Page 84 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“She’s coming home with us,” Finch said at the exact moment Dan opened his mouth to offer another alternative.

He shut it again, eyes on Finch.

“There’s—” Nina began.

“It’s decided,” he said, cutting her off in a way that made Nina’s spine go rigid.

“No, it’s not decided,” she said. “You can’t just⁠—”

He put his hand over her mouth.

The audacity of it stunned her into silence. She stood there, wrapped in a blanket, wearing his socks, with his hand pressed lightly over her lips, and she was so shocked that she let him do it.

“Excellent,” Dan said and had the nerve to look relieved. “Right then, you take her with you, and we’ll work through what needs doing here and check that the fire is out with the Hylands before we leave.

Nina sank her teeth into Finch’s hand.

“Ouch.” He dropped it, but he didn’t look sorry.

“Nice move,” Lynx said smirking as his brother shook out the pain she’d inflicted on his palm. “But he’s right,” he continued, more gently. “You’ll be safe with us for the next few hours, and tomorrow we can re-evaluate.”

“I have friends I’d be safe with, and further to that, why am I unsafe?”

“Slip of the tongue, but the McAllister cottage is the best place for you right now,” Dan added. “Finch is ex-military. Lynx is a big man. You’ll be safe tucked away there.”

“You think I’m in danger, don’t you?” Nina pressed.

“We can’t know anything yet.” His uncle’s voice was careful. “But it pays to be cautious, considering what we’ve recently learned about your past and the two, now three incidents you’ve had.”

Three. She hadn’t been thinking of them as incidents. Nina had been thinking of them as coincidences or bad luck, but now her house had caught fire, and they thought it might be her hair straightener. But she knew she hadn’t left it on.

“Oh my God, you think someone set this deliberately?”

“We’re not saying that, but we need to be cautious,” the sheriff said.

“You haven’t noticed anything else, have you, Nina?” Dan asked so only their group could hear. “Anything that seemed off in any way?”

The oil slick on her driveway surfaced in her mind. Had that been from someone else’s car? She told them about it now, and the day she’d come home and her house was unlocked.

“Someone left all her cupboards open,” Finch said slowly, with a measured calm that told her he was choosing his words with care. “Remember, Nina? You told me that you came home and found your kitchen cupboards open. You thought because it was just after your mother’s service you might have forgotten to close them.”

He pressed his hand briefly into her spine as he spoke, a small, deliberate signal which she understood. He was covering for the fact that he’d been in her kitchen that night. He’d found the cupboards open, not her. He’d closed them himself, thinking she’d left them that way, and said nothing until now. It had been the night they’d made love.

She nodded slowly. “Yes. That’s right. I told you that.”

Sheriff Dans made a note on his pad. Dan was quiet for a moment, looking at her, and then he said, “You’ll need to come into the station tomorrow morning. We’ll sit down properly and go through all of it. Plus, we’ll need to assess the damage, and you’ll have to contact your insurance company, Nina.” He glanced at Finch. “Keep her safe tonight.”

“That’s the plan,” Finch said.

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said suddenly.

“I know, but we will,” Sheriff Dans said. “Go with Finch and Lynx, and try to get some sleep. We’ll work everything through tomorrow.”

Her house, with both hers and her mother’s things inside it. Her carefully chosen furniture and linen. The curtains she loved and her chair. It would all smell of smoke now, but it could have been worse. Even now she could be standing here watching her house burn down.

Was she in danger? Was there a possibility that any of this had something to do with her father? Or was the fire her fault? No, I did not leave my straightener on.

Her thoughts spiraled, the way thoughts did when fear had control of them.