Tattered Stars

by Catherine Cowles

  “Sorry if I woke you. I wanted to get a run in before work started today and see if there was any damage from the storm.” The wind had howled like crazy last night, thunder sounding like it had been right on top of us.

  Everly bent to scratch behind Koda’s ears as he leaned against her legs. “You’re going on a run before we spend all day hauling, lifting, and hammering? Do you have some weird obsession I should know about?”

  “Gotta make sure I can chase down the bad guys.” And I needed to burn off some of the fire running through my veins. I’d tossed and turned for hours before finally finding sleep, my mind unable to let go of the temptation down the hall. Then I’d been awoken from a dream so real it had required a cold shower.

  “Whatever floats your boat, I guess. I haven’t ventured on any of the old trails around here yet, so I have no idea what kind of shape they’re in. Be careful you don’t get lost.”

  “I was thinking I’d just stick to the roads today.”

  “Probably smart.” Everly moved towards the front door. “Looks like the skies cleared. It’s the perfect morning for it.” She pulled open the door, leaving only the screen in place. “What in the world?”

  She stepped out onto the front porch and gasped, looking across the way to where my truck was parked.

  I was by her side in a flash, letting a slew of curses fly. “Stay back.”

  My hand went to the holster at the small of my back, the one I wore for running because you never knew when you might run into wildlife that was less than pleased with your appearance. I slid my gun out and held it at my side, peering around the door.

  Someone had smashed every single window on my SUV. The side mirrors, too. Tires slashed. This wasn’t simply anger. It was rage.

  But I didn’t see any signs of life other than the trees moving in the breeze. “Stay here. Lock the door.”

  I slipped out the screen door, holding it so it didn’t slam. I systematically made my way around the cabin, then the dilapidated house next door and the two new storage sheds that had gone up yesterday. I checked paddocks and piles of lumber to make sure no one lurked there. Whoever this was seemed to be long gone.

  I started back towards the cabin, my steps faltering as I took in Everly. She stood in muck boots and those tiny-ass sleep shorts, a shotgun resting under one arm, surveying the damage to my vehicle. “I thought I told you to stay inside and lock the door?”

  She didn’t jolt or startle, which told me she’d known where I was at all times. “I’m not hiding away when someone’s messing with things on my property. When they still might be around, and you could need backup.”

  My back teeth ground together. “I have training. You don’t.”

  Her eyes narrowed on me. “I have more training than you could ever dream of. I started shooting when I was five—every weapon my father could get his hands on. I’ve run drills in the blistering heat, waist-deep snow, and the pouring rain. I’ve learned to fight off an attacker blindfolded. Been woken up from a dead sleep and taken through simulations that would never actually happen.

  “And when that was all over? When I could finally walk away? I had to keep it up because I was so damn scared my brother might show up. And I refused to be surprised again. So, don’t you tell me I don’t have training.”

  I moved fast, pulling her against me and wrapping my arms around her. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “If it does, I’ll be ready.”

  But the last thing I wanted was for Everly to have to face whoever had enough rage pulsing through them to do this to my vehicle.

  32

  Everly

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  Tim looked down at me as my head rested on the break room table. “Long weekend.”

  He shuffled his feet, sneakers squeaking on the linoleum. “I heard what happened to Hayes’ SUV. But you guys were okay, right? You weren’t hurt?”

  Normally, I would’ve blushed over the fact that everyone in this town likely knew that Hayes had been spending nights at my cabin. But I was too tired to care at the moment. After a crime scene tech and a couple of officers had come out to process the scene, we’d cleaned everything up and had Hayes’ SUV towed to a body shop a county over. Work had started again, but I hadn’t been able to rustle up the positive glow I’d had the day before.

  I let out a long breath and sat up. “No. No one was hurt.” My stomach twisted at the thought of what might have happened if Hayes had heard the destruction. It was only the fact that he’d parked farther away to leave room for those helping out yesterday, combined with the noise from the storm, that had kept us from hearing the destruction.

