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She didn’t dare think it meant anything more. She knew better.
Still, the sweet gesture was just so Max, it brought on a wave of missing him even more.
She appreciated what he’d done so much, she’d whispered, “Thank you,” to him, even if he didn’t want the words and couldn’t hear her. She went to bed with the watch in her hands, held close to her heart.
She still hadn’t slept much, but each time she woke, the watch brought back good memories. She focused on them and fell back to sleep with something good to think about and to wash away the bad.
For a little while anyway.
She woke up this morning to her new reality living on the ranch. The second she opened her bedroom door, she spotted the agent, Mike, sitting on the top step of the stairs, gun holstered at his side, along with his badge. He gave her a nod but that was about it, since she turned and headed for the bathroom.
She’d waited until she heard Max leave the house before venturing out. She’d silently vowed yesterday to be the most unobtrusive and most inconspicuous guest she could be. She’d do her best to give Max his space.
And make things easy on her FBI shadows.
She showered and put on clean clothes, including underwear and a bra, since she got to pack her things this time and not Hunt, before she headed down for some food. Max hadn’t said anything about the box of stuff she’d given back to him. He hadn’t said much of anything yesterday after bringing her home and helping the agent—that one had introduced himself as Ray—carry her stuff up to her room.
She ate the plate of eggs and bacon someone, probably Max again, left in the fridge for her, then returned to her room.
Mike took his seat on the stairs again.
She should probably say something to him.Hi. Thank you.But she didn’t feel like talking to anyone.
Except she needed to call the principal at school about her not coming back to teach for... a while. She felt badly she couldn’t give Patrice a definite date for herreturn. Given the circumstances, she hoped the principal understood and didn’t fire her.
She sat on the edge of her bed and reluctantly made the call.
“Willow Fork High School, this is Patrice. How may I help you?”
“Hi. It’s Kenna.”
“I hoped I’d hear from you today. How are you? Better, I hope.” The sincerity touched Kenna.
She couldn’t really remember what she’d said yesterday morning when she called in to give a brief description about what happened to her and Marcus and that she needed a couple days off. “I’m... um... doing as well as can be expected, I suppose.” Sure. Let’s call barely eating or sleeping when she wasn’t crying the best she could do right now. Not to mention the anxiety and weariness riding her hard.
“It’s all anyone is talking about on campus. Everyone has seen the news reports.” Patrice paused. “And, of course, the students are gossiping about you and Marcus seeing each other.”
“Marcus and I disclosed our personal relationship to you.” She wanted to make it clear they hadn’t been hiding anything. “But there is something else you should know.”
“Go on.” Patrice sounded anxious and excited to learn something others didn’t know. Patrice loved gossip.
“Originally it was thought that the break-in was random. I learned yesterday that I was targeted.” She leftit vague, because she didn’t want to get mired in the details.
Patrice made a short humming sound, then said, “I see.”
“The police and FBI are looking into the matter.”
“The FBI.” Patrice sounded absolutely intrigued. In a small town where nothing much happened, the FBI getting involved in a case was big news.
Willow Fork had very little crime. Murders were few and far between.
“I am cooperating with the investigation. Which means, due to the fact I’m a target, I’ll be in protective custody and unable to return to work right now.”
Patrice gasped. “For how long?”
“I have no idea. I wish I could give you a time frame, it’s just...” Choked up, she didn’t know how to finish that. “It could be days, weeks, even months,” she confessed. “I hate to do this to you last minute.”
“Finding a sub won’t be easy, especially if it turns into a month or more.” Patrice huffed out a breath. “But if we need to make accommodations, then that’s what we’ll do.”
