by K. C. Crowne
“I don’t know why,” I lied. I didn’t want to admit that I was the one she’d kissed, or that I was even at the event the night before. I didn’t want to get into all that. “I just know it’s him.”
“Do you now?”
“Yes,” I retorted. “Did you see him run when he saw me? That right there proves he’s guilty.”
“It proves nothing, Kellen,” she said. “Just that you scared the living daylights out of one of my guests, and I don’t appreciate that. Unless you have further proof, then go to Teddy and tell him because I ain’t having it here at my place of business.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have chased him, but God knows, I wanted to do more than run after him. Had I caught him, I’m not sure what I’d have done, but it wouldn’t have been pretty. There was too much rage built up inside of me. I wanted to get to the bottom of this. I wanted to know why the hell he’d slash my tires. Not like I’d get an answer now though.
“Whatever,” I mumbled, heading back down the hallway.
Leah was on my heels, and I could hear her stomping around behind me.
“What was that about?” Grant asked when we got back into the lobby.
“Nothing,” I muttered. “Let’s get to work. I don’t want to leave Matilda for too long.”
Leah wouldn’t even look at me as Grant and I walked out to the pool. Probably a good thing too. If she found out that I’d kissed her and then ran out on her? I bet I’d get a tongue lashing of a lifetime. Better for both of us if we forgot all about that.
Ooo000ooo
“Wanna grab a bite to eat?” Grant asked once we were finished with the pool repairs.
My stomach growled. I was certainly hungry, but I had one thing on my mind: I had to get to Matilda. I hadn’t been away from her this long since the day she was born, and it made me uncomfortable.
Grant could read my mind. He grinned and added, “After you pick up the baby, of course.”
“Alright, sure. Let me pick up Matilda, and we’ll meet you at the cafe.”
“Sounds good, man.”
Grant and I parted ways. I rushed to Little Cubs, which was only a block away from the hotel and the cafe. Everything was very close here in Liberty, just like the people.
Piper was in the front playroom with two toddlers. She was down on the floor, putting together a puzzle. Tabby was with her. When Piper saw me enter, she stood and walked over to me. Tabby took over with the little ones.
“Matilda did great,” Piper said, smiling brightly. “She’s such a sweet little angel.”
She motioned for me to follow her back to the nursery, where Frannie was attending to the needs of Matilda and the baby from earlier. “She just ate, and Frannie changed her just a few minutes ago,” she told me. “I noticed she had a little acid reflux, probably nothing to worry about, but it might be worth mentioning at your next doctor’s appointment.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that.”
Piper lifted Matilda off the bed, carefully cradling her in her arms. She handed her to me, and Matilda’s sweet eyes turned toward me as if she knew me, like she trusted me. Her little fingers wrapped around my pinkie as she cooed happily.
“You and Mrs. Mayberry are very lucky,” Piper said. “She’s such a blessing.”
“I’m not married.”
“Oh, I apologize, I shouldn’t have assumed.” Piper didn’t seem like the type to be speechless often, but she blushed, and I could tell she was deeply sorry.
“It’s alright,” I said softly. “It’s just me and Matilda.”
“Well, you’re doing an amazing job,” Piper complimented. “And we appreciate you trusting us with your childcare needs.”
“Of course. You came highly recommended.”
“From Leah?”
“No, Grant, actually,” I said. “I don’t talk to Leah much.”
“Oh.”
She walked me to the door, and once again, thanked me. She continued doting upon Matilda as we said our goodbyes.
I knew I’d made the right choice by trusting them. It wouldn’t be easy leaving my little girl with anyone, but if I had to trust someone - I trusted Piper and her employees.
When I got to the cafe, the parking lot was empty enough for me to actually park and not take up two spots. Leah would be happy about that. It wasn’t exactly dinner time, but well past lunch time. We’d hit that sweet spot where it wouldn’t be so crowded.
With Matilda strapped to my chest, I walked toward the cafe, looking for Grant. I didn’t see him, but I saw another familiar face getting ready to head inside.
Leah. And she wasn’t happy to see me.
I reached for the door to open it for her, but she grabbed it first. “Gonna chase some of Felicity’s customers off too?”
I sighed. I didn’t even have to say anything; my face gave it away. Her mouth opened for yet another tongue lashing, but Leah took one look at Matilda in her carrier and stopped.
“You’re lucky you have a baby with you.”
“Do we have to always be fighting about something, Leah?” I’d had enough. There was always drama with her. “We live in the same goddamned town. We’re going to run into each other a lot. Can’t we just get along?”
She let the door close, shutting us outside in front of the cafe instead of inside it. “Maybe if you stop being an assho—” Her gaze moved down to the baby. “I mean, a jerk. Stop being a jerk.”
“That guy slashed my tires! I was only trying to get some answers.”
“Why would he have done that? You’ve given me no reason to believe you!”
“Maybe this has something to do with it.” I pulled the note from my pocket, the one from my truck.
She read it, a perplexed look on her face. She raised her eyes and asked, “What does this mean? Stay away from me? Until today, we hadn’t really been near each other.” Then it clicked. I watched as she recognized me, her mouth opening wide.