  Tim looked down at the tips of his sneakers. “You know, you’re welcome to stay with me if you need. I don’t have a ton of space, but you can have the bedroom, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “Thank you. That’s so kind, but I think I’m going to stick it out at the cabin. Hayes is staying in my guest room until they figure out what’s going on.”

  “Okay. But if you change your mind, you have my cell. You can call anytime.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the tall but somewhat gangly boy-man in front of me. His kindness was more of a balm to the wounds of the past twenty-four hours than he would ever know.

  “I want to talk to my fucking sister. I don’t care if she’s on her lunch break.”

  I stiffened at the sound of Ian’s voice coming from the waiting room. I pushed to my feet and hurried out there. Kelly was scowling at my brother from behind the counter. “I’ll call the sheriff if you don’t back off, buddy.”

  “You think I give a damn about some pig? I don’t.”

  “Ian,” I clipped. “I’m right here. Why don’t we go outside and talk?”

  Tim stepped up to my side. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Everly.”

  I laid a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “I’m fine. Promise.”

  Ian sneered at the action. “Just how many men are you spreading your legs for, Evie? There’s the cop who won’t get off my case thanks to you, this joker, and given the way Ben jumped to your defense, I’d guess him, too. I shouldn’t be surprised you turned into a slut. Mom would be ashamed.”

  The room around us went deathly silent. That heat I couldn’t find earlier rose to my cheeks now. The shame that this was who I shared blood with, that my brother would speak to me this way. But I didn’t duck my head or hunch my shoulders. I wouldn’t let Ian see that making a scene at my workplace was a direct hit to everything I was building here. “Leave.”

  “You’re not the boss of me.”

  Tim took a step forward. “This is a private business, and we have the right to refuse service to anyone. We’re doing that now. Leave, or we’ll call the sheriff’s department.”

  “I already have,” Kelly said from behind the counter. “Deputies are on the way.”

  Ian spat on the floor. “Your little lap dog coming in handy yet again. Hope you’re sucking his dick good. I’m gonna sue both of you for harassment.”

  The heat in my cheeks burned, but it wasn’t just there. It was in my blood, too. The shared blood that flowed through my veins. “You’re the one who showed up here. Somehow, I don’t think that makes for a very strong case.”

  Sirens sounded, and Ian’s eyes flashed. “I should’ve killed you that night. Finished you off instead of settling for broken bones.”

  And with that, he turned on his heel and jogged off. My ears buzzed. Kind of how a fluorescent light sounded, only amplified. I was only partly aware of Tim ushering me over to a seat in the waiting room and easing me down into it. I thought he might’ve asked something, but my brain couldn’t seem to comprehend the words.

  I could feel the burn in my scalp. The crack of my ribs. I could taste the blood filling my mouth. All of it. And he wanted to hurt me more.

  Hands gripped my calves, and I blinked as the face in front of me came into focus. Hayes. Somewhere in my jum
bled mind, I put together that those dark eyes and the sharp, angular jaw belonged to Hayes.

  “He wishes he’d killed me.” My voice broke on the words, but the tears didn’t come. I was simply empty. Too many tears cried over the brother who was supposed to love me. The family who had never stepped up for me when I needed them.

  For some naïve reason, I’d thought my brother could have outgrown this hatred. That he would never be a fan of mine but wouldn’t wish me ill, either. That he might be mad that Mom had left the property to me but would get over it. That he would’ve grown up. Matured. But he hadn’t gotten over anything.

  Hayes’ jaw ticked as he framed my face with those rough hands. Hands I was beginning to know by touch alone. The pads of his fingertips. The raised scar on his palm. “I’m so sorry, Ev. I had to send a deputy out to talk to him and Allen since we’ve had a few run-ins lately. It’s just procedure.”

  “I know.” This was why Hayes and I would never be. Because my family would destroy it. Just like they ate away at any other good thing in my life. I’d been so stupid to think that all I had to do was face them again to put this haunting anger to rest. They’d never be done with me.

