He looked at the road before glancing back at her. “What’s wrong?”
“I haven’t been back to the park since we found Rhett.”
The image of his dead body in the small kitchen flashed in her mind, making her skin crawl.
Noah reached out and gripped her thigh. “It’s safe. We’ve got the silent alarm on the cabin that only you, me, and Colt know about, so we know no one’s been in there. And I’ll be by your side the entire time.”
She nodded quickly. “I know. I guess I’m also a bit worried about Cass.”
“What about Cass?”
Crap. She hadn’t told him. “I guess with everything going on I forgot to mention that I ran into her at The Tea House last week. It was the same day Jules told me about her cancer.”
She swallowed hard, still feeling sad whenever she thought about that. Shehadtold Noah about Jules because it had been a constant on her mind.
“What happened?” he asked.
“She was angry.”
“At you?”
“Yeah. She confirmed she and Rhett were in a relationship and said his death was my fault.”
Noah’s fingers tightened around the wheel. “She really said that?”
“She sure did.” Addie lifted a shoulder. “She was hurting.”
“It doesn’t matter. Nothing about what happened to Rhett was your fault. He obviously got mixed up with the asshole who’s harassing you and paid the price. Have you spoken to Cass since?”
“No. I texted once or twice to check in, but she hasn’t responded. And I’m not sure if she’ll be too…friendly toward me today.” Would she spew more accusations about Rhett’s death being Addie’s fault? Or would she keep it to herself because they were going to be at work?
“If she says anything to hurt you, she’s out,” Noah said quietly.
“Noah, you don’t have the staff to be letting anyone else go.”
“She’s already had a warning for covering for Rhett the day of the climb. And we’re already advertising for new employees. We can replace her too if we need.”
“She’s good at her job. Besides, I’m sure everything will be fine. Iamlooking forward to checking in on Jules though.”She glanced behind her at the pot of soup she’d made. After everything Jules had done for her, it didn’t feel like enough.
“Hm.” That was all Noah said. He didn’t have to say it out loud for her to know that he still thought Jules was involved in what was going on. And that was despite the second, more in-depth background check coming up clear and Jules giving them no indication that she had anything to do with this.
Another reason she knew it wasn’t Jules was because her attacker had felt like a man. His strength, the hardness of his body…there was no way it had been Jules. Something she’d told both Noah and Jesse.
When they reached the park, there were already five cars in the lot—Colt’s, Jules’s, Cass’s, Buck’s, and Flint’s, which meant they were last to arrive.
She grabbed the soup, and the second Noah was around the car, his hand went to the small of her back as they headed toward the log cabin.
Inside, Colt, Buck, and Flint were talking, while Cass and Jules stood together.
Addie walked to the women, offering Cass a small smile and a hi before looking at Jules. “Hey. I made this for you.”
Jules gasped. “Oh, Addie, you didn’t need to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to. It’s my mother’s famous chicken soup.”
Jules took the dish and set it on the desk before giving Addie a hug. “You are so beautiful, my darling.”
“Jules, you’ve made me a million meals in the last few months. It was the least I could do.” She pulled back. “How are you doing?”
