But he was getting closer.
Naomi stood at the back window, one hand pressed against the glass, the other holding Grace against her chest.
She’d been standing there for almost an hour. Maybe longer.
Good Boy sat at her feet, ears forward as if he knew something was wrong also.
Her mom moved quietly in the kitchen behind her, putting away dishes. The soft clink of plates was the only sound besides the old clock ticking in the hallway.
Caleb paced the space as if unable to settle.
Millie had tried to get Naomi and Caleb to sit down. To eat something.
But neither Caleb nor Naomi had listened.
Micah and Wyatt were out there. Walking through woods where someone had just fired at them. Where someone might still be waiting.
“Come on,” she whispered. “Come back.”
Good Boy’s tail thumped once against the floor.
Then his ears perked higher.
Naomi’s breath caught.
She leaned closer to the glass, scanning the tree line beyond the fence.
Movement.
Two figures emerged from the woods, Thunder ahead of them.
Micah. Wyatt.
Relief hit her so hard her knees nearly buckled.
“They’re back,” she called over her shoulder.
Her mom appeared, dish towel in hand. “Thank God.”
Naomi crossed the living room in quick strides and pulled open the side door.
With Grace still in her arms, she stepped onto the driveway, Good Boy right behind her, and watched as Micah and Wyatt cleared the back gate and started across the yard.
Micah saw her and lifted one hand. The small gesture said enough:I’m okay. We’re okay.
Naomi’s chest loosened, just a fraction.
The men reached the screened-in porch, and Micah’s eyes went to her first—then to Grace, as if checking that they were both still there, still safe.
“What happened?” Naomi asked, her voice steadier than she felt. “Did you find anything?”
They stepped into the house and gave a recap on everything.
Wyatt shook his head as they finished. “I’m telling you—Travis knows exactly what happened out there.”
Naomi’s arms tightened around Grace. The Hendersons had been nothing but trouble since the day her family bought this property. Harassment. Intimidation. Travis hitting her SUV.
But firing guns on their property?
