Maybe they did, but that was a lot of excitement coming from her backseat for a passing mention. How else would Will know where to go? “Do you think…”
What if the kids had planned their get-together? But that was a stretch. Wasn’t it? Had Bella seen something? Or heard? Were they really asleep the other night? Teagan’s mind began to race, and she worried that she and Noah had already messed up. Even now, did friends share pressure points? Her cheeks flamed.
“Do I think what?” he asked.
“Nothing.” Teagan batted away her crazy idea. They successfully handled a post-kiss meetup where they had touched, but it didn’t seem awkward now. That was a huge success! They were friends! She couldn’t ask for anything more.
The wind picked up fall leaves, and they watched the kids read to animals, occasionally straying to roll away and blow dandelions seeds then rush back to their blankets and dogs.
Noah turned, tilting his head. “What do you think they’re doing?”
“Blowing the dandelions?” She turned back to Noah. “Didn’t you do that when you were a kid?”
“Create a weed problem for my parents?”
“No!” She rolled her eyes. “They’re making wishes!”
“Oh, right.” He quieted. “Lainey used to do that.”
How was he handling losing Lainey? Was he a talker or someone who bottled up tighter if asked? “Are you okay?”
Noah lifted a thick shoulder. “Not really.”
“That was unexpectedly honest.”
His smile cracked, and he turned, seemingly amused. “That’s me.”
“So I’m learning. A SEAL with a soft side.”
“Whoa, hey now.” He tossed his hands in the air but winked. “I wouldn’t go that far.” After he dropped his hands and the joking subsided, he shrugged. “That’s life. Maybe that’s what they’re out there wishing for. A great life.”
“A fairy-tale happily ever after.”
He studied the kids for a second longer. “Yeah, maybe. Who wouldn’t want that?”
Teagan watched him relax. Even if she couldn’t read his mind, it looked as though it was the first time Noah wasn’t worried about raising Bella. “I’m happy you’re back in Eagle’s Ridge.”
And she bit her tongue to keep from admitting how glad she was to sit next to him too.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The wind picked up, howling. The cloudy day had been scattered with storms, but the worst of the weather had passed. Teagan nestled under an afghan on her couch with a pile of notes from the third-grade homerooms. She reached for her mug that had the bright red block print I’M NOT JUDGING YOU, the more delicate script underneath reading I’M PROFESSIONALLY DIAGNOSING YOU, and took a long sip of the decaf mint tea.
Maybe she should’ve opted for the taller mug that rah-rahed her when she was on a roll with teacher notes. She could quote her favorite mug and made a point to bring it to certain meetings with parents or teachers on the off chance they’d read her mug and have an epiphany.
BEHIND EVERY JUST KIDDING—There’s the truth.
PEEKING AROUND THE I DON’T CARES—There’s a hope or a hurt.
WITH EVERY I DON’T KNOW—There’s an idea wanting to shine.
Heck, if Teagan had the funding, she’d gift all the teachers in her school with that mug. She spun her pen on her fingers, wondering what she would do for the holidays, and the wind blew again, louder than it had been gusting. Today’s storm was over, but the wind hadn’t left.
Crack.
Teagan startled, spilling mint tea on the stack of papers, and quickly shook the papers dry. There it was again. It wasn’t distant thunder or lightning striking close by, more like a snap or a crack but muffled, and she had no idea what it was.
Teagan put down the tea-dampened papers and listened to the hum of her central heat. Nothing else made a peep. Not even the wind. Whatever that had been, it seemed out of place after a day of branches shaking and wind howling.
She tossed her pen onto the coffee table, next to her mug and papers, and again listened until the blood whirled in her eardrums. Still nothing. Maybe she shouldn’t have watched a Halloween cartoon marathon with Will. The cartoons weren’t scary at the time. But look at me now.
Teagan smiled at how easily Will had gone to sleep hours ago. Maybe she needed to go to bed herself.
Crack.
