by M. S. Parker
I refrained from rolling my eyes, but just barely. “Then why would I have tried to stop it? I’m not an idiot. If I wanted to destroy the place, why would I have set one row on fire during the middle of the morning when I knew I’d have employees here and then come out in my pajamas to try to stop it?”
“Alibi,” Reed answered easily.
I shook my head. It didn’t matter what I said. They weren’t going to believe me anyway. “I’ve told you everything I know. Can I go check on my people now?”
The two men exchanged glances and then Rheingard nodded.
“We may have more questions for you in the future,” he said.
“Fine,” I replied. “As long as you’re doing your job, I’ll be happy to answer your questions.”
As I turned away, a familiar car rounded the bend and some of the tension inside me eased. I was strong enough to stand on my own two feet, but I couldn’t deny that I appreciated having someone I knew I could trust at my side. Aside from the first few moments of awkwardness, our friendship had returned to the way it had been.
The police turned, but when Jasper got out and it was clear he wasn’t unwelcome, they went back to what they’d been doing. He didn’t even look at them, heading straight for me. His eyes were shadowed, a darker gray than normal and I wondered what I actually looked like. Judging by the concern on his face, I assumed it must be bad.
“Are you okay?” He reached out as if to take my hand, but stopped, hesitating.
I knew what the problem was. After the kiss, he’d been careful not to touch me. I held out my hands, palms up for his inspection, silently letting him know it was okay. His touch was gentle as he took them both and I could see the serious expression that he must’ve worn when he was doctoring. His thumb swept across my palm, coming away dirty.
“You’re not burnt?” he asked, head still down.
“I don’t think so,” I said, dropping my hands back to my sides when he released them.
He frowned at me. “Have the paramedics looked at you yet?”
“No.” I looked over at the ambulance. “The others needed to go first.”
The frown turned into a scowl, but before he could say anything, Jacques was approaching. He didn’t look much happier than Jasper.
“I don’t think they believe me.” He glanced at Jasper, nodded a greeting, and then turned his attention back to me. “They think it was an accident.”
“Better than those two.” I jerked my head towards my favorite detectives. “They think I did it for the insurance money.”
Jasper swore and Jacques looked like he wanted to say something similar.
I changed the subject. “Is everyone okay?”
“Some singes, and Rupert got a pretty bad burn on his hand. Paramedic wants to take him to the hospital.”
I nodded. “He should go. Make sure he has whatever time off that he needs.”
“You need to get checked out,” Jacques said. He shook his head. “What were you thinking? I told you to go back inside.”
“This is my home,” I said stubbornly. “I wasn’t about to just sit back and let it burn.”
Under the thick coating of soot, one corner of Jacques’s mouth tipped up. “Let me take you over to the paramedics.”
“That’s not necessary,” Jasper interrupted. “I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
I half-expected Jacques to argue, but he just looked at me, and when I nodded, he nodded back.
“What do you need me to do, Miss Shae?” he asked.
I thought for a moment and then asked the question I hadn’t wanted to think, let alone ask. “Do you think it was one of our employees who did it?”
He didn’t look upset, which was good, because I didn’t want him to think that I was accusing people he knew much better than I did.
“I don’t think so,” he said after a moment. “But I’ll take a look around, see if I can find anything that could tell us more.”
“What do you think we should do about tonight?” I asked.
“Someone did this?” Jasper’s voice was low.
I looked over at him and was surprised by the depth of the anger I saw on his face. “That’s what Jacques thinks, and I believe him.”
“I know a security company we can call,” Jacques said. “Mr. Lockwood had one he’d approved of if we ever needed one.”
I felt a pang when he spoke of Allen, but it wasn’t as sharp as I’d come to expect. I nodded. “Hire them,” I said. “Have them come out right away and stay until we figure out what we want to do next.”
Jacques nodded, then glanced at Jasper. “I’ll finish things up out here. You go inside and get yourself cleaned up, Miss Shae.”
I started to argue, to tell him that I’d stay until everyone had left, but Jasper took my arm.
“You have school on Monday,” he said quietly. “Let me take a look at you.”
I let him lead me into the house, reminding myself that I’d need to clean wherever I’d walked. As if the memory of seeing blood before reminded me of injuries, my feet began to hurt again.
We stopped halfway into the kitchen and Jasper let go of my arm. I looked up at him as he brushed some hair back from my face, careful not to touch my skin.
“Are you okay to get cleaned up before I take a look at you?” His tone was completely professional, his expression guarded.
I nodded. “Probably better that way.” I managed a smile. “Besides, you’d never be able to see anything under all this.”
I headed for the downstairs bathroom, not wanting to track more than I had to. The water stung my back, telling me that I had gotten a bit scorched. It didn’t feel any worse than the sunburn I’d had, so I wasn’t concerned. I saw blood from my feet and could feel the splinters in the soles. Worse was the coughing. I forced myself to breathe the steam in deep so I could get rid of the shit clogging my lungs. The steam couldn’t get rid of the smell of smoke, however, and by the time I walked back downstairs, I was clean but still couldn’t smell anything else.
