“So if I find out who did this, you’ll be gone?” he asked.
He didn’t want that either.
To never see her again.
To never hear her voice.
Even if it wasn’t real, would he lose these pieces of his sister? It might feel like a second death to him.
“I’ll always be here and watching out for you,” Rene said. “Answer the door.”
“What?”
“Get off your lazy butt and answer the door,” Rene said, laughing, then disappeared when he heard a bang.
He sat up and looked around the small cabin on Ridgeway Orchards. He was in the living room on the couch where he must have dozed off.
The TV was still on but a different show than he’d been watching.
“Coming,” he said, and stood up.
He looked out the window and didn’t see any vehicles, but it seemed everyone just walked on the property.
“It’s Clay.”
He opened the door to Gale’s brother.
“Sorry. I guess I dozed off.”
“Didn’t mean to bother you,” Clay said. “Just checking in. Gale asked me to. She said you seemed groggy this morning and I was down this way.”
“Your sister kept waking me up to see how I felt last night.”
“She was worried. She gets that way.”
“I appreciate it. What you are all doing.”
“Blaze said it’s important for you to rest. Just wanted to make sure you were good and I’ll leave you alone,” Clay said.
“I can only sleep so much.” Especially if his sister was going to be bugging him. Blaze said it was barely a mild concussion. He’d take that as their erring on the side of caution.
“I know that feeling,” Clay said. “Not to put pressure on you or anything, but if you’re up to it later, Ford was going to come out and we’d like to talk and go over a few things.”
“Yeah. I’ll be up to it. Gale might be pissed, but she’ll have to get over it.”
Clay snorted. “That’s for you to deal with. Just don’t mess her up too much. And if she knew I said that, she’d be in my face.”
“Your sister has said a few times that she’s tough. I know it. I just need to decide my next step. I can’t leave here now. Not when it feels I’m so close.”
“Stay as long as you want,” Clay said. “It’s only sitting empty. You’re safer here than anywhere else and maybe it will give you more peace to work.”
“I can’t get much work done while I’m focused on this, though I’ll have to work on my book soon.”
Something he’d try to think of next week. Even if it was a rough draft or an outline. He knew where he was going with it now.
That his hero was actually going to be the leading lady.
A sexy, cocky, tough attorney who didn’t back down from anything.