“What is that?” The hairs on the back of her neck stood, and she unwrapped from her cozy afghan at the speed of a snail. “Okay. Let’s figure this out.”
She crept along her living room, killing the only light, then checked her front door and back. Both were locked. Still no more weird noises. It was just the wind, and she needed to relax. There were a million new noisemaking possibilities with all the new Halloween decorations, a zombie or a ghost smacking a garage, or a fake graveyard or a banshee scratching a fence.
But those wouldn’t make a cracking noise that seemed to come from her backyard. “Goblins and ghosts, oh my.” She grumbled to herself.
She leaned against the counter to peek out the window. Again, nothing. Only a black abyss.
Her paranoia compounded, and when she looked down, the phone patiently waited with a blinking notification. She swiped the screen. She had missed a text message from Noah, and Teagan opened it.
NOAH: Are you awake? Probably not. It’s late.
She picked up the phone, not bothering to text back, and hit Call. What would she say? At this point, her nerves were so jumbled it didn’t matter.
“Hey, Teagan?” He answered quickly. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“You’re not in my backyard, are you?” She cringed. That didn’t sound right. Or sane.
“Uh, no.” He cleared his throat. “Are you okay?”
“Ha.” She put her hand to her temple as the flames of embarrassment flared. “Never mind. That was ridiculous to ask.”
“By the tone of your voice, you didn’t think so a minute ago.”
A minute ago, she hadn’t heard herself speak. He had to think she was losing it. Heck, right now maybe she was. Just the other day, she had sworn she saw somebody walking around the backyard, but when she went to check, no one was there.
“I’m fine. If someone was going to break in, they wouldn’t make so much noise, and they wouldn’t draw out the process.”
“What are you talking about?”
“‘Tis the season for creepy thoughts, I guess.” Still she couldn’t sit down, and wandering back to the living room, Teagan wrapped the afghan back around her and sat upright in the center of her couch, listening for any noise that might sound like that cracking, stripping, plastic-breaking crack that had caught her off guard. “I’m going to go to bed. I think I’ve seen too many scary movies. I’m sorry to bother you, Noah.”
“Do you want me to swing by and check things out?” he asked.
Wouldn’t that be nice? She hesitated. But what was he going to do, load Bella into his truck? Teagan drew a deep breath and picked up her tea. “That’s not necessary, but I appreciate the offer.” She took a slow sip. “I’m gonna put myself to bed now.”
“You still sound concerned.”
Teagan bit her lip. “Well, I was. But now I’m just going to say sweet dreams.”
There were very few times that Teagan wished she had another person to curl up next to in bed. She wasn’t someone who liked to be held when she slept. The idea of cuddling and spooning worked in the books, but to each his own. It wasn’t just that she was an independent person, it was that she liked to have her own space. Tonight, though, having Noah to lean against would’ve been nice. Even if she had rolled away to take her own space later.
“All right, then. Sweet dreams, Teagan.”
The call ended, leaving her with her phone limp in her hand.
That was a red flag that she should have seen with her ex-husband. Teagan never wanted to be next to him when they were lying in bed. She liked touching him when it was mutually beneficial, but afterwar
d? She’d never been interested.
She’d always assumed it was because of her independent and strong personality. But maybe not so much. Was she any less strong for calling Noah tonight and wanting to cuddle with him now?
No, she didn’t think so. He didn’t present as the stereotypical alpha male, oozing dominance but in a respectful way.
Like a partner.
That was something to think about. Tomorrow. After she had enough sleep so that the outdoors didn’t make her jump when it snapped, crackled, and popped.
###
That didn’t sit right. Noah tossed his cell phone back and forth then rolled up in bed. Not two minutes beforehand, his mind had been cloudy, but now he was firing on all cylinders and unsure what to do about it.
Bella was tucked in bed, and calling Teagan back to double-check felt like the wrong thing to do.
“Are you in my backyard?” What kind of question was that? The kind that he wasn’t comfortable with.
