Chapter 26 Ilsa
Ilsa
The guest room’s floor was littered with my clothes. My suitcase and duffel bag were empty and open on the bed.
Every article of clothing I owned was in this room, and somewhere in my wardrobe was a kelly green sweater. I’d left Arizona with a kelly green sweater. “So where is my goddamn kelly green sweater?”
I bent to pick up a black shift dress, making sure there wasn’t anything hidden beneath. But all I saw was carpet and clothes that were not kelly green.
Balling up the dress, I tossed it onto the bed and plopped down on the floor, sitting amid the mess.
Dalton’s school colors were bright green and white. And tonight, while I cheered on the Lynx in their basketball game against the Calamity Cowboys, I wanted to wear bright green. I wanted to fit in with the crowd.
Since I couldn’t find my sweater, I’d have to settle for a white blouse instead. But a blouse was too fancy for basketball. A blouse said teacher and city girl. It screamed I did not belong. Clothes made a statement, and all I wanted tonight was for that statement to be as quiet as possible.
“Ugh.” I rubbed at my temples, wishing I could shut off my brain and stop overthinking this outfit. Except I’d been nervous about this game all day.
The front door to the house opened, then closed. I checked my watch. It was time to go. But I took one last look through my clothes, pushing and tossing them around, frantically searching for that green sweater.
“Ilsa,” Cosi hollered.
“Two minutes,” I called back, throwing a red silk nightgown on the bed.
God, I owned a lot of red. And cream. And tan. And blue. At this point, I’d settle for any shade of green, except apparently, I didn’t have a stitch of green in this room.
Cosi appeared in the open doorway, eyebrows raised. “Do I want to know what happened in here?”
“I can’t find my green sweater.”
“Just wear the one you have on.”
“This is blue.” I plucked at the soft navy fabric.
“So?”
“So I want to be supportive.”
“You going to the game is supportive.”
He wasn’t wrong. But he also was. “Do you see anything green?”
“Baby, no one cares what you’re wearing.”
“I care.” I picked up a brown button-down I’d forgotten I even owned and tossed it into the corner. “Damn it. Where’s my sweater?”
Cosi muttered something under his breath I couldn’t make out and walked away while I kept searching on my hands and knees, crawling across the floor.
My face felt too hot and sticky. Great, now I was sweating off my makeup.
“Damn it.” I tore off my blue sweater and fanned my face as the air cooled my torso. Then I stood and snatched the white blouse from the bed, about to pull it on when Cosi walked into the room with a gray sweatshirt in hand.
“What are you—” My question was cut short as he pulled the crewneck over my head.
“There. Now you’re supportive.”
I pushed my arms through the sleeves, tugging down the hem. A Dalton Lynx logo adorned the front. It was perfect. And it wasn’t. “I can’t wear this.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s obviously yours.” The hem hit my thighs and the sleeves were too long.
Cosi studied me for a moment, then he took my face in his hands and sealed his lips over mine in a kiss.
The panic instantly faded. Like magic.
“Better?” he asked, pulling away.
“Yes.”
“Then can we go?”
“After I change.”
“Baby—”
“Everyone is going to be watching us tonight,” I said. “They’re going to talk about us.”
“They already are.”
“I know.” My lip curled. “But this is gossip with me sitting in the middle of it. I don’t want them to say I’m not dressed right or that I don’t belong. Or that I’m not good enough for you.”
I’d made myself a promise on Saturday when we’d been standing beside the lake. If Cosi was real with me, then I’d be real with him. No pretending. No sugarcoating. No hiding.
And no leaving Dalton, at least for now.
Not until Cosi and I had a chance to explore this thing between us. For him, I’d stay in Montana. Even if an entire gymnasium of people judged me and my clothing tonight.
“Ilsa.” His hazel eyes softened before he pulled me into his arms. “I want you to walk into that gym wearing my sweatshirt. I want everyone to see us holding hands, sitting together. I want all of Dalton to know you’re mine. That’s what I want them talking about.”
Easy. This man made my life easy. “Then I guess I’m ready to go.”
