53. Thea
53
THEA
“You know, your bodyguard is pretty damn cute,” Sutton said as she wiped up around the coffee station.
I looked toward the windows at the front of the bakery, searching for the man in question. Deputy Allen was in his early thirties with light brown hair and a muscular form. He strolled past just as he’d done every forty-five minutes to an hour for the past three days, his gaze clocking the surroundings as he patrolled the block.
The first day after the greenhouse incident, Shep had come to work with me. He’d parked himself at a table in the corner that gave him a view of the entire bakery and hadn’t moved. I’d tried to get him to go to work, but he’d refused. He wasn’t taking any chances with Trace making a visit to Brendan that morning. Even with my sheriff’s department detail.
I couldn’t lie to myself and say that I hadn’t been worried. I’d jumped at every sound and movement, just waiting for Brendan to lash out. Only, it hadn’t come. While Trace had said that he could see Brendan’s underlying rage at being questioned, he had kept his public mask in place and denied any involvement. He also hadn’t made any outward moves since then. And Dex hadn’t found anything computer-wise either.
So, we waited.
Shep had tried to come with me to work on the second day, too, but I’d told him that I’d have Sutton ban him from the bakery. He’d glared and grumbled but finally went off to work on the farmhouse.
It wasn’t as if I wasn’t protected. Deputy Allen had been my shadow from morning through late afternoon. And another deputy sat outside of my cabin through the night, just in case. Their presence brought comfort in one breath and anxiety the next.
“Thea?” Sutton asked, her fingers lightly grazing my shoulder.
I jolted out of my spiraling thoughts. “Sorry.” I shook my head and forced a smile. “Maybe you should bring the deputy there a cup of coffee and one of your famous cupcakes.”
Sutton choked on a laugh. “How did you just make a cupcake sound dirty?”
I grinned back at her, shrugging. “It’s a gift.”
“I don’t have time for cupcakes, if you know what I mean. I barely have time for sleep.”
I glanced at my friend as I rounded the bakery case with my rag and a bottle of glass cleaner. We were almost done for the day, and while two customers still lingered, we were starting our cleanup routine. “Want me and Shep to babysit this week?”
Sutton’s eyes danced with warmth. “Practicing?”
A little flicker of something fluttered in my belly. Hope, maybe? “No. But a distraction wouldn’t hurt, and I love that kiddo of yours.”
She was quiet for a moment before speaking. “You and Shep would make pretty babies. And he would be such a good dad.”
There was longing in Sutton’s voice when she said the word dad . Something I didn’t miss. But my mind kept pulling back to pretty babies . God, I wanted that.
That flicker of hope turned to an inferno, a need to see what Shep and I could come together to make. Would the child’s eyes be green? Amber? Or something else altogether? Would their hair be blond or light brown? Regardless, some part of me knew they’d have his kindness.
“Holy cannoli, you are a goner ,” Sutton teased.
I tossed my rag at her. “You’re the one who told me I should go for it.”
She threw the towel back at me. “And I’m glad to see I was right. Just like I always am.”
I laughed as I sprayed the bakery case and swiped my rag across the surface. But a flicker of movement caught my attention out the window.
A familiar hulking figure stood there glaring at me. There was such hatred in Russ Wheeler’s eyes. A healthy dose of disgust, too.
A few months ago, I would’ve let that send me tumbling into a fear spiral. But I wasn’t the same person now. Shep had helped me grab hold of the strength I’d always had and own it.
So, I didn’t look away from Russ. I met his hateful stare and did something that was very un-Thea. I flipped him off.
The surprise that flashed in his dark brown eyes almost had me laughing, but the look was quickly replaced by an intensifying fury.
“What in the world?” Sutton looked at me and then followed my line of sight toward Russ. “That piece of work?—”
But her words cut off as Deputy Allen stalked down the sidewalk toward Russ. We couldn’t hear what the officer said, but I could make out just enough by reading his lips to get the gist. “You need to move along.”
Russ said something colorful back but stalked off down the block.
“You okay?” Sutton asked.
I straightened, continuing my work on the case. “Better than. That felt damn good.”
“Flipping off a douchebag always does.”
We dissolved into laughter as we continued our cleaning duties. As the next hour passed, we swept and packed up day-old bakery goodies. Sutton always passed them along to a shelter in the next town over. As the two remaining patrons left, she flipped the sign to Closed .
“You can go. All I have left is the mopping.”
I shook my head. “It’ll go faster if we do it together.”
I started lifting chairs on top of the tables as Sutton grabbed a bucket of soapy water. We worked in tandem, the country music bleeding out through the speakers. It only took us another hour to finish everything.
“Time to get Luca?” I asked.
Sutton glanced at her watch. “Not for another hour. He went to the ice rink with a friend after camp.”
I grabbed my purse from the cabinet behind the counter. “He still determined to be the next hockey star?”
Sutton sighed as she wrung out the mop. “He brought home forms for their kids’ league. Did you know they let kids as young as five play? Five .”
I winced. “It does seem a little dangerous. But they’re wearing all those pads.”
“I guess. But they’re trying to pull together a camp before the season starts. Of course, Luca has his heart set on it.”
I sent her a gentle smile. “And his mom, who loves him, will of course say yes.”
“Because I’m a sucker,” she muttered.
I pulled Sutton into a hug. “Not a sucker. An amazing mom.”
“Thanks, Thee Thee. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” I released her. “See you tomorrow.”
“Get home safe,” she ordered.
“I’ve got your future boyfriend making sure of it.”
Sutton grinned and waved me off.
As I stepped outside, warmth swirled around me, and I took a deep inhale of the pine air. The scent even made its way downtown.
Deputy Allen waved as he approached. “How was your day?”
“Good,” I said. “Yours? Other than boring as all get out.”
He chuckled. “I don’t mind it. It means a lot that the boss trusted me with this job.”
That was a sweet way to look at it. “Well, I appreciate it. ”
“Anytime. I’ll follow you home. Just don’t go blowing any red lights on me.”
I grinned. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”
We headed down the block and around the corner to where we’d parked just a few spots apart. Deputy Allen waited as I got into my car and started it up, locking the doors behind me. Then I waited for him to get into his vehicle.
Once he was in, I put my car in reverse and navigated out of the parking spot. Downtown had plenty of people milling around, and I couldn’t help looking for any signs of Brendan’s blond hair.
I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing my gaze back to the road. I wouldn’t let him continue haunting me, not anymore.
It only took a few minutes to get out of the town’s tourist traffic and on to the road that would lead me home. Home to Shep and Moose. Even if some of the structures had been destroyed, the people and creatures were what mattered. I just had to hold on to that.
Cold metal pressed into my side from the back seat, making me jerk.
“Eyes forward. Keep driving. I’d hate to put a bullet in your spleen.”
It was more snarl than voice. But it wasn’t male.
I tried to turn to see who it belonged to, because there was something slightly familiar about it. But the metal object jabbed into my ribs. “I said eyes on the road, slut. Or maybe I’ll go for your heart right here and now.”