Page 71 of One Kind Soul

“Tons of quality people here for you,” Aliza said.

“I know. That’s part of why I want to stay.”

“And Christian is the other part?” Aliza teased.

“Don’t bust my ass.” Nicole pointed to each of them. “You both moved to Vermont to be with Henleys.”

“True, true.” Aliza knocked Nicole’s hand away. “But I was a Vermont native to begin with.”

“A mere detail. A Henley got you to stick around.” She fanned her face. “And I can see why. They might be the nicest guys on the planet.”

Tessa and Aliza sighed at the same time.

“Honestly, every guy I know in Maplehaven is a sweetheart,” Aliza said. “It’s like the town hoards them or something.”

“Well, yay for us landing here,” Tessa said. “We need to celebrate. Lunch at Cups?”

“I’m in,” Aliza said.

“A local would have lunch at Cups, wouldn’t she?” Nicole asked.

“Indeed she would.” Tessa looped her arm around Nicole’s and led her to the door after stopping to grab her purse.

Aliza shouldered her purse as well and the three of them basically skipped out of the studio into the bright sunshine of the afternoon. May had given way to June and Nicole could tell Vermont was going to be absolutely gorgeous in the summertime. Everything was green and alive and the very air smelled like life.

A beautiful one.

“Kauai had some nice views,” she said as they walked toward Christian’s truck,” but look at how blue the sky is here, how lovely those mountains are, how clean and quiet and quaint this town is. It’s a slice of heaven here, isn’t it?”

“Sure is,” Aliza said. “And we get to live here.”

“Amen.” Tessa high-fived Aliza then the three of them stopped at the tailgate of Christian’s truck. “Wow, he let you drive the new wheels. He must love you.”

“Didn’t even hesitate to hand over the keys.” Nicole jiggled the keys in her hand now.

“You’ve got him right where you want him,” Aliza said, laughing.

Nicole hit the unlock button and they climbed into the truck.

“Hey, what’s that?” Tessa pointed to the windshield where a manila envelope was wedged under the wiper on the driver’s side.

“No idea.” Nicole opened her door to grab it.

“Maybe Christian left you a love note because he missed you while you were gone,” Aliza said from the back seat.

But how would Christian get to the studio? Nicole had his vehicle. Unless one of his brothers gave him a ride. Or maybe Ben, Jared, or Rada?

Nicole plucked the envelope free and brought it into the cab with her. No writing marked the outside of the envelope. She slid her finger under the sealed flap then paused. “What if it’s meant for Christian? Maybe someone saw his truck.” She didn’t want to open something that belonged to him.

“Doesn’t have his name on it,” Tessa said. “Take a peek.”

She could always apologize if it was his. Tessa was right. It wasn’t clearly labeled so how was she supposed to know? Something in the back of her mind, however, did make her glance around the parking lot. A police car was parked right at the opening though so that made her feel safer.

Nicole ripped the flap free and peered inside the envelope. Not able to see much, she pulled out a stack of . . . of photographs. It took her mind a minute to process what she saw.

Christian.

At a bar.