Her feet were moving before she could stop herself. She ran to the front door and pulled it open to see the tail end of a car pulling down her drive. And there, on her front door, was wet egg and broken shell.
Really? Locals were going so far as toegg her housenow? And not just any eggs—rotten eggs, if the smell was anything to go by.
God,nowshe wanted to scream. Either that or cry. She slammed her door closed and moved back into the house.
They were trying to run her out of town. Well, guess what, jerks? She wasn’t going anywhere. This was her home. This was where she’d grown up, and she had nothing to be ashamed of. Absolutely nothing!
An hour…it took her an entire freaking hour to clean the egg from her house. Too long. By the time she was done, she was angry and frustrated and about a million other things. Why hadn’t she gotten the plate numbers? Reported them to the sheriff’s office? At least Eastern, the town sheriff, didn’t seem to hate her and would likely do something.
Because she hadn’t been thinking. Shock had stopped her from doing anything but staring at the egg.
She was about to move to the bathroom for her second shower of the evening—because, yeah, she stunk—when her phone beeped with a message. She lifted it to see her friend’s name on the screen.
Harper: Hey, if you’re free, come down to the bar. It’s quiet, so I can take a break and have a drink with you. It’s been too long since we caught up.
Harper was new in town. She’d gotten a job at the local bar, Meridian, and had been kind to Tilly since their first meeting. They’d become instant friends, something Tilly had really needed. Hell, something shestillreally needed.
Tilly: Be there within the hour.
Kayden liftedhis beer to his mouth. It had been a long-ass day. After his run, he’d taken a group of tourists on a hike, then finally given Theo that warning. It had not been taken well.
Kayden didn’t give a shit how the guy reacted though. Being part of the Misty Peak SAR team wasn’t voluntary, it was paid. It was also highly competitive. If Theo couldn’t show up to work in a good state, there were a dozen guys who would eagerly take his place.
“Tough day?”
Kayden glanced at his brother Cody. After their father’s cancer had taken hold, Cody had taken over the running of his bar. He was good at it, being a people person. They also had two brothers still serving in the military, Eastern, who was town sheriff; and a sister, Nylah, who’d moved to Cradle Mountain, Idaho, several months ago.
“You could say that,” Kayden finally answered. “Theo showed up for work hungover.”
“Why did he do that?”
“Who the hell knows? But he probably got drunk because he was losing at poker.”
Cody scowled. “I’m guessing you had a word with him.”
“Yep. He wasn’t too happy about it either. Didn’t say it so much with his words as with the glare I received.”
Cody shook his head as he threw a dishrag over his shoulder. “Doesn’t matter if he’s happy with it or not. You’re team leader—what you say goes.”
Maybe that was the problem. Kayden had only gotten home from the military less than a year ago and had been given the job of SAR team leader from the get-go, while Theo had been working at the place for years and hadn’t even been considered.
Incidences like this were the reason.
Kayden set his beer down. “How are you and Harper doing?”
Cody glanced down the bar to where she was serving drinks. “We’re good. Harper’s a damn warrior to have recovered so quickly from everything she went through.”
Kayden nodded. His brother wasn’t wrong. A few weeks ago, Harper had been targeted not only by a local but also her own family. You’d never know that by looking at her now though. “I’m sure it helps that she has you by her side.”
“Nowhere I’d rather be.” Cody turned back to him. “That woman is my world. I would move heaven and earth to make her happy.”
While he could appreciate that his brother did look happy with Harper, he didn’t understand it. Maybe because Kayden didn’t date. Why, exactly, he wasn’t sure. Because no woman had ever made him want more than one night? Because he found it damn hard to trust people outside of his family?
When Harper approached Cody, his arms went around her like he had to be touching her. “Are you doing okay?”
She nodded, her eyes soft. “I’m doing great. Do you mind if I take a small break to have a drink with Tilly?”
Kayden’s spine straightened. Tilly was here? He looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, the woman stood by the door. Her green eyes bore into him, feeling like an arrow in his chest.
