Chapter 7
SEVEN
Ethan
I groaned as the sun shining through the cabin window woke me.
Hannah tried to take the couch, saying it was too small for me, but I refused.
I didn’t regret my choice, but I was paying for it this morning.
I spent the night alternating between curling up in a small ball and hanging my legs over the arm of the love seat. Neither position was comfortable.
I folded up the blanket and stacked it on the pillow Hannah had given me before stretching out my aching muscles. I was mid-stretch when Jonah’s door opened and he wandered out with a yawn. He stopped, his head tilting to the side as he observed me with questioning eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
A curse almost slipped out. I had snuck in after he fell asleep the previous night and planned to leave before he woke up.
We didn’t want to worry him or make him feel unsafe.
My mind was blank as I tried to come up with a cover story.
My gaze slid to Hannah’s door. We should have thought about this last night.
Jonah’s gaze followed mine, and I could see him trying to fill in the blanks. Suddenly, a big grin lit his face. “Are you seeing Aunt Hannah?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “This is awesome. We’ll get to stay here, and I’ll be able to ride Tank forever and ever!”
“Slow down, buddy.” I sat on the couch, patting the cushion next to me. He bounced into the seat, near vibrating with excitement. “First, you and Hannah aren’t going anywhere. You’ll always be welcome on the ranch. And Tank will be here for you to ride, regardless.”
He stared up at me, eyes wide and hopeful.
“Second, I like your aunt. And I like you.” I gave him a serious look. “Tank and the ranch aside, are you okay with Hannah and I getting together?”
He nodded his head hard.
“Take a minute, Jonah. If I’m in your aunt’s life, that means I’m in yours, too. I’d be here to help raise you.”
Jonah chewed his lip. “Like a dad?”
I swallowed, fighting to keep my voice even. “If that’s what you want.”
“I’ve never had a dad.” His matter-of-fact tone had my heart aching for him. “I asked Mom for one once. She said it was one of the only things she couldn’t give me.”
“I’m sure she wanted to.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But she said hopefully Aunt Hannah would find a man, and then I’d have an uncle, which was almost as good as a dad. But I might want a dad instead.”
“That’s entirely up to you.” I squeezed his shoulder. It was amazing how quickly this kid had worked his way into my heart. It was almost like the mate bond knew he and Hannah were a package deal, and it had extended the connection to him. “Want to help me make breakfast? We can surprise Hannah.”
We checked the cupboards and the fridge, which Mae had stocked with basic supplies.
I pulled out a portable cooktop and pan and helped Jonah mix up the batter for pancakes.
Crossing my fingers, I poured the first pancake and waited for it to cook.
Mae and Mom had tried to teach me to cook when I was a teenager, but I’d skipped more of those lessons than I attended. Something I regretted now.
After burning the first few pancakes, I finally got the temperature and timing right. Jonah declared my latest attempt to be perfect, so I plated it up and slid it to him to take to Hannah while I cooked up the rest.
The sound of murmuring voices from Hannah’s bedroom as she and Jonah talked put a smile on my face. I was getting a taste of what the future could hold, and I liked it.
My phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. I grabbed it, answering when I saw Mason’s name. “What’s up?”
“You tell me. A wreck of a car was just delivered to my workshop. The tow truck driver said it was for Hannah.”
“Right. I meant to mention it last night but didn’t get the chance.” Keeping my eye on the bedroom to make sure Jonah didn’t come in, I gave Mason a brief rundown of the break-in and my involvement with Cassie. I finished it by telling him our suspicions that the car was tampered with.
Silence greeted me. The temptation to fill it in with more explanations pushed at me, but I resisted, waiting for Mason’s judgement. I thought I might get disapproval for hiding my investigation, but when his response came, it was straightforward. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
“That’s it?”
“Do you want a lecture? That’s more Declan’s thing.” The sound of tools clanking came over the line. “Just keep your mate and the boy safe while we figure this out.”
“Already on it.”
He hung up, and I turned back to my pancakes. Which were burning.
With a curse, I pulled the pan off the burner and prepared to start again.
“Why do I smell burning?” Hannah rushed from her bedroom, yanking on her clothes from yesterday. She stopped short when she saw the pile of burned pancakes littering the counter. “Ah. Someone needs to learn how to cook.”
“Yeah, I never really picked up that skill.”
“Let me finish these.” She nudged me out of the way and poured more batter into the pan. “Look for the bubbles to form and break. Then, once the edge sets, you flip.”
She quickly finished the last few pancakes, handing them off to Jonah and me. Jonah kept up a running commentary while we ate, talking around mouthfuls of food about the day ahead. Hannah leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, “I hear we’re a couple now.”
My cheeks heated. “Only if it’s okay with you, of course.”
She smiled, her dimples on full display. “I’d hate to disappoint Jonah.”
Her sparkling eyes told me she was in. And not just for her nephew’s sake.
Hannah
We dropped Jonah off at the house with Mae. Declan was working in the office today and said he’d keep them safe. Chloe wanted to take more pictures of the cabins, and since Ethan wanted to check out the construction crew, he offered to tag along. He wasn’t happy when I insisted I go with them.
“Why don’t you stay with Jonah?” He pitched his voice low as Chloe packed up her camera bag. “It’s safer for you here.”