That, I supposed, was why I didn’t notice the smell of cleaning products and didn’t realize that my footprints had been cleaned away until I came into the kitchen and saw Jasper emptying out a bucket of sudsy, dirty water.
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“I didn’t have anything else to do while I was waiting,” he said as he set the bucket on the ground. “Have a seat.” He gestured towards the kitchen table.
I winced as I walked, breathing a sigh of relief when I sank down into the chair. I’d put on a loose shirt and shorts, feeling a lot like I had the last time Jasper had fixed me up. The skin on my back, shoulders and the backs of my legs was sensitive to the touch.
“Let me take a look at your feet first,” he said as he knelt in front of me. He lifted one onto his lap and began to examine it.
I watched him with curiosity. I’d never seen Jasper at work and the last time he’d helped me out, I hadn’t exactly been very coherent. Now, however, I could watch him as he ran his fingers along the underside of my foot, his head bent close. When he hit a tender spot, I sucked in a breath and he paused.
“Why didn’t you put on shoes?” he asked as he reached into a bag I hadn’t seen him carry in. After a moment, he pulled out a pair of tweezers.
“I’d just woken up,” I said. “I heard someone yell fire and I ran outside. I didn’t really think.”
“You seem to do that a lot for someone so smart.”
I heard a hint of a smile in the words. A smile, and a bit of something I ended up recognizing as annoyance. He was annoyed at me and that almost made me laugh. Allen would’ve sounded much the same way, so I answered Jasper how I would’ve answered Allen.
“So I should’ve just let it burn? Let the others deal with things while I went hunting for stylish shoes?” I made sure he could hear the teasing in my voice.
Jasper pulled out a long splinter and set it on a paper towel next to him. He didn’t speak as he finished searching
my right foot. He cleaned it with an antiseptic that stung, but wasn’t actually painful. He wrapped it in a clean bandage and then switched to the other foot.
“You should take better care of yourself, Shae.”
It took me a moment to realize he was actually answering my rhetorical questions. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was supposed to do with that statement, so I said nothing, just continued to watch as Jasper finished caring for my other foot. He took my hands next, turning them over in his. When he was apparently satisfied that I only had a couple minor blisters, he stood.
“I told you I wasn’t hurt.” I watched, puzzled, as he walked around me.
His fingers brushed my back as he moved my wet hair out of the way. “Your skin’s red, but it doesn’t look blistered.” I felt his hand on my hair. “Looks like some of your hair got singed.”
I turned to look at him and he took a step back. “What?”
“Nothing bad,” he quickly clarified. “I just noticed when I was looking at your back.”
I glared at him, but there was no malice behind it. “I guess ’I’ll need to set up an appointment with a stylist.”
“Not today,” he said firmly. “You need to take it easy.”
I didn’t want to argue. Despite the fact that I’d just woken up, I was tired. But there was something besides exhaustion creeping in.
“What did you tell your dad?” I asked suddenly.
“I told him I had a friend to take care of,” Jasper said. He tilted his head, his eyes searching my face for a moment. “Do you need me to stay a bit longer?”
I pressed my lips together and nodded. I hadn’t wanted to ask, not after the kiss. But I didn’t want to be in the house alone, especially since I believed Jacques. Someone had tried to burn my vineyard. My home. And I didn’t know if they’d only wanted to scare me or if they wanted to hurt me.
“Shae.” Jasper came around my side and put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll stay as long as you need me. Whatever you need me for.” His fingers tightened for a moment. “Allen was my best friend and he loved you more than anything. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You need me, and I’m here.”
Chapter 20
For the second morning in a row, I was woken from a fairly restful sleep in a not so restful way. At least, this time, it was my phone going off rather than someone shouting that the place was on fire. I blinked at the screen twice and then answered the call from my brother.
“Mitchell?”
“Answer your door.”
“Coming.” I didn’t realize how strange his voice sounded until I was partway down the stairs. I rubbed my hand across my face and looked at the clock when I reached the foot of the stairs.
Six o’clock. It was six o’clock in the morning. Why the hell was my brother calling me this early on a Sunday morning, telling me to answer my door?
As soon as I did as he asked, I had a moment to see him standing there and then he was grabbing my arm and yanking me out onto the steps. I pulled my arm away and gave Mitchell’s chest a shove. He took a step back. He was bigger than me, but I wasn’t happy with him at the moment. I was stronger than I looked.
“What the hell?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Seriously, Shae? You want to tell me what the fuck’s going on?”
Shit. I’d completely forgotten to call him yesterday and tell him about the fire. Now I felt bad about pushing him.
“There was a fire,” I began. I ran through the story quickly, feeling my sore feet beginning to throb as I stood there on the stone steps. I ended it by telling him we had security watching the place until the police figured out what had happened.
“Yeah, I talked to one of them at the end of the driveway,” Mitchell said. “Had to show him my driver’s license and he still followed me up here. Stayed until you opened the door.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you,” I apologized.
“You called him though.”
I frowned. What? And then I saw where he was pointing. Jasper’s car sat where he’d moved it after all of the police and everyone else had left yesterday. Apparently, that had been why Mitchell hadn’t just knocked on the door.
