“This is your fault,” he snapped, shaking his finger at me. “And you better fix it.”
Then he stormed off.
I looked at Ian. “I think I better go home and stay there the rest of the day.”
CHAPTER 8
Ian kissed me the moment we walked through the door.
Not a distracted kiss.
Not a reassuring one.
The kind that said everything that had gone unsaid on Main Street.
One thing led to another—as it often did with us—and by the time we finally settled on the couch, the tension that had wrapped itself around Ian earlier had eased. The edge was gone. The worry too. At least the part that had to do with Stone.
We sat side by side, a bowl of ice cream balanced between us. Roxie slept peacefully on the top tier of her cat house, and Mo, after enjoying some strawberry ice cream, lay stretched out by the French doors to sleep. The soft drumming of summer rain tapped against the windows of the log cabin. Outside, the world had slowed, the sky heavy and gray, the kind of rain that cooled the air without demanding attention.
I watched it for a moment, then said, “I wonder how Stone knew that guy was involved with the robbery.”
Ian scooped up another spoonful. “That’s what’s been bothering me too. He warned us the robbers might go after people who emptied their safety deposit boxes, but he didn’t say a word about already having suspects.”
“Which makes you wonder why,” I said. “If he had enough to put a tail on someone, why not share that?”
“Control,” Ian said simply. “Stone likes to keep it.”
I sighed. “That, or he didn’t want us knowing how far along the investigation already was.” I shook my head briefly. “Still feels like something’s missing.”
Before he could answer, we heard a car pull into the drive.
I sighed. “That’ll be my mother.”
Ian smiled faintly. “Busy mayor or worried mom?”
“Both,” I said. “And I’m guessing worried mom won.”
The front door opened a moment later.
“I leave town matters alone for one afternoon,” my mother announced as she stepped inside, “and suddenly my daughter’s involved in a public spectacle.”
Ian sat up a little straighter.
“Mom,” I said, “you’re mayor now. You can’t already be running on gossip.”
She waved that off. “I hear things. I’m expected to. It’s part of the job. Now tell me why everyone else is wondering why a man who isn’t Ian kissed you.”
“Didn’t Dad explain?” I asked, trying not to relive the whole incident.
“He’s busy.”
“Josh,” I said with a glimmer in my eye, thinking, what did I have to lose to sacrifice him twice?
My mom folded her arms across her chest, meaning no more delays… answer me.
I did but made it brief.
Her mouth thinned as she listened. “Well. That Agent Stone has some nerve.”
