“No one’s pushing me around, it’s Sylvie who’s getting pushed.”
Wolf’s eyebrows rose as he took in her police uniform. “Anything we need to know about?” His voice had turned dead serious.
For a moment, Sylvie was tempted to mention George’s concerns about the extra security surrounding the festival this year. But no. This man was here to relax on vacation with his wife. And wasn’t she just saying something about staying tight-lipped around ongoing investigations? Though this one wasn’t official, if she turned up anything, she could compromise an investigation before it even started.
Caroline spoke up for her. “Sylvie has a nasty HOA president who’s forcing her out of her own home.”
Now Wolf looked nothing but fierce. “Anything we can do?”
Sylvie waved him off. “Thank you, really, but no. It’s my problem, and if the neighborhood doesn’t want me, I don’t want them. Time for something better.” Just saying those words made her feel like something good was coming her way.
And right on cue, Alex walked through the back door with Champ and Mac.
“So you’re moving?” he asked, sounding casual. She tried not to smile too widely.
“Looks like it. I’ll try and find an apartment before the classes start and Chewie will be out of your hair.”
“Hey now, I’ve enjoyed having him around.”
“I thought hewasyour dog at first,” Rachael said. “The way he followed you everywhere.”
Hearing that made Sylvie incredibly happy.
“All right, I’ve got some chores to do down at the barn before dinner’s ready,” Arden said.
“I’ll help.” Harper stood up. “Ripple is my responsibility anyway.”
“Ripple?” Sylvie asked.
“My horse. You’re not the only one boarding an animal on the hill. Arden’s kept him for years.”
“Let’s all go,” Caroline said. “It’ll make things go quickly. And besides,” she patted her tummy, “I need to burn off lunch before I eat dinner. You’re an amazing cook.”
Arden’s cheeks pinkened. “Thanks! I’ll take the help.” Arden led the way down the steps and to the barn. The multiple dogs playing on the lawn decided that they would help—and possibly scare up a barn cat or two—and flanked the women all the way into the barn.
To make the chores go even faster, they gossiped about the men of Watchdog while they worked.
“I couldn’t believe how happy Badger looked when I came over today,” Harper said to Arden as they fed the horses. “I think he’s completely smitten over that girl.”
“It’s good to see him like that. He left behind a woman who didn’t want to move out here with him and he hasn’t shown any real interest in anyone else until now. But,” and at this, Arden frowned, “I’m not sure about Brianna.”
Sylvie’s ears perked up at the name. “One of the baristas at Riversong.”
“You must know her family.” Arden said as she crossed the barn to the alpaca enclosure.
“Hard not to in my line of work, unfortunately. She’s perfectly fine though, I can tell you.” She felt a little defensive of the young woman. “This Badger guy could do much worse.”
“He could,” Arden agreed as she stroked one of the alpaca’s faces. “I’m not worried about her per se, but seeing as she’s in the pre-festival musician workshop now, Kyle’s not too happy about one of his bodyguards potentially getting distracted while on duty.”
“Really? She’s in the contest?” Sylvie remembered the morning Brianna confided in her that she was ‘sneaking away’ to the festival at some point.Bit of an understatement. She made a mental note to check on the family. Arden did have a point—trouble followed the Taylors.
Sylvie’s phone buzzed. Carla had texted an emoji of a bat—the Bat Signal they called it.
“I need to take this. Can I run back up to the house real quick?”
Arden turned to her. “Of course. If you need privacy, feel free to use one of the guest rooms.”
“Thanks.” Sylvie headed back to the house. The men were still gathered on the deck.