He paced from the guest bedroom where he had been sleeping to the master bedroom, which slowly was becoming useful again, and stood in front of the chest of drawers where he’d finally unpacked his clothes.
Even if he got dressed, what was he going to do? Nothing. Bella was asleep, and even if she wasn’t, he couldn’t take her to a situation where Teagan was scared.
Or was she? Was he searching for someone to save because the career he had loved was gone?
No, this wasn’t a chance to play hero for the girl he had a crush on. His instincts had never been adrenaline driven, and he’d never gone in search of accolades. Something was wrong, and he quickly dressed in street clothes.
He didn’t want to call his folks. It was too late, and they’d have too many questions. The guys that he’d reconnected with? What if Bella woke up? She’d met Zane in passing because of Gambler, but Wyatt had done a few solid favors for him and Lainey before he got home.
Noah scrolled through his phone contacts and swiped his buddy’s name. It rang three times before a groggy Wyatt answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, man. It’s Noah, and I know it’s late. But is there any way you can run over here? I’d love it if you could watch Bella.”
“Everything okay?” Wyatt asked, yawning.
Noah ran a hand over the scruff on his chin. “Wyatt, man. I know you’re good at your job, and you’ll get me when I say I don’t know.”
The voice cleared on the other side. “See you in ten.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Headlights rolled into Noah’s driveway as he paced by the front door. The panic in Teagan’s voice was seared into Noah’s memory despite her protests that nothing was wrong. If nothing was wrong, she wouldn’t have called. Or she might have, but that wasn’t what she’d say.
Wyatt jogged to the front door, and Noah let him in.
“Bella’s asleep. She shouldn’t wake up.”
His friend eyed the concealed carry tucked under Noah’s shirt at his waist. “If you want me to go with you, Paige can come over here instead.”
Noah shook his head. “It’s probably nothing.”
“I can’t believe it’s nothing if you’re locked and loaded.”
“True enough.” Noah’s fingers curled by his sides, and he was itching to bolt out the door. He gave a curt nod. “I’ll explain when I get back.”
Wyatt’s jaw set as he lifted his chin in measured deliberation. “All right, partner. Stay safe.”
If Noah’d had any parting promises to offer, he’d have done so. But his only response was to hustle out the door and hope that he was overreacting. Everything was fine. An animal got into her trash. A branch cracked. The storms had loosened a wood plank. He continued making the list as he revved his truck and headed toward Teagan’s.
Of course, all this could be overreacting. She hadn’t asked him to come over. Was this too much? He rubbed his chest as he made a tight turn, hauling double the residential speed limit.
If nothing was wrong and she knew he came over anyway, he might need to reassess his gut instincts. But they were never wrong.
“You’re not in my backyard, are you?”
Noah made the final turn toward her street and pulled over a block short of her house then slid out of his truck. He gently pressed his door shut.
The night was eerily calm with the now familiar cool Northwest fall weather, and Noah bypassed the obvious path, the sidewalk, and skipped into the neighbor’s backyard.
Not even a dog barked. His senses were set on high, and his eyes had adjusted to the evening. He could see among the trees and the shadows. He searched for anything out of place, coming up empty.
“What’s bothering you?” he whispered, walking down the fence line near the back of Teagan’s house until he scaled her low fence.
The house lights were off and the window shades drawn. There was nothing back here except for a soccer ball, an oversized shed, and a well-kept lawn.
This wasn’t normal. He’d crossed the line from protective friend to… Who knew what to call this? But there was nothing here, and her lights were out, so clearly she wasn’t worried anymore.
Still, his senses tingled, and he made a sweep. Everything was as he had seen it before. Trash cans where he expected them to be. Tree branches barely rustling with a breeze.
Noah walked the way he came, admitting defeat and feeling paranoid.
Did he miss the action and adventure more than he knew? Was he going mad from denying himself the one woman who made sense? White spots reflecting on the ground broke his attention at the corner of the house, and he dropped his gaze.