“There were only two paramedics available and he was the first doctor I thought of.” I rubbed my arms. It would be warmer later today, but it was still the middle of September and this early, the morning had a chill to it.
“The first doctor you thought of, or the first doctor you’re sleeping with?”
If I’d been anyone other than his sister, his word choice certainly would’ve been a lot cruder. I didn’t particularly care how he phrased it though. The accusation was the same.
“Excuse me?” I stared at him.
He stabbed an accusing finger at the car. “He’s been here all night. I asked the security guy.”
I was really getting tired of people acting like my romantic life was open for criticism.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” I said. “Jasper stayed because I didn’t feel safe being in the house by myself.”
“You could’ve called me.” Mitchell’s voice was getting louder and I was starting to wonder if the security guys Jacques hired would get to hear my brother acting like an ass.
I ran my hand through my hair. “Mitchell, I’m tired, my entire body is sore. I have to grade papers before tomorrow and hope that my feet will be feeling better enough that I won’t have to spend most of the day on painkillers.”
He shook his head. “You aren’t even bothering to deny that you’re having sex with your dead husband’s best friend.”
I almost slapped him. “I told you why he was here.”
Mitchell rolled his eyes. “Come on, Shae. You’re honestly telling me that when I called, you didn’t have to sneak out of bed so you didn’t wake Jasper?”
“How can you say that to me?”
“You have a hickey on your neck, Shae.”
Of all the things he could’ve said, that wasn’t even on the list of possibilities. I had absolutely nothing to say. It was completely ludicrous.
“A hickey and you’re ‘sore.’ Come on. I’m not an idiot.”
“Well, you’re doing a good impression of one.”
Jasper’s mild voice came from behind me.
I turned to see him standing in the open doorway. He’d had his gym bag in the car when he’d come over yesterday, so he was still wearing the shorts and t-shirt he’d changed into then. His hair was a mess, but there wasn’t a trace of sleep on his face.
“You come over here, take advantage of my sister and think you can talk to me like that?” Mitchell took a step forward.
“No one took advantage of anyone,” I snapped. My cheeks flushed as I realized that statement could be taken more than one way. “I mean...”
“I’m not having sex with your sister,” Jasper cut in. “I took care of her yesterday. Medically. She was helping fight the fire before the fire department got here. That’s why she’s sore.” His words were clipped, almost angry. “The mark on her neck isn’t a hickey. It’s a scrape. She has them on her hands and arms too.”
“Shae.” Mitchell turned towards me, a familiar petulant expression on his face. I loved my brother, but he could be a real dick when he wanted to be, and he’d never been one to apologize. “I’m just trying to look out for you.”
I sighed. “You want to know why I don’t call you for things? This is why. I’m not a kid, Mitchell.”
“You’re my little sister,” he argued, shooting a glare over my shoulder where I assumed Jasper still stood. “I’m just looking out for you.”
“Go home.” I ran my fingers through my hair, grimacing as I hit a snarl. “If I need you, I’ll call.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond, but instead turned and walked back into the house. Jasper stepped aside to let me pass and then shut the door behind me.
“I should go,” he said. “Before anyone else gets the wrong idea.”
I stopped and turned to l
ook at him. “My brother’s an overprotective idiot. He once threatened to beat up my best friend because he caught us hugging. It wasn’t until I told him my friend had just broken up with his boyfriend that Mitchell calmed down. Even then, he asked around to make sure Greg was actually gay.”
“I’m not gay,” Jasper said wryly. “So I doubt that’ll work.”
I laughed. “He’s going to think what he wants to think.”
Jasper’s expression grew serious. “I’m more worried about what other people are going to say. Jacques and your employees. I don’t want anyone talking about you like that.”
I thought about telling him that it didn’t matter to me what people thought because I knew he and I weren’t doing anything. I thought about telling him that if people couldn’t understand friendship, that was their own problem. But I didn’t say any of that.
“I’m in the mood for pancakes this morning. What about you?”
I was halfway into the kitchen when I heard his footsteps behind me and felt some of the tension leave my shoulders. We’d worked past our little weird moment and I didn’t want my brother’s idiocy to make things awkward. I liked Gina well enough and I did love Mitchell, idiocy notwithstanding, but Jasper was the friend I needed right now. He expressed concern without making me feel like I was so fragile I would break.
As I began to get out the makings for pancakes, Jasper went to the cabinets for dishes. We worked in silence, him being familiar enough with the kitchen to not need to ask any questions. Once the food was ready, we sat down, far enough apart that we weren’t touching, but close enough that talking wasn’t strained. Not that we talked much at first. I waited until we were both almost done to bring up a subject I needed to talk about with someone, but that had nothing to do with my brother or his accusations.
“My lawyer wants me to make a decision about the insurance money.”
Jasper looked at me but didn’t say anything. He was listening, and that’s what I needed at the moment.
I continued, “I didn’t know about it and I don’t need it, so I don’t feel right about taking it. Plus, if I do keep it, the Lockwoods will find out about it and use it against me.” I stabbed my last bite of pancake, but didn’t eat it. “And now I have to deal with the insurance company about the fire.”
