Page 36 of Then Came You

Sam had climbed the steps to the deck and come to a stop by the sliding glass door that led into the kitchen. He tugged on the door handle, which, of course, she’d locked. Then he studied the door frame itself.

She was standing slightly behind him, and his bulk prevented her from seeing what he was looking at. “What is it?”

“These marks. Were they here before?” He stepped aside so she could come closer and see what he was pointing at.

Sure enough, there were scratches on the metal doorframe that she’d never noticed before. She slowly shook her head, dread building in the pit of her stomach.

“It looks to me like somebody used a prybar or some other tool to try and open the door.” He cupped his eyes with his hands and peered in through the window. “Is that a security bar I see?”

“Yes. I make sure to slide it in place whenever I leave the house, just like O—” She almost slipped and said Owen’s name, but she caught herself. She had multiple reasons for not telling Sam about Owen, but the more time they spent together, the harder it was not to.

Owen had been a major part of her life for so long that it was natural for his name to come up. Maybe it was time she told Sam.

Then Cocoa came up and pressed his nose to the glass, his tail wagging happily at the sight of them.

“You don’t crate him when you leave?”

“No. Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of him scaring people away?”

“Maybe, but he didn’t bark when we approached the house. I guess that’s because he recognized our scents.”

She nodded. “He barks whenever a stranger comes to the door, which isn’t often.”

“So, the intruder was either scared off by Cocoa barking or he gave up when he couldn’t pry the door open.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” She knew he was trying to help, but he was also scaring her.

“I’m just hypothesizing. My concern is he might try again, especially if he’s cased out your place and knows that you live alone.”

She rubbed her arms briskly to stave off the sudden chill in the air. Looking up at the sky, she saw that a large cloud mass had covered the sun. It was typical for Michigan—the weather could change on a dime. She was also chilled by what they’d discovered. She hated the idea of somebody lurking around her property and the possibility that he might come back.

“You’re cold,” Sam said, looking at the goosebumps on her arms.

“It’s chilly without the sun. Can we go inside now?”

He nodded and then followed her back around to the front of the house. Before, she’d been nervous about him coming there, but now she didn’t want him to leave.

She felt infinitely better once they’d stepped inside and Cocoa came trotting over to greet them. He went to Sam first, which she’d become accustomed to since Sam usually had a pocketful of dog treats.

“Sorry, buddy. I don’t have anything today.” Cocoa rubbed up against Sam’s leg as assurance that the dog wouldn’t hold it against him.

“Come into the kitchen, and I’ll make us some coffee,” Gillian offered. She didn’t usually drink coffee this late in the day, but she knew it would ward off the chill. Plus, she knew Sam liked it and figured he would stay and drink a cup or two.

She started making coffee while Sam examined the sliding glass door from the inside. Cocoa, having given up on getting a treat, lay down on the kitchen floor and watched them with interest.

“Your windows and doors look fairly new,” Sam observed.

“They were installed a few years ago.” She almost said, “Owen had them installed,” but she caught herself again. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up—or why she even bothered trying.

At their ages, it was common and expected to have had past relationships. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been easy to talk about Owen. But losing your fiancé to a bullet wasn’t easy to talk about in any circumstances. Who would understand better than a fellow police officer, though?

“Have you ever had any trouble out here before?” he asked as she got out two mugs and some cream for herself.

“One of my neighbors a few houses down had their pole barn broken into a couple of years ago. Some tools were stolen, but that was all.”

“Did they catch the thief?”

“No.”