He arches an eyebrow at me, and I do the same, challenging him to disagree with me. I am definitely not in the mood to deal with any more wannabe cops in this town.
He backs down as he hands me my coffee, and I instantly feel bad comparing him to Arlo in any way. Oakley’s not a wannabe cop; he’smy sister’s boyfriend, who saved my brother. He doesn’t deserve my annoyance, especially when it’s directed at Arlo, not him.
“Sorry, I’ve just been on edge a lot lately. Obviously,” I add because if anyone is dealing with shit outside of Lennox, it’s these two.
“All good. We’re all trying to figure out how to get back to normal,” Willow says.
“How are you both doing?” I ask.
“Not bad. Healing is fine. We’re just happy to open back up and have a regular workday. Yesterday was … a shitshow,” Oakley says with a chuckle.
“Did the nosy trio bombard you immediately?”
“Oh yeah, asking Will a bunch of invasive questions, so I kicked everyone out and we closed up. I think everyone got the message, though,” Oakley says as he looks around at the calm coffee shop.
“You fit right into this family already.” I laugh.
“You sure do.” Willow leans into his side.
He presses a kiss to her temple, and I feel the sudden urge to flee. I’m happy for Will, more than happy, but I’m struggling not to compare my life to hers at the moment.
“Well, thanks for the pick-me-up. I’ll see you both for family dinner?” I ask.
“We’ll be there,” Willow says.
I head back out to my truck and prepare myself for a long-ass night.
Chapter 6
Arlo
It’s been a few days since … everything happened with Rina, and it’s still all I can think about. I’m distracted and no amount of work, working out, or avoidance provides any clarity for me.
My head is a mess, and Audrey has been giving me concerned looks. Apparently, it’s possible to look grumpier than I usually do, according to her.
I drop my head to my desk in a lame attempt to clear my head and focus on shit that needs to get done.
“Knock, knock. Bad time?” Oakley’s voice disrupts my self-loathing.
“Nope. How can I help you?” I sigh as I lift my head up.
“You okay?” he asks with a tilt of his head.
“Peachy. What’s going on?” I hear the bluntness of my words, but my brain is too muddled to address it.
His eyebrow arches before he walks in and takes a seat in front of my desk.
“I meant to get over here earlier, but the shop’s been busy as hell since we re-opened. A couple of days ago, Rina came in telling Will and me about a knocked-over pile of wood on her property. She’s claiming it’s probably an animal, but it hasn’t been sitting right with me. I’ve beenon her property and know how high some of her stacks are, and it would take one hell of a huge animal to do any damage to it.”
“It could have been an animal,” I grumble. Inside, I’m trying to figure out how quickly I can go check out her property for myself while doing it covertly enough that she doesn’t know. My heart rate has skyrocketed, thinking the worst.
“We both know that’s bullshit, Sheriff.”
“Arlo,” I say automatically.
“Whatever. I just wanted you to be aware. I plan to keep an eye out if I see anything suspicious.”
“Thank you for that,” I concede, even though my head is spiraling with thoughts of anything happening to Rina.