He took my face in his hands again and pressed his soft lips to the corner of my mouth. “Found out some stuff today about that cabin on the lake. Want me to tell you now or save it for later?”
“Tell me now.”
On Sunday, Cosi had taken two of his deputies to Cotters Lake and found that tiny cabin. The door had been locked and the windows all covered, so there hadn’t been much to find without going inside, which he couldn’t do without a warrant.
So first thing Monday morning, he’d gone to the county courthouse to find out who owned it and to request that warrant. Except there’d been no title record to find.
No one owned that cabin or the property it rested upon.
That land was designated as public land and managed by the BLM, and whoever had built that place had done so illegally. Meaning no need to wait for a warrant.
He’d gone back yesterday, only to find the door open and cabin empty. If there had been something inside, it was gone now.
“We’re working through fingerprints,” he said. “It’ll take a few days. But the photos I took yesterday are developed. And I matched the tread on a few tracks to the same tread on those from the shed at your place.”
“So it’s the same person.” My stomach dropped. “And I waltzed across the lake like an idiot to say hello.”
Cosi was gracious enough not to rub it in.
“Okay, now what? You start asking to see the bottom of people’s boots?”
He chuckled. “Well, no. But it’s another way to confirm a suspect.”
A suspect like Paul. That kid hated me, but despite the name-calling and threats, something about him as the culprit felt wrong.
“Do you still think it’s Paul?”
He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Up until I found that matching boot print, yes. But now? No, I don’t.”
“Then who?”
“I don’t know. There’s someone on Cotters and has been this whole time. There’s a chance it’s been different people. Maybe Paul was the person who trashed the house. But the fire, the person spying on you. I’m thinking they’re different.”
“But why?” I wiggled free, pacing over my clothes. “What did I ever do to anyone?”
“Maybe it’s not about you at all. Maybe it’s the property. Places on Cotters don’t come up for sale often. Maybe once a generation.”
“If that.” Dad’s cabin had been passed down to him from his parents. “So you think it could all be a scare tactic.”
“It’s a new theory,” he said.
I wrapped my arms around my waist, playing through everything over and over again. “I’m going to call my mom and find out if she knows anyone who ever asked to buy the cabin from Dad.”
“Good idea.”
I owed my mother a call anyway. It was time to tell her about the disaster that was Troy’s visit. And that I was still not staying at the cabin, not until we found out who was doing this.
“Do you think it could be this Jerry?”
Cosi rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Could be. But no one knows a Jerry. I’ve asked around.”
“Damn,” I mumbled. “Maybe I heard his name wrong.”
“At this point, I think the only person who knew what was going on over there was your dad.”
“That doesn’t help us, does it?” I groaned. “Do you think it could be about Dad’s journal and atlas?”
“Maybe. But if Ike was going around town talking about some lost, legendary gold, that’s something that would have made people talk. Someone at the station would have heard about it.”
“And knowing Dad, he kept all of it to himself.” Well, except sharing clues with me. “Now what?”
“Now we go to a basketball game.” He held out his hand for mine, then led me through the house.
I rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt and tucked the hem into my jeans so it was a bit more flattering. With my coat on and my purse over a shoulder, we hurried to the Bronco and drove to the school.
The parking lot was filling up quickly when we arrived and a line of people were filtering through the doors to the gym. The sound of bouncing basketballs and the pep band playing mingled with the hum of conversation as people shuffled into the bleachers.
Cosi and I walked inside hand in hand, and for a brief moment, all of the noise seemed to stop. The people lingering inside the door gave us a double take, but it was more out of curiosity and surprise than pointed stares.
I plastered on a smile despite my growing nerves and tightened my grip on Cosi’s hand.
“Howdy, Cosi.” A man I didn’t recognize stepped into our path.
“Hi, John.” Cosi shook his hand. “Have you met Ilsa Poe?”
John quickly took off his cowboy hat, holding it over his heart as he gave me a slight bow. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“You too.”
“We’re going to find a seat.” Cosi moved past John, only to get stopped by a man named Luke.
