Page 50 of Always My Love

ChapterSixteen

Nick and Tom each made two rounds through the cabin. Then they headed outside and circled the building, but their flashlights could only shine so far into the woods that engulfed the small place.

There was no doubt that someone had been inside the cabin. All of the tiles that the three of them had spent hours putting up in the bathroom had been broken into tiny pieces and were lying all over the floor.

If he didn’t know better, he would have assumed that a jealous lover had destroyed everything in a rage.

When they had arrived at the cabin, Hailey was standing on the porch under the bright light, still on the phone with Harper. Tom had arrived seconds before them in the cruiser, since he’d switched his on-call weeks with Nick.

They’d left the dogs at his place when they’d rushed out in a hurry. He’d taken the time to grab his personal firearm from the safe.

After getting there, Harper had rushed to hug her sister and the pair sat in his warm Jeep while he and Tom searched the place.

Now that they had confirmed that whoever had done this was gone, it was time to tell the sisters about the destruction.

“No one is here now,” he said, opening the door.

“Hailey said the bathroom tile was destroyed,” Harper said, getting out of the Jeep.

He nodded. “Yeah, whoever did it went to town on the tile. They used my sledgehammer.” He held in a groan as he thought of cleaning up the mess and starting all over. “At least they didn’t touch the sinks or the walls.”

Just then a truck skidded to a halt behind his Jeep, and Reece jumped out.

“Hailey?” Reece called out.

“Here.” Hailey pushed past Harper and rushed into Reece’s arms.

“Oh?” Harper said softly as she watched the pair. “That’s new.” She turned to Nick. “Did you know about that?”

He shook his head. “News to me.”

Then they watched as the couple awkwardly pulled apart.

“Looks new to them too,” he whispered.

“Are you okay?” Reece asked, looking towards the cabin. When he spotted Tom and Nick, he nodded a greeting in their direction.

“Yes, the place was empty when I got home,” Hailey said, wrapping her arms around herself.

Reece walked over and shook Nick’s and Tom’s hands. “Anything disturbed?”

“Just the shower we worked hard to rebuild today.” Hailey groaned. “Looks like we’ll need to buy more tile.”

“Grab your things,” Harper told her. “Nick has offered to put us up at his place. Until we know who did this”—Harper glanced sideways at Nick and he understood she knew exactly who it was, as did he—“we’re staying there.”

“No, I can’t.” Hailey shook her head. “I won’t run and hide. Besides, I refuse to be a third wheel in whatever this is.” She motioned towards them.

“You could stay at my place,” Reece said eagerly.

Hailey’s eyebrows shot up. “Thanks, but no. I’m staying put.”

“If she stays, so do I,” Harper said.

“Then I’ll camp out here,” Reece said just as Nick opened his mouth to offer to do the same.

“Ditto,” Nick added with a grin.

Both of the sisters sighed and then looked at one another. He could see Harper begging Hailey with her eyes.