Chapter 4 Don’t Let Her Go #2
She left her suitcases in the living room and moved ahead of him into the kitchen.
He waved her onto a barstool. Then he set his pistol on a shelf over the sink to free his hands for brewing coffee.
“Oh, my goodness! You have a gun.” She sounded winded.
“I grabbed it as soon as heard you moving around. Didn’t know who it was and didn’t want to take any chances.” He hoped the fact that he was armed made her feel safer.
She rested her elbows on the island and dropped her chin into her hands. “I didn’t mean to get so loud.” She shivered. “I was just so unnerved, furious, and terrified—all at the same time.”
“That’s understandable.” He filled the coffeepot with water and scooped coffee grounds into a filter. It was a breakfast blend that she’d given a thumbs-up during her first day on the job. “After everything he’s done to you, I imagine you weren’t expecting to hear from him again.”
“I wasn’t.” She covered her face with her hands, rubbing her eyes.
While the coffee percolated and dripped into the pot, Owen folded his arms and leaned back against the cabinet, facing her.
“I have one piece of good news amid tonight’s chaos.
Lonestar Security will be crawling all over Garrett Farm next week, installing their standard security package for new employees.
” It felt weird to keep calling it Garrett Farm now that he owned the place.
However, the Garrett Farm label on the egg cartons they sold had so much name recognition that it didn’t make good business sense to change it. Not yet, anyway.
She parted her fingers to stare bleakly at him. “That’s next week, Owen. I’m in serious trouble right now.”
“Fair enough.” He pulled out his cell phone and texted his boss. It was a bold move for a new employee in the middle of the night, but the situation warranted it. “There. I just requested that Lonestar Security would speed up the installation of my upgraded security system.”
She dropped her hands into her lap, blinking at him. “Do you have any idea what’s included in their standard security package?”
He gave himself a mental high-five over the fact that she was still listening to him.
“Lots of security cameras.” That much he knew.
“Plus, a monitoring station and alarms that auto-dial the police department and the fire department. Everything that triggers an alarm will also send an alert to whoever’s on duty at Lonestar Security.
” It was a system designed to grant its employees an extra measure of safety for the dangerous work they often performed.
“Will it be enough, though?” She looked distressed. “Assuming I’m the target, what protection will your boys have while I’m driving them to and from the baseball fields?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out before they climb into your car again.
” He mulled over their options. “Since I work for a security firm, I’ll have the pick of the litter in bodyguards.
” During his onboarding appointment, his employers had stated that a security detail would be provided at no cost under certain conditions.
What Owen’s new nanny was up against might meet those conditions.
The coffee finished brewing. He poured two cups of the steaming goodness and moved to the fridge to pull out the carton of her favorite dairy creamer. He set both the coffee and the creamer on the island in front of her.
“Thank you!” She cradled the mug of coffee between her hands, as if trying to absorb its heat.
He didn’t blame her. Though it was summer, it cooled down in the foothills a good twenty to thirty degrees each night. After years of living in the warmer, balmier parts of southern Texas, it was going to take more time for him to grow accustomed to the crisper mountain temperatures.
She sighed deeply and started talking again. “It doesn’t feel right putting you to this much trouble. As much as I appreciate your offer to hire a bodyguard, that’s expensive for a guy on a single dad income.” She shook her head dejectedly. “I honestly don’t know what the right thing to do is.”
“Then stay here until you figure it out.” He sipped his coffee, studying her with concern.
“Come on, Halle! You’re about to be my kids’ kindergarten teacher.
Our families are invested in each other on multiple levels.
” He didn’t mention the personal level, but something was simmering there as well—something it was too soon to put a label on.
“I couldn’t live with myself if something bad happened to you that I could’ve prevented. ”
“I couldn’t live with myself, either, if something awful happened to your family because of me,” she shot back. “Children are my biggest weakness, Owen, and your kids are no exception. I can’t bear the thought of bringing any trouble into their lives.”
He sensed she was close to giving in, so he continued pressing her.
