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Whoever had done this to her house had been either in a rage or searching frantically for something. Everything had been destroyed and she didn’t have anything worth taking. So, what had they wanted?

Why hadn’t she called him?

“I...I knew you were busy in meetings today.”

He frowned. True. But didn’t she know that she was more important than any meeting? Obviously not, since she’d chosen not to call him.

“I don’t care how busy I am, something like this happens, you call me, understand, little girl?”

She blushed slightly and glanced over at Ed. The sheriff gave him an assessing stare. “Like that, is it?”

Kent nodded. “It is. And from now on, if there’s ever any trouble involving Abby, I expect a call straight away.”

“I’ll note that,” Ed said dryly.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she whispered.

“I just took responsibility for you,” he told her in a firm voice.

“Umm, you what?”

“If you get into trouble, get a speeding fine, get into an accident, something like this happens again then Ed knows to call me immediately. Although, if you’re able to I’d expect that call to come from you.”

“You can’t just accept responsibility for me,” she whispered.

“She doesn’t know it’s like that, huh?” Ed asked, sounding amused.

“We were taking things slow.” He looked around. “Timeline just got pushed forward.”

“It did?” she asked shakily.

Sympathy stirred. Poor baby, she seemed like she’d reached her limit. He moved slowly closer, not wanting to make any sudden moves and scare her. Thankfully, she didn’t shy away from him. He cupped the side of her face with the palm of his hand. “It’s okay, baby. You’ve had a bad scare. You’re in shock. Just let me help you, okay?”

“I don’t understand what happened.” She took in the living room with horror-filled eyes.

He grasped hold of her chin, raising her face up so she was staring at him. Just him. “Just focus on me, baby. I’m going to take care of everything else. All right? Just me.”

Her eyes were still too wide. Her pulse was racing. But she kept her eyes on his. He ran his thumb over the smooth skin of her cheek. “That’s my sweet girl.”

Ed cleared his throat. “Now that that’s settled, maybe you can shed some light on the bruises she’s got on her wrist?”

13

You’re not scared of Kent. Kent isn’t scary.

But right at that moment, as he stared down at her bruised wrist, the one she’d forgotten to hide from the sheriff in her shock over the state of her house, she had to work really hard to remember that she had nothing to fear from him.

She swallowed heavily. She couldn’t believe this. Any of it. Who had done this to her house? Why? They hadn’t taken anything, it just seemed like they’d done their best to destroy everything they could. There wasn’t anything left. Nothing.

She had nothing.

And where the hell was Max?

A sob worked its way up her throat and Kent raised his eyes from her bruised wrist to study her face. He still held her hand gently in his large one. His skin was warm, his touch surprisingly gentle, the look in his eyes was banked fury.

“How old is this bruise?” he asked.

Tears swam in her eyes. She shook her head.