“He probably saw us in the garden last night. I saw him watching me as I left the hotel and—”
Her hand reached out and slapped my cheek. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at me, her face scrunched up in anger. “You’re disgusting, you know that? Even more disgusting than I originally thought,” she muttered. “Stay the fuck awake from me, you hear?”
She took off toward the parking lot. My eyes followed her, and I saw smoke. She saw it too and both of us took off.
Smoke was billowing out of the garbage can next to my truck. My firefighting instincts kicked in. I had Matilda in my arms, however, and had to think about her. Grant pulled up just in the nick of time, and when he stepped out of his truck, I handed the baby to him.
I called out to Leah, “We need to get some water, fast.”
She was on the phone, probably with the fire department. She hurried inside, and I ushered Grant inside with Matilda. He wanted to help, offered to give the baby to Leah to hold, but she was already in the back of the kitchen filling up a bucket of water.
Sirens sounded from outside. One benefit of living in a small town. With Grant and Matilda safe inside the restaurant, I hurried back outside.
A tall, young firefighter hopped from the truck. Several others followed behind. They had the hose and everything we needed to put the fire out before it spread. Thankfully, it was still confined to the metal dumpster.
“Here, let me,” I offered to hold the hose. The man gave me an odd look. “I’m a firefighter too, just not locally,” I explained. “Up in Olympia, Washington.”
Of course the fire department didn’t take my word for it, and one of the guys walked over to me, pulling me aside. His name was Levi.
“Do you know what happened here?” he asked.
“No, I was heading inside when I smelled smoke,” I said. “But I think my truck might have been the target.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
I told him about the slashed tires and the note from the night before. He wrote something down. The fire wasn’t that large, so his men put it out quickly and withou
t my help. My heart was still racing, and the smoke burned at my nostrils. It was out, but the memories were back full force.
“Do you know who might be after you?” Levi asked.
“I have an idea,” I muttered, thinking about Wade at the hotel. “But no proof.”
“The sheriff should be here soon. It’d be worth talking to him.”
“Right, thank you,” I said. “And good job getting here so fast.”
“You really a firefighter?” Levi asked.
“I was. I retired several months back.”
My fists balled up at my sides as I tried to fight back the memories. I wished I hadn’t said anything. I’d wanted to help, and it was in the heat of the moment, but I shouldn’t have said anything. Now people would know, and they’d ask questions - like why I’m not interested in working in the field anymore.
Levi, however, was different. He offered a crooked smile, nodding as if he understood. The men and women who worked the job everyday understood. They knew the toll it could take on you, even if you’ve never lost someone in the job. The life or death situations you’re thrown into day after day wears on even the strongest of us over time. I wasn’t even that old, hardly been working in the field for five or so years, yet I was done.
I’d lost too much.
Not that I’d had anything else to lose before Matilda.
“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out. We have to stick together,” Levi said, handing me a business card with his name and number.
I hardly knew the man, but we’d had a connection. I took his card but had no intention of reaching out. I didn’t have a need for anymore friends. Grant came into my life by accident, and he was enough. Him and Matilda were all I needed, I told myself.
“Hey, chief, look at this,” one of the other guys called out.
Levi waved and headed over. The two men were looking at something written on the side of the garbage can in spray paint. It piqued my interest.
I stepped closer, and when the other guy stepped out of the way, I read the words plain as day.
You’ve been warned. Next time, it’ll be a lot worse.
My blood ran cold. It was a direct threat.
And I had no doubt it was directed at me.
Chapter 10
Leah
“What a day,” Piper sighed, scooting into the booth beside me.
The restaurant was mostly empty, just the two of us, Felicity, and Sadie over in her corner. Felicity had sent everyone else home for the day, but she kept the place open.
Felicity groaned and held her face in her hands. “This is going to be terrible for business.”
“Nah, they’ll forget about it in a day or two, trust me.” Piper offered a reassuring pat on Felicity’s hand.
“No one will feel safe here, not with a threat like that written on the dumpster,” Felicity argued.
“How do you even know the threat was for you?” Piper asked.
“Good question,” I added. “You don’t. In fact, Kellen thinks it might be for him, and he’s agreed to stay away until they figure out what’s going on.”
“I sincerely doubt anyone has beef with you, Felicity,” Piper assured her.
“I wouldn't be so sure,” Felicity said, removing her face from her hands. “The developer has been getting more and more aggressive with each passing day.”
“You think he started the fire?” I cocked my eyebrows.
Felicity shrugged. “Who the hell knows?”
Sadie’s voice piped up from the corner. “I bet Kellen set the fire himself.”
We’d all but forgotten about Sadie in the corner. She was the local town gossip, an elderly woman with way too much time on her hands. She knew everyone’s business and was more than happy to spill the beans whenever she could.
I often felt sorry for her. She was lonely after her husband passed, and this was her way of feeling like part of the community.
Our eyes turned to the woman.
“And why would you think that?” I asked.
