Page 63 of Traces Of You

“We’ll talk about it more next week when it’s slower. But you’ve got the weekend off, though I heard you’re helping in the barn on Saturday.”

She shrugged. “There is no reason to sit around if I’ve got nothing going on. I like to stay busy.”

“Maybe someday you’ll be able to relax. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Reenie wasn’t sure if she’d ever fully be able to relax. What would that even feel like?

She drove to her cabin, parked in the back, grabbed her purse and unlocked the door, then locked it behind her again.

The minute she was in her room to get a change of clothes to shower, she noticed something was off.

She stopped and looked around. It was a feeling more than anything. As if someone had invaded her space.

It had happened too many times in her life. Peace would vanish in an instant, replaced by anxiety so heavy it nearly swallowed her whole. She knew Oliver was looking for her… but had he actually found her?

Nothing looked out of place as she walked around the cabin.

She shook her head, opened a drawer, and then noticed her shirt was not aligned as usual. She was a fanatic about those things. One corner of a shirt in the middle was tucked under asif someone was lifting them to see if there was hidden treasure between.

It broke her heart that Ford might have come back here when she was working and gone through her things to see if she was lying. No way it was Oliver. He would have trashed the place.

Her shirts weren’t like this when she left.

She opened another drawer to see if she was losing her mind and her jeans were off center some.

The more she went through her things, the more she knew someone else had too.

If it wasn’t Ford, then she’d bet it was Clay. He’d made no secret that he didn’t trust her.

She couldn’t say anything because she didn’t want to cause problems between the brothers.

This wasn’t her property, it was theirs. They had a right to enter when she wasn’t around.

It wasn’t something she should get upset about. Hadn’t Clay come over and put a new lock on the door when she wasn’t here? And there’d been other supplies left on the table when she’d been working too.

Ford even looked in her closet when she was showering the first day.

She had no rights here and she didn’t know why she thought she did.

17

RUN IN THE FAMILY

“It’s almost too pretty,” Lexi said, her hands on her hips.

“I know, isn’t it?” Reenie asked.

The two women were chatting while they hung fairy lights over the bar. Lexi was more opinionated than she liked, but it wasn’t her call to say much more.

“I’m not sure this is what they are going for though,” Lexi said. “The event isn’t for a wedding. We should ask Clay and Ford.”

She didn’t want to overstep, but she thought the lights looked better being in a random pattern than a square like Lexi had them.

“We can do that,” she said.

“I’ll go get them,” Lexi said, jumping off the ladder.

“We can ask the guys here,” she said. “At least get their opinion.”