Chapter Eight
Nash
“It’s definitely a gas leak. Did you happen to leave a burner or four on in the house before you left this morning?” I take a deep breath and release it, clearing the smell from my nose the best I can.
“I didn’t even use the stove this morning. Em and I stopped for breakfast and coffee on our way to the airport.” Her face fills with confusion.
I nod. “We need to call in the fire department to take a look, but from what I saw, someone turned all the burners on, including the oven. Are there any other gas points in the house?”
“The fireplace, but I think that’s it.” She furrows her brow, concern and confusion written all over her face.
“Is there anyone you’ve pissed off lately?” Cole speaks up from his spot on the porch by one of the large, front facing windows.
“Other than you? No,” Lucy says in a sarcastic tone.
Cole grunts in response. I hide a chuckle by rubbing my face and looking at the ground. When Lucy speaks up again, her shaky voice grabs my attention, and I whip my head back up to look at her.
“Wait, there was a truck. A small red pickup. It almost ran me off the road on my way back here. I thought they just weren’t paying attention.” Her eyes widen as she makes the connection.
Ren moves to her side. “Did you see who it was?” he asks, softly touching her arm.
“No. I was too focused on not completely wrecking.” She wraps her arms around herself and leans a fraction closer to Ren.
“You may think Cole is being an ass, but he has a point. Is there anyone who would want to harm you?” I ask with sincerity. “Anyone mad about anything?”
Lucy takes a second and scoffs, “I mean, my aunt and uncle were mad that Nana left everything to me, but do you really think they would try to hurt me over it?” She pales at the thought and looks down to the ground.
“We shouldn’t rule anything out,” I say.
Would they hurt her? I don’t know her Aunt Diane and Uncle Wayne personally, but I’ve seen them here at Helen’s raising hell, screaming at her when she refused to help them out.
The rumor mill of Whisper Grove hasn’t been very kind to them either.
Everything I’ve heard paints them as dishonest, rotten humans.
“Ren, can you call the fire department and get them out here to check the damage?” He pulls out his cell and dials as he walks away.
“What do I do now?” Lucy asks with sadness in her voice.
“Well, you can’t stay here until the fire department clears it. Could take a couple days,” Cole says, his annoyance coming forward through his voice.
“I-I don’t have anywhere to stay. Is the motel here still open?” She looks at me, and I can see the panic in her eyes.
I shake my head. “You can stay with us.” She opens her mouth to argue, but I put my hand up to stop her.
“We have more than enough room at our place. You can stay in one of the spare rooms tonight, and we can figure out the rest once we know more from the firefighters.” I put my hand down when I finish speaking.
I can hear Cole muttering under his breath as he gets up to walk towards the truck.
Lucy’s eyes track Cole’s movements, and I walk up to stand closer to her. I rest my hand on her shoulder. “It’s just for one night.”
“One night too many according to Colson, I’m sure.” She glares towards the man getting into the back seat of the truck.
“He’ll be fine, and if he’s not, oh well,” I chuckle at her.
We wait for what feels like forever for the fire department to show up, and I can’t help but think about Lucy being at our place for the night.
I hope the guys behave.
Heading back to the house, I can feel the annoyance rolling off Cole in heavy waves. He doesn’t like people invading his space, and having Lucy in the same vicinity will be seen as a disruption.
“Are you doing alright?” I glance over to see Cole with his head resting on his fist against the door. He’s looking out the window and takes a moment to answer.
“She could have stayed at the motel.”
“It’s run down and unsafe, Cole. You know that.”
“Better than having her in our house,” he growls, looking over at me.
I let out a sigh. “You need to let some frustration out. Maybe hit the home gym when we get there.”
He grunts, but doesn't answer.
The music is playing softly in the background and my mind wanders to Lucy and Ren. They should be back at our place by now. Cole and I had to go finish a job before heading home.
Pulling up to the house, I see Lucy throw her head back with laughter.
She’s sitting in the wooden rocker on the porch.
My wooden rocker. Ren must be telling an animated story; his whole body is moving across from her.
Getting out of the truck, I hear Lucy laugh, and I can’t help the light feeling that blooms in my chest from the sweet sound.
“It’s about time you guys made it back! Dinner is on the table. Let’s eat!” Ren announces with a light, cheerful tone.
Heading inside to the kitchen, I catch sight of the table. I put Ren in charge of picking up dinner, but I wasn’t expecting the amount of food covering the tabletop. It looks like he grabbed everything on the menu at the diner in town. We all take our seats and dig in.
Let’s hope tonight goes well.