“I’m not letting you investigate this on your own.” I narrowed my gaze at him. “Don’t even try to cut me out. It’s my home that was vandalized, and my sister who died.”
“I won’t. But there’s nothing you can really do there. I’m just trying to pick up the scent from your cabin.”
I crossed my arms, my temper beginning to flare. “You’re letting Chloe go.”
“Her taking pictures is a good cover story for me to be there. It’s not the first time one of us has gone with her.” Ethan blew out a breath. “My bear is already uneasy about all of this. He’ll be a lot calmer if he knows you’re safe.”
“I don’t know why we’re still arguing about this. I’m going.” I turned to Chloe as she walked over and pasted a bright smile on my face. “I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the cabins.”
“They finished two of them yesterday.” Chloe’s gaze bounced between Ethan and me, as if she could sense the tension. “We can check them out and see how messy the crew left them. That way you’ll know what to expect when it’s time to prepare them for guests.”
“Sounds like a perfect reason for me to go.” I shot Ethan a smug smile. His shoulders slumped, but he didn’t voice any more objections.
Ethan stayed silent on the walk to the cabins.
I wasn’t sure if he was upset or if he was already trying to pick out the smell from my cabin.
Either way, I left him alone. We would need to talk later about how he couldn’t brush me aside every time the urge to protect me hit him.
I knew enough from talking to Chloe that shifters were protective of their mates—sometimes overly so.
It wasn’t like I was coming out here alone.
I was with Ethan and Chloe. We were safe in groups, and I’d already agreed that until we figured this all out, I wouldn’t go anywhere alone.
And I’d let Ethan sleep in the cabin, so he really shouldn’t complain.
Though I had to admit, having him in the cabin overnight did make me feel safer, especially after the break in.
I tugged at the waist of my jeans, which were loose after wearing them two days in a row. I wished I’d taken the time to grab a fresh pair instead of wearing the same ones from yesterday, but I’d panicked when I smelled burning that morning and just thrown on the first set of clothes I’d found.
We passed my cabin, and Chloe pointed off to the side, where a partially built one stood.
“This is going to be for Gabriel. With the brothers starting to find mates, we figured soon the house will become too crowded. Ethan can move in with you and Jonah when you’re ready, and we’re building Mason a cabin closer to his workshop.
Then we can expand the bedrooms in the house. ”
“Eventually, we’ll need cabins for everyone except Declan and Chloe, who’ll share the house with Mae,” Ethan said. “Jonah’s the first kid in the ranch’s newest generation, but I doubt he’ll be the last.”
My heart warmed to hear Ethan talk about Jonah like he belonged here. He made it sound like it wasn’t even a question in his mind. “Sounds like you’ll be keeping the construction crew busy.”
Chloe laughed. “Yeah. We definitely have a lot of jobs on the list. We’re trying to only do what’s really necessary, but it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves in planning.”
Ethan’s cell rang. He glanced down at the display before shooting a quick look at me. “I need to take this.”
He wandered away as he answered but kept his gaze on us. A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth as he listened. I could see he was responding, but his voice was low enough that I couldn’t hear anything. When he saw me watching, he turned slightly, as if hiding the conversation from me.
“Hey, want to check the inside of this cabin?” Chloe got my attention and gestured to a cute little cabin that appeared finished, at least from the outside. “It’s one of the completed ones.”
“Should we wait for Ethan?” I looked over at him, but his back was to me, his shoulders stiff with tension.
She rolled her eyes. “I get the need for safety, but we’ll be twenty feet away. One scream and his bear will burst through the door before you can take another breath.”
We entered the cozy cabin. It consisted of one main room with a tiny but functional bathroom in the back corner.
Chloe laid it out for me, showing me where we could put a small sitting area and the large shifter-size bed, as well as a table for a coffeepot and supplies.
The builders had left it mostly clean, though I’d need to give it a good scrub before we moved anything in.
“We’re going to have a communal outdoor area that includes a sauna and a hot tub.
That way, if anyone’s sore after riding, they can relax and soak their muscles.
” Chloe raised her camera and took a few photos of the space.
Then she spun around and took one of me before I could protest. She grinned.
“You’re part of the team now. We must document your presence. ”
I shoved my hands in my pockets, the fingers of my right hand brushing against something hard. Cassie’s USB drive. I’d forgotten about it in all the chaos.
My first instinct was to find Ethan, but then I remembered the phone call that he seemed determined to hide from me. While I wouldn’t hide this from him, I also wouldn’t rush to share it.
A shiver ran down my spine, and I spun around, eyes searching the cabin. I crossed over to the back window and looked out, certain I was being watched. Not in a nice way that warmed my insides, like when Ethan watched me, but in an alarm-bell-ringing way.
Nothing out of the ordinary stood out. A couple of workers were hauling pieces of wood from a pile behind the cabin, but they weren’t looking my way, and soon they were out of sight.
Still, the same uneasy feeling I’d had when Chloe showed me to my cabin two days ago persisted, twisting at my gut. Frustration filled me. There had to be something I could do.
I had a burst of inspiration, and acting on instinct, I projected my voice slightly. “I’m going to need to call the Sheriff when we get back. He’ll be very interested in what I know about my sister’s death.”