His senses fired alarms. His hand hovered on the ready as he changed course, sliding closer to the house, near a window, to inspect. Cigarette butts, several of them, piled outside a window.
Someone had been by her house for an extended period. Doing what? And when?
Just because she heard a noise didn’t mean it happened tonight, but he hated coincidences. Noah scanned the backyard then searched the front.
What was he supposed to do with a pile of old smoke butts? Wake her up and scare the pants off her? He made another pass and decided to head home, not waking and scaring Teagan. There wasn’t anyone here… At least that he could see.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The calm night did nothing to settle Noah as he patrolled the quiet neighborhood, listening to the steady breeze, and found zip. He needed to go home and explain to Wyatt where he had gone so late at night. But for now, Noah didn’t care about his opinion. A boulder of worry still lodged in his chest, and he couldn’t shake Teagan’s tone of voice. There were simple answers to a pile of cigarette butts. A landscaper who ate lunch in the same place and didn’t clean up his smokes. Or a… Actually, Noah had no other readily available excuses.
But he was going to have to admit to creeping in her backyard. Otherwise, he was nothing more than a creep.
Opting to take the sidewalk instead of her neighbor’s backyard, Noah pulled out his cell phone.
NOAH: When you have a free sec tomorrow, let me know.
Noah shoved his phone back into his pocket, passing a man as he headed back to his dually truck. Despite the man’s clean-cut clothes and windbreaker, an uneasy feeling stirred inside Noah as they passed. A dog walker would make sense. But someone out for a stroll at this hour? Unease prickled—
“Excuse me,” the unknown man called, breaking Noah’s thoughts.
Surprised but not caught off guard, Noah slowly pivoted, his defenses up, and strode closer. “Yeah. Can I help you?”
“Actually, I was wondering the same thing about you.”
Noah’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry?”
“I keep an eye on the neighborhood and don’t recognize you.”
Noah didn’t know whether to chuckle in solidarity with the lone watchman or question who was roaming the streets as a vigilante huntsman. “I’m just visiting a friend. But good looking out, man.”
“What friend?”
Defensive, Noah took a step closer. “And who are you?”
“Whose friend are you?” the man pushed.
The telltale prickles that the situation was not what it seemed stood up at the base of Noah’s neck. “How about we start with your name?”
The guy was a block away from Teagan’s house after her hearing weird noises. Noah was on high alert.
“Edward Lee.”
Noah’s gut said that Edward Lee was a made-up name, but he had friends at a black ops firm who could quickly run his background check. “The neighborhood watch takes themselves seriously around here, don’t they?”
“Can never be too careful about who is near our most valuable possessions.”
He scoffed. “What’s that? Cars and boats?”
“Family, of course.”
“Of course…” Noah followed up. “Who do you work with over at Eagle’s Ridge PD? I have some buddies and would love to do this in my neighborhood.”
“Did I get your name?” Edward asked.
“No, you didn’t.”
They sized one another up.
“Noah Coleman.”
There was no shaking hands. No pleasant follow-up. Only suspicion both ways.
Noah thought of one quick test. “I’ve gotta roll.” He turned to leave then eased back. “Hey, do you have any smokes? I left my cigarettes back at my friends’, and I don’t think anywhere in town is open.”
Edward’s hands shoved deep into his pockets as he rolled back on his heels. “Don’t smoke. Can’t help you.” Then he turned and left without another word.
Noah watched the guy disappear then headed to his truck and climbed in. After a long moment reflecting on how deep a hole he was digging, Noah swiped the screen and pulled up his contacts, pausing as his thumb hovered over two hacker names. Both would be able to pull the same information, but one had more official means while the other knew where to check the shadows for secrets. He pressed Call but was sent straight to voicemail. The tone beeped for a message. “Hey, Lexi, this is Noah Coleman. I’m calling for a favor, and I know I’ll owe you. But if you could let me know anything on an Edward Lee from Eagle’s Ridge, Washington, I’d love to see it.”
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