Chapter 4 Don’t Let Her Go
Owen heard a door open and close somewhere in the house, followed by rapid footsteps and a strange dragging sound. He tensed in bed, quickly revising his assessment. It wasn’t a dragging sound, but a rolling sound—the kind a suitcase makes.
He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed, yanking open the top drawer of his nightstand to remove his pistol from the lockbox he kept there.
Then he stood and snatched his t-shirt off his bedpost, pulled it over his head, and jogged barefoot to the door of his bedroom.
Twisting the handle to open it, he sprinted down the hallway toward the sound.
It was coming from the living room. He paused in the doorway to flick on the light switch.
Light flooded the room, bathing a very disheveled, tear-stained Halle Garrett in its warm golden glow. Her feet shuffled to a halt. Though she spun his way, she remained standing in the middle of the room with a suitcase handle in each hand.
“Where are you going?” Owen stepped into the room, at a complete loss to explain what he was seeing. It was obvious she was leaving the house, but why?
She visibly wilted. “I’m so, so, so sorry!” Her voice was hushed. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“That’s not what I asked.” If she was quitting her job as his sons’ nanny, she owed him an explanation. He’d welcomed her into his home, his life, and the lives of his boys. With the start date for his new job looming, her resignation would put him in a tough position.
Her shoulders slumped beneath her zip-up gray sweatshirt. “It’s not safe for me to be here anymore.” She had on matching gray sweatpants. Her hair was falling out of the hasty ponytail she’d twisted it into, and one of her sneakers was coming untied. It was clear she’d dressed in a hurry.
“Since when?” His voice crescendoed to a louder note than he intended. From where he stood, she was in no state of mind to venture outside alone. She was an emotional wreck, flat broke, and vulnerable.
“What I meant to say is, it’s not safe for you if I remain here,” she corrected with a weary sigh. “Not for you or your boys.”
“Why? What’s changed since the last time we saw each other?” He moved across the room to position himself between her and the door, holding his pistol behind his back. He didn’t want the sight of it to spook her any more than she already was. “Please answer me, Halle. You owe me that much.”
Her cheeks were damp and splotchy from weeping, and she was having trouble holding his gaze. “I received a phone call a few minutes ago.” Her voice cracked. She had to clear her throat before continuing. “From my ex.”
Okay. That wasn’t good, but Owen needed more details than that. “What’s going on?” He ducked his head a little to get a better look at her face.
“He says he wants me back.” Her voice shook. “And that he never meant to sell the chicken farm.”
“Baloney!” Anger burned in his chest. “Putting a piece of property up for sale with a realty company is a very intentional process. Lots of paperwork and lots of signatures. In his case, it took a great deal of forged signatures.”
“I know, but he claims he was pressured into it by some very dangerous people, and—”
“That’s his problem,” Owen interrupted. “Not yours.”
“Actually, it is.” She sounded so defeated that it twisted his heart. “Because whoever was doing the pressuring apparently had a very different buyer in mind than you.”
Her story was getting crazier by the second. “Who?”
“I don’t know.” She blew out a frustrated breath.
“His story got a little murky at that point. It sounds like whatever was advertised to the public about the unauthorized sale of my farm wasn’t supposed to happen.
Either that, or it was supposed to happen so quickly that no one other than the crooked, pre-arranged buyer was supposed to put a contract on the place.
” She shook her head in bafflement. “James sounded rushed and scared. Then he said he had to go and hung up on me.”
Owen ran a hand through his hair, trying to make sense of the strange tale.
Like her, he was in sweatpants. “My realtor had been combing every home listing website for weeks when she ran across the writeup about Garrett Farm. It was the first listing that matched everything I wanted in the way of square footage, number of bedrooms, and enough acreage to raise the two orneriest boys in Texas.” His mouth quirked at the memory.
“She called me the moment she laid eyes on the listing, and I had her work up a purchase contract on the spot. Since I was at my desk, she sent me the link within a few minutes. I signed it virtually, and it was a done deal.”
“You said minutes,” she repeated breathlessly. “How many minutes is a few minutes?” Her red-rimmed eyes tore at him. She seriously couldn’t catch a break.
“From start to finish?” He wasn’t sure why she needed to know, but he threw out his best estimate. “Maybe five minutes. Ten minutes tops.”
