Instead of the ringtone he was listening for, his ears picked up on a buzzing sound. Brooke’s hand flew to her pocket, briefly cupping it. She just as quickly dropped her hand, but not before he glimpsed the outline of something rectangular inside her pocket.
Gotcha!He disconnected the call and tucked the burner phone back into his pocket, not the least bit thrilled about identifying Jensen’s imposter. Brooke had been inside their home, for crying out loud. She’d visited with Halle and spoken to his kids during his absence. That she was the sender of the threatening messages to Halle begged another set of questions.
What was her connection to James House? Was she the one trying to engineer a reconciliation between him and Halle? Was she the other buyer who’d wanted to purchase Garrett Farm? If so, why?
It wasn’t until Halle squeezed Owen’s hand that herealized how tightly he’d been holding onto hers. He immediately eased up on the pressure. “We need to head back to the house, but it was nice running into you, Brooke.” It was time to wake up the boys and get them ready for church.
“It was nice running into you, too.” Brooke’s million-dollar smile was one hundred percent fake.
As Owen strolled with Halle toward the farmhouse, he couldn’t help wondering if Brooke’s drone had captured a video of their second kiss.
“What’s going on with you?” Halle hissed as they neared the front porch.
Nothing you’re going to want to hear.“Brooke is Jensen’s imposter.”
“Are you serious?” Halle spun around to face him on the porch steps, halting his progress toward the front door. “What brought you to that conclusion?”
He filled her in about what had happened when he’d dialed the imposter’s number from his burner phone.
A sound of disbelief slid out of her. “I didn’t even notice you were doing it.”
He reached up to tap the tip of her nose. “That’s the whole idea.”
“So, Brooke Aspen is the evil villain.” She shook her head in confusion.
“One of them.” He doubted Brooke was working alone.
“She’s never been my favorite person,” Halle admitted, “but I would never have pegged her for something like this. I just assumed she was drowning us in pie to impress you.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Romantically?”
“Well, why not? She’s single and beautiful.” Halle didn’t sound too happy about it.
“So are you.” He hooked an arm around her, cuddlingher close. “A lot more beautiful, if you ask me. I’ve always had a thing for brunettes with windblown ponytails.”
“Haha!” She didn’t look convinced.
“Okay. Fine.” He nuzzled her temple. “There’s only one woman on my radar. You.”
She smiled and hugged him. “Good, because I might be falling for a certain auburn-haired chicken farmer.”
“Might be?” He waggled his eyebrows at her, trying to look outraged.
She chuckled and amended her claim. “I might be fallingreally hardfor the guy.”
“Better.” He nipped playfully at her lips.
“Owen,” she sighed.
It was a sound that went straight to his heart. He never wanted the moment to end, but he needed to get to his office and make a few calls before heading to church. What he’d found out about Brooke was too important to sit on until Monday morning.
He tipped his forehead against Halle’s. “I need to run our latest discovery past my boss, and maybe the sheriff.”
She leaned back to get a better look at him, her gaze snapping with interest. “Do you think it’s enough to get a search warrant for Aspen Ranch?”
He doubted it. “That’ll be up to the judge. It might help if we can establish a connection between her and James House.”
Normally, any mention of her ex sapped the life out of her. This time, it had the opposite effect. “I’ll wade through old snapshots and social media posts to see if anything pops,” she promised. “If there’s a connection, we’ll find it.”
