“Cubby have any ideas what sort of scum is capable of doing something like this?”
“Not a one.”
“This kind of thing doesn’t happen in our town, Jake. Makes you question things when it does.”
“It’ll be okay, Dad. Cubby will find them. He just needs time.”
“It’ll rock a few people.”
“I know.” And it would. The people of Howling didn’t deal with a lot of crime. There were the usual things, but nothing this vicious, nothing to shake people’s foundations. Jake had seen worse, many times over during the years he’d spent away from here, but some of Howling’s inhabitants had never left here and change didn’t sit well with them, good or bad.
“That girl is getting a hug from me.” Jake’s father nodded to where Branna stood with Mikey and his wife. “Then, you give me a job.”
Jake organized things while Branna looked on bemused, and it was when he had issued the last instruction that Annabelle, Penny, and Newman arrived. Her car sped up the driveway and ground to a halt behind Jake’s parents’ car. She leapt out when it had stopped, and like Mikey, ran inside, leaving her passengers to gather whatever was in the backseat and follow. She stood in the doorway, her eyes looking around the room until she found Branna; then she was on the move again.
“Holy shit, Bran!” She grabbed her friend and Branna didn’t resist; in fact, he saw her arms wrap around Annabelle’s waist, and then he heard the first sob and soon they were both howling loudly. She needed that, to finally let go of the tears that were backed up inside her. Maureen came out of the kitchen clucking and ushered them, along with Penny who was patting Branna’s back, out of the room.
“Tackle me if I even step in that direction,” Buster said, as he and Newman came to stand beside Jake, and then by silent consent, they headed out the front door to where Cubby stood once again writing in his book.
“She ran up the trail to get to you?” Buster’s eyes looked at the end of the driveway, picturing how it must have looked last night. “In the dark,” he added.
“She did.”
“You in love, bud?”
“Let’s call it care for now, so both parties don’t take flight.”
“Good.”
Newman grunted his consent, and that was how men did it, Jake thought, as he and Buster went back inside.
Branna was worn out.She’d not gotten much sleep last night, and seeing all these people here in her house helping her clean the mess was making her emotional. She’d cried all over Belle, Penny, and Cubby’s mother, and that had only added to her fatigue.
People seemed to be continually touching her—a hug here, the brush of a hand on her shoulder there. It was exhausting. Branna was a loner, but suddenly she was surrounded by people, and she couldn’t seem to get her head around the fact that they were here to help her.
For a person who liked to be in control and shared her life with no one but her computer, this was almost too much. Yet, inside her, there was a warm spot that was growing. She felt herself being sucked into all this, especially when she looked at Jake. He cared about her, and somehow she’d told him she felt the same, and that terrified her.
Slipping out the back door, she made her way to the shed. Branna wasn’t running away; she was just looking for some breathing room. Opening the door, she took the key out of her pocket and slipped it into Geraldine’s lock. Pulling the back door wide, she got in, closing it behind her, and then she lay on the backseat so she wasn’t seen by anyone if they were looking.
It wasn’t like she didn’t like all those people who were currently redecorating her house; it was just hard to work out why they were here. Of course, Jake was part of the reason. They all loved him, and as he seemed to like her, they had come. But how did they know he liked her when she’d only found out this morning? Closing her eyes, she let the cool quiet of the car’s interior settle around her.
“Dan lent me this car to propose to the doc, Branna.”
Her eyes sprang open as Mr. McBride settled himself in the driver’s seat. “Don’t get up.” He lifted a hand as she attempted to do just that. “You’ve had a hard time of it, and I’m sorry it happened in our town.”
“It’s not your fault, Mr. McBride.”
“I’m sorry just the same, and the name’s Patrick. Mr. McBride was my father.”
She lay there listening as he talked. He sounded so much like Jake she smiled. He told her all the town news and about the night carnival that was happening in a few days. His lovely voice was calming her nerves and lulling her as he spoke.
“Where did you drive Geraldine to propose, Patrick?”
“Well, I picked up Nancy from her parents’ house—she wore this soft pink dress and was standing on the porch when I pulled up. Do you know what I thought when I saw her, Branna?”
“What did you think?”
“That she was the most beautiful woman ever created and that if I was lucky enough to have her say yes to me that night, then I’d spend my life making sure she never once doubted that decision.”
