Chapter 18
“THAT WAS FUN,” MALCOM SAID as they pulled away from Everly and Austin’s house. Conversations he’d had with the various people still played in his head.
Lori smiled over at him. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
He reached for her hand, and she linked their fingers. That was a good sign, right?
He’d held off on any PDA during the evening because he didn’t know what her answer would be. And even if she’d told him yes, he didn’t know how she felt about PDA. Malcom didn’t want to press his luck in any form.
“You have a great group of friends,” he said. “You’re lucky to have that.”
“I am,” she agreed. “I should be more grateful more often. I mean, I am grateful, but I also feel like I should be more involved. They do a lot of stuff without me.”
“You’re kind of busy,” he said, rubbing a thumb over her fingers. This was nice. Being a couple. Did she think so too?
Malcom had put his phone on silent all night, and he was sure he had several things to address. Right now, he just wanted to spend more time with Lori—without an audience. But he also wanted to make sure he gave her space. So he said, “Do you want to catch dinner tomorrow after your shop closes?”
She glanced over at him as they pulled onto the road leading to her shop. “I’ll have to play it by ear tomorrow. I’m working at my parents’ house, then I need to get ready for Turkey Day.”
“What’s Turkey Day?”
“It’s like a Thanksgiving Fair at the community center,” she said. “I’m doing a booth this year. We’re hosting a craft, and I’ll hand out holiday shopping coupons.”
“I’m happy to help with any of it.”
Lori looked at him in surprise. “You don’t need to—I mean, you have so much going on.” She paused. “Did you leave your trailer door open?”
“What?” Malcom frowned and glanced over at his trailer as he pulled up alongside the curb in front of Lori’s shop. Across the way, he could see lights blazing inside the trailer, and sure enough, the door was open. Wide open. “That’s weird. I didn’t leave on any lights either.”
“Something’s wrong,” Lori said quietly.
Malcom felt it too. Something wasn’t right.
“We should call the police,” she continued.
But he shook his head. “It could be one of the construction crew. Maybe I didn’t lock the door. They came in to ask questions, and forgot to shut the door after leaving.”
“Let’s hope it’s that innocent,” she said. “I’m coming with you to check it out.”
If Malcom was wrong, he didn’t want Lori going into the trailer. He had no idea what he’d find. “I’ll go check it out, then call you. You stay here.”
“Malcom, I’m coming,” she said, her voice firm.
He met her steady gaze. “Let’s drive over, and you stay in the truck while I go inside. Okay?”
He saw her waver, but she agreed.
By the time he drove the short distance, his pulse was pounding. It’s fine, he told himself. Just someone forgot to shut the door. He’d probably left it unlocked even though he always double-checked before going anywhere.
Leaving Lori in the truck, he headed toward the trailer. Before he even stepped inside, he could see the destruction, and his heart sank to the floor.
Malcom walked through the trailer in a daze. The place had been ransacked, or more accurately, destroyed. Not only were his files upended and scattered, but his laptop was missing. The drawers of his desk were pulled out and overturned. The bathroom, the bedroom, and the small kitchen had all been searched. Nothing had been left unturned. Even the bedding and his clothing had been rifled through.
He had no idea what all was missing in addition to the laptop and probably a bunch of reports. Was this a disgruntled crew member? Or maybe Bronson? As much as Malcom hated to think that his brother would stoop so low, he wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
“Malcom?” he heard Lori say.
“Back here,” he said.
She appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, her face pale, her eyes wide with disbelief. “This is crazy.” She brought a hand to her heart, and her eyes filled with tears. “Who would do this to you?”
He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “I don’t know.”
Lori wrapped her arms about him, holding him tight. “Don’t touch anything,” she whispered. “We need to call the police and let them search for evidence and fingerprints.”
“Okay,” he breathed. After a long moment, Malcom released her and made the phone call. The few minutes it took for them to show up felt like the longest minutes in his life. But he had Lori at his side. With his permission, she let her friends know, and they all offered a place for him to stay that night.
“Or you can stay at my place with me and Tiger,” Lori said, after the police had filled out their report and allowed him to take some of his personal belongings before they cordoned everything off. “It’s your choice.”
“If you don’t mind me crashing on your couch,” he said. “Then tomorrow I can figure where I’ll be staying.”
“Sure, I mean, it is a nice couch.” She smiled tentatively.
He smiled back, even though his life was literally in shambles all around him. “It is.”
Once they reached Lori’s apartment, Malcom was momentarily distracted by Tiger, who seemed to know he needed a buddy. The kitten crawled up his shirt and nestled against his neck, purring.
“You have a fan,” Lori said, setting her laptop on the table.