“Because he’s an ex-firefighter, and many arsonists work in the industry. They’re obsessed with fire.” Sadie’s eyes lit up as her brain worked through the logistics. “And I’ve heard rumors that he left Olympia after a really bad fire, one he started himself. Killed a bunch of people. It’s pretty weird we had no issues until he showed up, don’t you think?”
“I think it sounds pretty far-fetched, honestly,” I said softly, so only my friends would hear.
Felicity and Piper didn’t seem to believe her either, but none of us wanted an argument. Sadie wasn’t one to let things drop.
“Why am I staying open?” Felicity changed the subject. “I might as well close for the rest of the day. Ain’t no one coming in now.”
It was after the normal dinner rush, so she was probably right. News traveled fast around Liberty; everyone in town had probably heard about the fire and the threat written on the dumpster.
“Yeah, you need some rest anyway,” I told her, patting Felicity on the back. “Might as well close it down and take a night off.”
“I agree,” Piper added. “No harm in that. I’m sure you’ll have your usual crowd first thing in the morning.”
“I sure hope so.” Felicity looked around her beloved cafe with tears in her eyes.
“Come on, sweetie,” Piper said as she stood up. “Let me take you home. I’ll stay with you too.”
I wanted to go too, to be there for my friends. But there was something else I had to do first. “I need to talk to someone, try and get to the bottom of this.”
“Who?” my friends asked at the same time.
I glanced at Sadie, who pretended to be reading a newspaper, but her eyes were focused on me. I knew her ears were too.
“I’ll tell you about it later. Go on, make sure she gets home safe, Piper,” I said. “We’ll talk later.”
I left the restaurant just as Felicity turned the closed sign. Sadie was the very last person to leave. She stopped before walking to her car and said to us, “I’m telling you, Kellen Mayberry is behind all this. I’m never wrong.”
“Alright, Sadie,” Felicity said, sighing deeply. “We’ll keep that in mind.”
Sadie pointed directly at me. “You saw him come from the parking lot right before everything went down. He started that fire and tried to come inside like everything was normal. There was no one else in the parking lot, was there?”
Kellen was many things - an asshole, a cheater maybe, but an arsonist? I found that hard to believe.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention.”
I’d been too busy fighting with Kellen, then shocked with the realization that he was the mystery man at my ball. I’d had very little hope of finding the man that kissed me, but knowing it was Kellen - and that he had a kid - disgusted me. Yes, he was attractive, hot as hell, but after being cheated on, I was in no way okay with such things.
Piper noticed the look on my face. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“Just— I dunno, that Kellen is a lying, cheating prick, but he’s no arsonist,” I said with a shrug.”
“What do you mean he’s a liar and a cheater? What did I miss?”
Sadie had already walked to her car, so I felt safe enough to indulge my friends with what had happened.
“So yeah, he’s either married or dating someone—”
“Why do you think he’s married or with someone?”
“Because he’s got a kid, a newborn at that. If Matilda was older, I’d think maybe he was divorced, but she’s not even a week old.”
“Ohhh, do I have some news for you, then,” Piper announced happily. “Not that I know all the details, but he’s single.”
“How do you know?” Felicity beat me to the question.
“Because I asked about the baby’s mother, and he said it’s just him and Matilda. He didn’t go into details, but he’s single, Leah.” Piper gave me a shit-eating grin.
“Well that�
��s a relief,” Felicity said. “Means you can go get ‘em, tiger.”
“I’m not going to get anyone.” I rolled my eyes but giggled along with them. My insides had been twisted in knots since I’d found out Kellen was the man behind the mask. Knowing that he wasn’t with anyone helped a lot. Made me feel less horrible about the kiss and the thoughts I’d had about him since we met.
Not that I had any intention of dating him. I hardly knew him, and he was a single dad to an infant. He obviously had some messed up backstory. Probably more drama than I cared to deal with.
“Go, you two,” I said, ushering them toward Piper’s car. “I’ll talk to you later. Once I know more, got it?”
The two were smiling now, and seeing Felicity in better spirits was nice.
But I had a mystery to solve.
Ooo000ooo
I knocked on Wade’s room, and he answered almost immediately. He stared at me in shock, then smiled. It was meant to be a friendly smile, but his lips pulled back in an almost snarl. It felt more predatory.
“Leah, what brings you to my door this lovely evening?”
I shuddered thinking that this man might be behind the fires and the damage to Kellen’s car. If so, he wasn’t as harmless as I’d made him out to be.
“Come inside,” he said, opening the door wider. “I was just about to have a drink.”
“No, thanks,” I said. “I’ll only be a minute.”
Wade’s face fell, but he insisted. “Come on, I have a vintage red wine and no one to share it with.”
“I said no.” My voice came out louder than normal, and I crossed my arms in front of my chest in an almost defensive post. I decided to go a different direction - I’d capture more bees with honey than vinegar, so the old saying went. “I just wanted to apologize for the man who chased you earlier. He’s doing some work around here, but I had a stern talk with him about what happened. Please know that he won’t bother you again.”
I studied his face, hoping to gauge his reaction. A panicked look flashed across his face, but only for a split second. I thought I might be imagining things, because his smile returned as if everything was normal a second later.