Introduction after introduction, by the time we made it to the center of the bleachers, I’d met at least fifty people and their names were beginning to blur. But they’d all been kind and genuine. Most had welcomed me to Dalton. An older couple had said they knew me when I was a girl.
The nerves were still there but they were calming, handshake by handshake.
We climbed the stairs of the bleachers to the third row, taking a seat and saving one for Linda. Once we were settled, our coats tucked beneath us, Cosi leaned his elbows to his knees, eyes locked on Spencer as he warmed up on the floor.
Spencer dribbled in to make a layup, and as he jogged to the end of the line of players, it put him directly behind Paul.
Both boys looked over at the same time, one with a smile, the other with a glare.
Paul lifted a hand, raised his middle finger and pretended to wipe his eye.
Cosi’s body went rigid.
“It’s okay.” I put my hand on his knee, but we weren’t the only ones who’d noticed.
Spencer’s nostrils flared, and he leaned in closer, saying something in Paul’s ear. Despite their age difference, both boys were about the same height, though Paul had grown into his frame.
The muscles in Paul’s arms flexed as his hands fisted, his face turning red.
“Oh, Spencer,” I whispered.
Cosi stood, body primed and ready to jump to the floor to break up a fight.
But Spencer, that wonderful, brave kid, sent his dad a look that screamed don’t even think about it. This was his fight.
A fight for me.
Spencer crossed his arms over his chest and leveled Paul with a stare that begged him to do it. To fuck it all up by throwing a punch.
Paul was a shithead but he wasn’t stupid. If he hit Spencer, he could kiss basketball goodbye and say hello to a school suspension. After a mouthed fuck you, he turned toward the basket and caught the ball as it was passed to him.
“Phew.” I exhaled, taking Cosi’s wrist, urging him back to his seat.
Spencer looked over and grinned. Then he went back to warmups like nothing had happened. Like he hadn’t just been ready to throw down with a teammate to defend my honor.
If every person in Dalton treated me like crap, it didn’t really matter, did it? Not when I had the Raynes men on my side.
“Good?” Cosi asked, putting his arm around my shoulders.
There were people watching us. I could see them from the corner of my eye. I heard the whisper of my name along with “that math teacher.” But they could look and talk all they wanted.
“Good.” I leaned into his side as we watched the teams run through drills and stretches.
With only two minutes left before the game started, as the cheerleaders ran out to the floor, I slipped away to use the bathroom. I was washing my hands at the sink when a woman emerged from another stall.
It was the same woman who I’d seen in the parking lot a week ago. The blond woman who drove a navy Impala like Mom’s.
She met my stare in the mirror, eyes blowing wide, then went to a sink to wash her hands. When she looked up, I was still staring.
Like a creep.
“Sorry.” I shut off the water at my faucet. “I don’t mean to stare. I saw you last week in the parking lot. Your car is exactly the same car that my mom drives. That’s why I noticed.”
“Oh.” She relaxed a bit, giving me a sideways glance as she hurried to finish washing.
“Excited for the game?”
“Yes.” She beat me to the paper towel dispenser, barely drying her hands before she tossed her damp towel into the trash. “Have fun.”
“You too.”
She was out the door before I could ask who she was here to watch.
A loud buzzer echoed.
“Shit.” I hurried to dry my hands, then rushed out, making it back to the bleachers just as everyone stood for the national anthem.
One of the senior girls belted “The Star-Spangled Banner” along with the band, and as the last chord rang out and applause filled the gym, Linda came up the stairs, taking the seat beside Cosi that he’d saved for her.
She was missing her usual smile.
“You okay, Mom?” Cosi asked.
“Fine,” she lied, lips pursed.
“Are you—”
“I said I’m fine, Cosi. Let’s just watch the game.”
“Okay.” He held up his hands, the two of us sharing a look before we focused on the game.
We watched the Lynx beat the Cowboys by thirty points, with Spencer scoring twenty of his own. The kid was on fire. Paul had a horrible game and sat out the entire last quarter.
I scanned the crowd, trying to find that woman from the bathroom to point her out to Cosi and ask her name. But I never saw her again.
And Linda never found her smile.