Chapter 11
The following afternoon, the stairs behind Natalie creaked. “You don’t have to tiptoe around me,” she said to Gabe. “I’m not going to shush you if you make a noise.”
“How did you know it was me?”
She turned around and smiled. “Caleb thumps up the stairs and Sherlock’s nails click on the wood.”
Gabe looked at his bare feet. “I’m glad you didn’t confuse me with Sherlock.”
“You have lovely feet.” Natalie laughed. “Unless you turn into a hobbit, your nails will never click on the wood.” She looked across the landing at Sherlock. With his favorite blanket in Gabe’s office, he’d decided the sofa would make a great sleeping spot. “Sherlock has been up here with me for most of the morning.”
Gabe frowned. “If he becomes a nuisance, let me know.”
“He could never annoy me. He’s a wonderful dog.” She looked at the time and frowned. “You’re usually still writing. Are you finishing early today?”
“I’m having a break. Caleb just received another email from the NYPD. They’ve found Chapman’s stepbrother.”
Natalie’s hand shook as she placed her brush on a plate. “What did he say about Leith?”
“Not a lot. He hasn’t seen him since he was released from prison.”
“Do the police believe him?”
“I don’t know but, if it were me, I’d be looking at any phone calls that were made from his apartment.”
She wiped her hands on an old rag and studied Gabe. “How do you feel about the police finding Leith’s stepbrother?”
“I’m not as excited as I thought I’d be. There are still too many unanswered questions.”
“Has Leith contacted your literary agent again?”
Gabe shook his head. “He hasn’t heard from him since he sent the photos of us at the Cherry Festival.”
Even though it hadn’t been that long ago, their day in Polson seemed like a distant memory. Natalie rubbed her forehead, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. “Maybe Leith finally got the message and decided to leave you alone.”
“We shouldn’t count on that happening.”
Natalie didn’t want to count on anything or anyone. But that hadn’t stopped her from falling in love with Gabe. “What’s next?”
A blush streaked along Gabe’s jaw. “Do you mean with Leith Chapman?”
Natalie didn’t know what else…oh.He was worried about what had happened yesterday. “Yes, I meant Leith.” She was proud of the way her voice didn’t tremble. Last night she’d had a stern talk to herself. She couldn’t assume Gabe wanted to be anything other than friends. In another couple of months she’d be in Italy, preparing for her exhibition, and he would be in Brooklyn.
Gabe cleared his throat. “We can’t do much about Leith or his stepbrother. The best we can do is keep ourselves safe.”
“Something should have happened by now.” Natalie didn’t need to explain what she was talking about. Last night, they’d studied the spreadsheet Caleb had created. In Gabe’s novel, Zac Connelly was closing in on the bad guys. He was circling their headquarters, making life difficult for anyone who knew them.
In real life, Leith Chapman had stopped harassing them. It didn’t make sense. Unless he’d made the shelter in the forest. But even that was grasping at straws. They’d checked the hunting season schedule for different animals, but none of them matched the end of July. Someone could have been illegally hunting, but it would have been an even bigger coincidence to find their shelter so close to Caleb’s home.
Gabe crossed his arms. “I keep telling myself we should be thankful that nothing else has happened. But after six months of being harassed, I’m tired of waiting for Chapman to do something.” He frowned at Sherlock, then lifted his troubled gaze to Natalie. “Can we talk about yesterday?”
She’d stayed awake for most of the night, replaying what had happened on the mountain. The last thing she wanted was to complicate Gabe’s life. And starting a relationship with her was something he didn’t need.
After taking a deep breath, she looked at Gabe. “I know I made you feel uncomfortable and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” She didn’t expect him to smile.
“Are you always so sure about what I’m going to say?”
“It was a lucky guess.”