“That was fast.” She frowned thoughtfully. “I guess he wasn’t kidding about that part.”
“Yep, my realtor had a contract pre-filled out for me, and I was pre-approved for a mortgage.” They’d deliberately positioned themselves to move fast. He’d already accepted the job offer from Lonestar Security and only wanted to relocate his family one time.
Piddling around with hotels and apartments might’ve affected which of the two elementary schools his boys would’ve been eligible to enroll in.
“She said it was the only way to shop for real estate in Heart Lake. What few listings there are apparently get snapped up quickly.” His recent experience seemed to support that claim.
“It’s always been that way.” Halle’s voice grew wistful.
“Heart Lake was built around a gorgeous lake, which just so happens to be tucked between some postcard-worthy mountain ranges. There aren’t many places in the world that can compete with these views.
” She let go of her suitcase handles. “If you add in all the wildlife and the creek that runs through my property...” She paused awkwardly and amended her statement. “I mean your property.”
“Don’t go,” he begged quietly. “Whatever you’re facing, let’s face it together. Good nannies aren’t easy to come by.” Nannies that were certified kindergarten teachers were an even rarer breed.
Her eyes widened. “I’m not even a real nanny.”
“Doesn’t matter.” His jaw tightened. “You hit the ground running with my boys and have our home life running as smoothly as the Polar Express. There’s no price tag you can put on something like that.”
She drew a shaky breath. “James made it sound like whoever is coming after me might already be on their way. He said I need to leave now.”
“Who’s coming after you?” Owen had zero patience for her ex and his shenanigans, past or present.
“I don’t know, but he’s insisting the only way to convince them I had nothing to do with selling the farm to you is by presenting a unified front.
” She pressed a hand to her chest as if it were hurting.
“As in a full and immediate reconciliation with him. He’s going to post an announcement of our engagement in the morning. ”
Owen’s jaw dropped. “That’s the biggest load of bull I’ve ever heard!” It was the worst sort of gaslighting. Even someone as trusting as she was couldn’t be that na?ve! “You can’t possibly believe—”
“Oh, please! I’m not going back to him,” she snapped, looking indignant, “but I’m also not going to stay here and serve as the bait that brings goodness only knows what amount of danger into your home. Something bad is about to go down that I refuse to drag your amazing family into.”
Her impassioned declaration ignited something warm and wonderful inside him, which underscored his determination to change her mind about leaving.
“As much as I appreciate what you’re doing, what kind of employer would I be if I let you go out there alone?
” He swung his head toward the door. “It’s the middle of the night, and you don’t even know what you’re up against yet.
” She deserved to be protected as much as anyone else.
She bit her lower lip, looking distressed.
“Like it or not, I seem to have some sort of bullseye on my forehead. If anything my ex claims is true, I’ll be a target every time I buckle your boys into seatbelts and get behind the wheel of my car.
I’ll be a target every time I sit in the bleachers, waiting for them to finish baseball practice. I’ll—”
“I get it,” he interrupted. “Believe me, I do.” It was a real problem, one he wasn’t trying to make light of. Running still wasn’t the answer. It rarely was.
“There’s no way you want the kind of life I just described for your boys,” she protested.
“I don’t want it for you, either,” he growled. At her surprised look, he added, “or any other innocent person. Listen,” he cajoled, “your ex isn’t exactly the textbook definition of honest. You have no way of knowing if anything he told you is true.”
“You’re right,” she agreed glumly, “but he was beside himself. Totally falling apart over the phone. If he was bluffing, it was his best act yet. Can we afford to take that chance?”
“Here’s what I think,” he returned carefully. “You and I need to put our heads together and come up with a plan. Tonight.” She was no longer alone. She had him on her side—someone with years of investigative experience under his belt.
“My brain is mush, Owen.” She grew teary-eyed again. “I can’t think straight right now.”
It was all the more reason for her to remain in Heart Lake, instead of driving off half-cocked with hysteria.
Fortunately for her, he was accustomed to working under pressure. “How about we grab a cup of coffee to get all pistons firing again?” He ushered her toward the island in the kitchen.
“Yes to the coffee.” She cast a longing look toward his coffee maker. “No promises beyond that.”
“Okay.” He could live with that. A coffee break bought them a little time to figure things out.