5
Levi tugged off his gloves and slipped them into his black pocket as he stepped onto the porch, the hot afternoon sun glaring behind him. Dust clung to his boots, and sweat lined the brim of his hat. He rolled his neck, sore from pounding fence posts, then pushed open the front door and froze.
“What the hell…”
Toys were everywhere. Buckets overturned, books scattered, a rogue doll dangling upside down off the coffee table. Couch cushions were tossed, the shoe bin dumped, and it looked like someone had pulled everything from the hallway closet into the living room.
His gut tightened. “June?” he barked out, stepping forward, scanning wildly. “Emery?”
No answer.
He lunged for his phone and hit Emery's name.
Emery answered on the second ring, cheerful and clueless. “Hey! I’m in the pickup line and then was thinking—”
“Get June,” Levi snapped. “Now. And come straight back to the house.”
“What? Why? Is everything okay?”
“No,” he bit out. “Just get back. Now.”
He didn’t wait for her reply before hanging up. His pulse was hammering, heart in his throat. He thumbed over to his brother’s number next.
“What's up?” Jess answered lazily.
“Someone broke in.”
That got Jess’s attention. “Shit. You sure?”
Levi swept his eyes over the chaos again. “The house is trashed. I don’t know what they were after. June and Emery weren’t here, thank God.”
“I’m on my way.”
Levi called Gage Carter next, the town' s sheriff.
10 minutes later, both Jess and Gage had pulled up. Levi was pacing the front porch, jaw clenched and fists twitchy.
Gage walked in, eyes scanning. “Damn,” he muttered. “Looks like a storm blew through.”
Jess whistled low. “Someone musta been pissed.”
Levi barely grunted, pacing past the mess. “I don’t see anything gone. But it’s all tossed. Whoever it was, they musta been lookin’ for somethin’.”
Gage crouched, inspecting a stuffed animal that looked like it’d been kicked halfway across the room. “You touch anything?”
“I just walked in. Waited for you.”
Jess wandered toward the kitchen, opening a few drawers. “What would they even be looking for?”
Levi frowned. “No idea, doesn’t make sense.”
That’s when Emery’s car pulled up.
She stepped out, concern lining her brow, June trailing behind her holding a juice box. She slowed when she saw the men all standing around like something serious was going down.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“See for yourself,” Levi said in a low voice, stepping forward. “We were broken into.”
Her brows pulled together. “What?”
“Go inside and look,” he said, jerking his chin. “Just don't touch anything.”
Emery walked in slowly, eyes moving over the mess. Then she blinked. “Oh my god…”
Levi crossed his arms. “Exactly.”
She turned back toward him. “Levi…”
She didn't have a chance to say anything else as Gage walked in further, taking it all in. “No sign of forced entry. TV’s still here. The rest of the house looks okay. Whoever it was could have gotten spooked.”
“Maybe they weren’t after stuff,” Levi said. “Maybe they were sendin’ a message”
Jess raised a brow. “Message in the form of Legos?”
“Levi, I…” Emery tried to interject, but Levi tu rned his back and walked to stand next to Gage, who was now photographing the living room.
“Levi!” Emery practically shouted, this time getting not only his attention, but Jess and Gage’s, too. They all turned and stared, waiting for her to speak.
Her eyes darted around. “Shit… I—I did this.”
“You what now?”
“I wasn’t—” she stammered, hands flying up. “I didn’t mean to leave it like this. I started deep-cleaning and organizing today and ran out of time before picking up June. I thought you’d be home later.”
“Organizing? The couch cushions? You made it look like we were ransacked!”
Jess wheezed out a laugh from behind them. “She did a damn good job of it, too.”
Levi shot him a glare. “Not helping.”
“I was trying to help,” Emery said defensively. “I emptied the toy bins, sorted the junk—there was cereal in the couch cushions from who knows how long ago, and I left early to go buy storage bins. I was making things easier, yes! Organizing. ”
Levi looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. “You trashed my damn house to make it easier?”
Emery marched out to her car, cranky cowboy, his sarcastic brother, and town sheriff all in tow as she popped the trunk and pointed. Plastic bins, organizers, and drawer dividers. Even a label maker.
Jess burst out laughing, trying—and failing—to cover it. He slapped a hand over his mouth and turned around, making a beeline for the barn while muttering, “I ain’t gettin’ in the middle of this.”
Gage tipped his hat back and chuckled. “Well, I don’t think I’m needed here anymore.” He gave Levi a look. “Try asking the help first before panicking next time.”
Once the men were gone, Emery stood with her hands on her hips. “I'm sorry, okay,” she said, clearly annoyed.
Levi ran a hand down his face. “You can’t just…” He sighed. “You can’t leave the place lookin’ like it got hit by a tornado, you could’ve left a damn no te.”
“You could’ve called me without acting like Liam Neeson.”
“I walked into this mess with no one here,” he said, voice low. “I was worried about June!”
“She was with me, Levi!” She studied him for a second. “You were really scared?”
“Yeah, I was fucking scared! I didn't know you’d turn the house upside down like a psycho!”
She narrowed her eyes. “If you don’t want me helping, fine. Just say that.”
He held up both hands. “I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it.”
“Gage is right, I panicked!” he exploded. “Walked in, thought something could have happened to June… or you. And then you just… show up with Tupperware like it’s any other Tuesday.”
The tension broke a little. She grinned with a small laugh.
Levi muttered under his breath, then stepped closer, eyes still stormy but his voice lower. “You scared me, Em.”
Her face softened. “Shit, you scared me, too.”
He looked down at her, stubborn as ever, but something warm flickered under the scowl. “How ‘bout next time, maybe don’t make it look like a crime scene.”
She gave him a little shrug, a smug look on her face. “Fair enough.”
Levi glanced toward the bins, then back at her. “Still gonna organize?”
“That depends, you gonna grumble and glare while I do it?”
He gave her a faint smirk. “Probably.”
She rolled her eyes and bumped past him into the house. “Fine. But I’m labeling your junk drawer ‘Grumpy Cowboy junk.’”
Levi followed her in with a faint shake of his head, and maybe the smallest ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.