Strolling around the side of the house, I peeked at the carport at the end of the driveway, confirming Grayden’s truck wasn’t there either. I had time before my next appointment, so I could stick around to wait for Grayden to come home. No big deal. It was the friendly thing to do, since I’d broughthim coffee.
Of course, I had a key, but I didn’t want to go inside without giving Grayden a heads up.
I was contemplating whether to text him when I heard a noise near the back of the house. It had sounded like a loud thump. As if someone had just dropped something heavy.
Was Grayden in there after all?
But as I reached the next window, which overlooked one of the bedrooms, it wasn’t Grayden I saw inside.
It wasDanny. My creep of an ex-husband.
What on earth was Danny doing here?
Instinctively, I ducked back so he wouldn’t see me. Then inched forward to spy on him. Danny was pawing through the contents of a cardboard box. He tossed it aside and opened another.
I’d had no idea he was even in Hart County. And he had no right whatsoever to be inside a house that I owned.
Fury ignited in my chest as I marched to the back of the house. The door yawned open. Danny had broken the lock.
I stepped inside the enclosed sunporch, setting the coffee and pastries down on a side table along with my purse. It looked like Grayden had been sleeping back here, judging from the twisted blankets and pillow lying on top of a new futon.
His duffel slumped against a wall, clothing spilling out. It made me feel a brief pang of tenderness toward him.
But unless Grayden was a complete slob who typically left all his belongings strewn over the floor, Danny had been in here too.
My body went hot and then cold with mortification. Danny had been rifling through Grayden’s personal things.
There were books thrown around haphazardly, papers with pencil and ink designs. Art supplies. Plastic bottles of tattoo ink. One was broken, with vivid red smeared on the tile.
I would not let my ex get away with this.
My fists clenched as I stormed into the bedroom where I’d seen Danny before. And there he was, dumping out yet anothercardboard container, this one full of fabric. Probably stuff Grayden had carefully boxed up from the previous tenant.
“Danny,” I choked out. “Have you lost your mind? What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He had the decency to look ashamed for one split second. Then his mouth slid into a sneer. “You got rid of it, didn’t you? Just to spite me.”
“Got rid of what? What are you talking about?”
He brushed his sweaty hair back from his forehead. Danny’s cut was usually styled with enough gel to withstand a hurricane. I’d seen how long it took him to get that wave just right in the mirror. But today, his hair was as disheveled as his wrinkled polo and khakis.
“The last time I talked to you.” He jabbed an accusatory finger at the air as he spoke. “I asked you specifically on the phone about that box with your mom’s old jewelry in it.”
“My mother’s jewelry,” I repeated.
I did remember him saying something about a box in my mom’s basement. That was the day Grayden overheard my conversation. I also remembered telling Danny I wanted nothing to do with it.
“Yes, Piper. That’s what I said. How stupid are you?”
My insides shrank. Danny had always known which insults hurt me the most.
“What, you want her gold-plated cross necklace and her wedding ring with the fake emerald?” I asked. “You think that stuff is worth anything?”
“It’s not the jewelry I wanted. There was something else, and it’s fuckingimportant. Like I told you.”
“Thisis your latest scheme? A box with my mom’s unwanted stuff?”
Danny was pacing, gripping his hair again and he glanced around frantically at the mess he’d made. “It used to be in the basement. The old crap you couldn’t bring yourself to get rid of.But it’s not down there, and it’s not anywhere else either. So whereis it?”