The police had told him to change all of his passwords since the thief could probably access anything he wasn’t logged out of. So he spent the next hour changing passwords on everything. Thankfully the verifications all came to his cell phone. He logged into his bank account to see if anything had been transferred or withdrawn, but everything looked like it was in place. In the morning, he’d buy another laptop and download everything from the cloud.
“I’m glad I had my wallet with me,” he said. “One less thing to worry about.”
“I can’t believe this happened to you—after so much already,” Lori said. “Do you have any idea who it was?”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Malcom said. “But I don’t think it was my brother. He already has access to company records.”
“Won’t his assets be frozen though?” Lori asked. “Would that motivate him to search through your stuff for any loopholes?”
Malcom rubbed a hand over his forehead. “I don’t know,” he said. “I sent him a text, but he hasn’t replied.”
“You texted him to ask if he broke into the trailer?”
“Not in those words,” he said. “I just said I had my laptop stolen and if he knew anything about it.”
“He might not be happy to be accused—that is if he’s innocent.”
He exhaled. “Yeah. I know, but everything’s messed up anyway. What’s one more accusation?”
Lori reached over and grasped his hand. He turned his palm up and linked their fingers. “Thanks for letting me crash here. And for everything else.”
“No problem,” she said, her voice soft. “I mean it. I just wish I had an extra bed for you, so you’d be more comfortable.” Her eyes glimmered with amusement.
“We could share,” he teased.
“I’m not that generous of a host,” she said. “We’re not even dating.”
He chuckled. “Let me know when you want to change that.”
“I think you have enough going on, without having a relationship talk.”
“Speak for yourself.” He drew her hand toward him. “Come here.”
She rose from her chair, and he tugged her onto his lap. He liked her closer. She smiled and looped her arms about his neck. He liked how she fit against him.
“You smell like peaches and cinnamon,” he said.
“Probably Austin’s pie. You smell the same.”
“Hmm. Have you thought about my question from earlier?”
She tilted her head. “About dating? That one?”
“Yep.”
Lori traced her fingers over his shoulder, then down his arm. His skin heated at her touch. “I just worry about how long you’ll be in Everly Falls.”
Malcom blinked. Had he not made it clear? He was here to stay—if that was all right with her. “I don’t have plans to go anywhere else. Unless you kick me out.”
The edges of her mouth turned up. “As if . . .”
“So . . . is that a yes?”
Her shoulders shifted as she edged closer. “It’s a yes.”
“I think that’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”
“That wasn’t hard to do considering the day you’ve had.”
He chuckled, then kissed her softly, slowly. When she angled her mouth against his, he took it deeper, breathing in peaches and cinnamon. He really needed to get that pie recipe from Austin.
His heart was thudding loud enough that Lori could probably hear it. “I’m really glad you said yes,” he murmured against her mouth.
She smiled and tightened her hold on him.
When his phone rang, he ignored it at first, then realized it was probably important. Maybe even the police.
He drew away from Lori and reached for it.
She moved off his lap as he answered. “Bill Jennings, how are you?” he asked. Bill ran Jennings Carpets and he’d been interested in investing.
“Hi, Malcom,” Bill said through the phone. “I saw police cars at the building lot tonight—is everything all right?”
“My trailer was ransacked,” Malcom said. “Got my laptop stolen, and I’ve been busy changing all the passwords.”
“Oh boy, that’s terrible,” Bill said. “Any idea who broke in?”
“I don’t, but the police are working on it.” Malcom glanced over at Lori. “I’ll be sticking around in Everly Falls though, so I’m finding a more permanent place tomorrow anyway. One with better security.”
“There’s a basement apartment for rent in my neighborhood,” Bill said. “If you’re interested?”
“Sure, send along the address,” he said. “I’ll check it out.”
“Are you still looking to take over the condo project?”
Malcom straightened at this. “Yes, definitely. I’m meeting with the bank as soon as I have the investors lined up.”
Bill cleared his throat. “Well, I’m calling to tell you that I’m in. I’d like to invest. I went over this with my wife, and she’s excited as well.”
Malcom fist-pumped the air. “Excellent. That’s great news. When you have a chance, just sign and send over the agreement I gave you. I’m very much looking forward to working with you.”
“Me too,” Bill said. “You’re a good man for doing this, Malcom.”
When he hung up, Lori was staring at him expectantly. “Bill Jennings is the final investor that I needed.” He couldn’t help but grin. “Looks like I’m going to the bank in the morning. Right after I get a laptop.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Truly.” Lori hugged him, and he pulled her onto his lap for another kiss. Plenty of doors had shut on him the past week, but he was grateful for all of the windows that had opened.