the ready if they get questions.”

“I already scheduled a meeting for eleven o’clock.” She nodded.

“How are the guests holding up?”

“Most have been very kind. They were sad something like this happened and sorry for our loss rather than concerned for themselves. They’re just grateful it was put out before it could spread. Do we know what happened?” Andie asked.

Some of the tightness in my chest eased knowing the guests weren’t running for the hills…or rather back to their city life. But would they feel the same way if they knew the truth? That it hadn’t been an accident? The resort was under attack on my watch, and I wasn’t even sure what to do about it.

I told Andie about the device Beckett had found, and her expression turned grim. Parker shifted beside me, a barely perceptible move, but I would always be a thousand times more aware of him than any other human.

“Parker was supposed to stay in the cabin for the next few days.” I barely held back the panic that tried to take hold at the thought of what might have happened if they’d already been there. I swallowed hard and then asked, “Do we have any other rooms open?”

“I’m staying with you,” Parker said. His voice brooked no argument, and his eyes dared me to try to fight with him about it.

The idea of Parker staying with me in my house was even worse than him staying at the ranch.

Before I could respond, Andie said, “We’re completely booked heading into the Fourth of July next week, but someone might cancel if the news that this wasn’t an accident leaks out.”

With a resigned sigh, I looked at Andie and asked, “Can you have one of the cots brought up to my house for Theo, and have Tami do a quick cleaning of Mom’s room?”

“We don’t need the cot,” Parker said. “Theo ends up in my bed more times than not anyway.”

Andie typed into her phone before looking up. “Done.”

My phone buzzed, and when I pulled it from my pocket, I saw a message from Kurt saying Sheriff Wylee had finished talking to Beckett and was ready to meet with me.

“Can you pull all the files of any employee who left withinthe last year?” I asked Andie. “Especially any who left on bad terms? I want to go through them personally, but I suspect Sheriff Wylee will want to see them also.”

She rubbed a hand to her forehead. “I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head who was upset when they left, Fallon. And I especially can’t think of anyone who would come after us like this.” She paused, looking out the window and then back. “The staff will be as worried about their safety as the guests if this gets out.”

“I’m meeting with the security team now,” Parker said. “And Dad has authorized me to increase the team in order to catch this bastard before they strike again. I’ll have more bodies here by tonight or tomorrow at the latest. Just intensifying our presence might be enough of a deterrent, but I also intend on closing whatever gaps they’ve been squeezing through.”

As I headed for the door, I looked back and said, “Thanks for all you do, Andie. I’m sorry to throw more at you today, but I appreciate it.”

“It’s my job, Fallon, and you pay me generously to do it. This place runs so smoothly, I usually feel guilty taking your money.” She gave me a wide smile that was supposed to be reassuring, but it only tied me in knots more.

I gave her a curt nod. “I’ll see you at the meeting.”

Parker and Theo followed me as we headed back outside.