“Ryder and Cooper have a way of winding themselves around your heart, don’t they?
” He was going to give both little snots the biggest high-five in the morning for winning her over so quickly.
“There’s no way you’re ready to abandon them,” he added slyly.
To his alarm, her eyes filled with tears again. “Of course, I’m not! But the joy I get from looking after them is an awfully selfish reason for staying, don’t you think?”
He snorted. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
“No, I’m perfectly serious.” She pulled one of her sweatshirt sleeves over her hand to dab at the corners of her eyes.
“Me, too.” He waved his coffee mug at her, going for the money shot.
“Not to make you listen to a grown man whine, but my sons lost their mother at a very young age, and their aunt is currently out of town indefinitely. You’re all my boys have right now on the maternal side of things.
If you want me to beg you to stay at Garrett Farm, I’ll beg.
” He set his coffee cup down, preparing to hit his knees if that’s what it took.
He all but physically felt her crumble beneath his pleading. “Well, when you put it like that…”
Success! He felt like giving a whoop of delight and dancing around the kitchen like his boys did when they were excited about something.
However, he didn’t want to do anything that might alarm her.
“Thank you,” he said simply. It wasn’t easy speaking in a normal voice, but he was pretty sure he pulled it off.
“I’ll make it worth your while. I promise. ”
She gave him an incredulous look. “I’m more concerned about you not regretting keeping me around.”
There wasn’t a chance in the world of that happening, but he didn’t tell her that. “How about we review what we know about your situation and come up with a game plan?” He was convinced that was the best path forward.
She fixed him with a look that was part wistful and part hopeful. “Okay, you win, Private Investigator Tolliver.”
It was difficult to keep the snarl out of his voice with what he said next.
“If I understand correctly, your ex wants you to think you’re in so much danger that you have no choice but to reconcile with his sorry hide.
” What a monster! He’d gone out of his way to cripple her financially, trying to make her feel like reconciliation was her only option. It was emotional abuse on steroids.
Halle gave a sad chuckle. “Yep, that’s what he said.”
“Danger that he’s personally responsible for dragging you into,” Owen pointed out icily, “by getting himself involved with some unscrupulous people who strong-armed him into selling your farm to them.”
“Yes.” She nodded warily.
“By what I choose to think of as Divine intervention,” he continued in a smoother voice, “Mr. Loser Windbag and his crooked associates didn’t move fast enough, and I bought your farm before they could.”
She smiled faintly at his insulting nickname for her ex.
He waggled his eyebrows at her, liking that he’d made her smile.
“But instead of turning around and making me an offer for the farm that I couldn’t possibly turn down, these same crooks are on their way to hold you personally responsible for their mistake.
” His mouth twisted in disgust. “Give me a break! My five-year-olds could’ve come up with a better story than that. ”
She sat up straighter. “I agree it doesn’t make sense.” She seemed to glean some comfort from that.
He did, too, now that they were dissecting everything her ex had told her. “Garrett Farm must play an integral role in whatever they’re planning.” Another thought struck him. “At what point did you decide to move back to the farm to oversee the daily operations?”
Her lips tightened. “When I ended my engagement. I contacted the school superintendent in Heart Lake that very day about applying for a local teaching position.”
“Good for you.” He added her actions to the mental timeline he was building.
“In hindsight,” she moaned, “it was really, really, really stupid of me to add my ex’s name to my accounts and home deed before we were married.
Running the chicken farm from long distance was just so stressful, and I’d convinced myself I was marrying a financial genius.
It made sense…until it didn’t.” She squeezed her eyelids shut as she recounted the horror of what came next, including the lawsuit to win back the deed to her farm.
“But he short-circuited that process for me as well, the weasel!” She opened her eyes.
“I thought I was paying a lawyer to handle my court case by proxy. Instead, I must have been dealing with one of his goons. I didn’t figure that out until I pulled my car up behind your moving truck. ”
Her words made him repeat his earlier question from a different angle. “So, James didn’t know you were moving home?”
She shrugged. “If he did, he didn’t hear it from me.”