Page 10 of The Scars We Heal

“What’s going on?” Her brows furrowed.

Isa chewed on her bottom lip as she replied, “I have no idea.”

Quiet tension enveloped the living room as we waited for our friends to come back out.

Hayden finally broke the silence. “Hey, you just finished your guest house, right, Jake?”

Thank God. Something happy again.

“Sure did! It looks super nice. We could have a housewarming party next,” I replied, the words tumbling out of my mouth. “Gotta get some furniture in there and make it all homey, but it should be usable in the next couple of months.”

“That’s awesome, man.” Reid clapped me on the back. “I’m sure you’re really proud of it.”

“Yeah, I am. Might need some help decorating it from you ladies, though.” I laughed, hoping to lighten the mood. “It’d look like bachelor pad 2.0 if I was the one decorating. Probably not that appealing to the people I’m trying to reach.”

“Oooh, yes please!” Isa nodded. “I’m not a professional interior designer or anything, but I love decorating.”

Despite my attempts, the air was still tense, but fortunately, Colter and Ellison emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later.

A heavy sigh fell from Colter’s lips as he stepped back into the living room. “Sorry, guys,” he bit out, his voice sharp and harsh.

“Is everything okay, man?” Reid asked what I was sure the rest of us were thinking.

“It was Caitlin.” Colter’s jaw hardened.

A million thoughts raced through my mind. A million different worst-case scenarios.

What happened? Is she hurt?

Did something happen to Whitley?

“Adam just served her divorce papers.”

I shook my head, dispelling all my thoughts as I headed back out to the kitchen. My job was to make sure Caitlin was comfortable and felt at home in the guest house. To make sure she had everything she needed as a tenant. Nothing more, nothing less.

This time, when I got back to work, I purposely avoided looking across the lawn, and forty-five minutes later, I successfully had a meal waiting for me at the dining table with plenty of leftovers to last the week.

Unfortunately, the moment I sat down, a loud, repetitive beeping pierced through the air.

The fire alarm in my house wasn’t going off, so it had to be the one in the guest house. My heart started pounding in my chest as I threw on a pair of boots and barged through my front door.

Sure enough, the sound increased in volume as I approached the guest house.

“Caitlin?” I called out, but the door didn’t open. I rapped my fist against the wood a few times but still received no response.

Fuck. A million different scenarios carved their way through my mind.

What if Caitlin was hurt? What if there was a fire and the whole house was about to go up in flames? Where was Whitley while all this was happening?

I put my hands on my head, trying to think of what to do. I could keep pounding on the door, but if Caitlin was hurt and couldn’t get there, that would do me no good.

I could call the fire department, but who knew how long it would take for them to respond.

I could kick down the door, but then I’d have to fix it.

“Caitlin!” I yelled. “Cait!”

Either the fire alarm drowned out my voice, or Caitlin was seriously hurt and couldn’t get to the door. Regardless, I needed to get in the guest house to make sure everything was okay.