  I blinked around the room, a worried Kelly and Tim filling Miles in on what’d happened. I loved working here. And I truly believed I could create a sanctuary at home that was so needed in our community. But maybe I’d have to give that up, too.

  “I don’t like where your head’s at right now.”

  I focused back on Hayes. “It’s not anywhere.”

  “Bullshit.” His thumbs sweeping back and forth across my cheeks took away some of the sting of the word. “You’re thinking about running. Don’t.”

  I clamped my mouth closed. How was it that in a matter of months, Hayes could read my mind and decipher my tells better than anyone ever had before?

  “You run, I’ll chase you.”

  “I shouldn’t have come back,” I whispered. “I knew they wouldn’t be happy to see me, but I thought…sixteen years. That’s more than enough time to take away some of the sting. Figured they’d have moved on, and I could do what I needed to.”

  “They don’t get to stop you from finding your peace.”

  “What peace?” I waved my hand around the waiting room, now teeming with officers. “There is none.”

  He gripped my face more firmly, making me meet his gaze. “You have to fight for it.”

  I let my head tip forward to rest on his. “I’m too tired to fight.”

  “Then you rest for a little while and pick up the sword again when you’re ready. There are other people who can hold it for you in the meantime.”

  Other people, who would quickly grow tired of its heavy weight. And then they would walk away, too.

  Hayes pressed a soft kiss to my temple. “Just rest.”

  “Okay.”

  It didn’t matter either way. I would just have to hold on until everyone walked away. Then I could leave on my terms.

  “Why the hell haven’t you arrested him?”

  My head snapped up at Tim’s biting words. Hayes stood, his hand going to my shoulder. “Careful, Tim.”

  He waved an arm towards the door. “He just barged in here. He could’ve had a weapon. Could’ve hurt her or worse.”

  I struggled to my feet, my legs still feeling a bit wobbly. “He’s doing everything he can, Tim.”

  “There’s an all-points bulletin out on him now. We’re going to bring him in.”

  “And then what?” Tim demanded.

  “Then, Everly is going to file a restraining order.”

  I opened my mouth to argue and then shut it again. I’d have to file the papers, if only in hopes of protecting my employer’s business. That was if I even still had a job. Maybe my time in Wolf Gap would be coming to a close sooner than expected. My chest constricted with the thought that, one day, I wouldn’t feel those familiar hands cupping my face anymore. Would never push into that touch. And that was enough to break my heart, more than a little.

  33

  Hayes

  “Stop hovering. It’s annoying, and it’s starting to piss me off.”

  My father covered his chuckle with a cough at Everly’s words. I sent a scowl in his direction before stopping my pacing to rub Ev’s shoulders. She, Dad, and Shiloh were poring over some plans for the rest of the paddocks, including some sort of weird play equipment for the goats that would one day be housed in one of them.

  I pressed into the knots along her shoulder blades. “I’m not hovering.”

  “You are,” Shiloh muttered.

  “Traitor.”

  Everly turned in her seat, shaking my hands free. “Go have a beer with Calder.”

  “He said he was fine coming here.”

  “And I said you’re driving me crazy. Go. We’re not going to be invaded by zombies, and my brother is locked up at the station.”

  It had taken us all day to track Ian down, and I’d chosen to hold him. I hoped a night sleeping next to whatever intoxicated individual my deputies brought in might loosen his tongue. And, in the meantime, Everly had signed the papers we’d put before a judge. She now had an emergency restraining order in place. She’d have to go back for a permanent one in a few weeks, but at least we had something.

  I just wasn’t overly convinced that Ian would take it seriously or that her uncle wouldn’t retaliate in some way. I’d been on edge all afternoon and had a deputy sitting outside the vet’s office just in case. “I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

  She motioned around the room. “I’ve got company with cell phones if there’s an emergency. I’ve got Koda. And I’ve got Betty.”

  My brows pulled together. “Betty?”

  “My shotgun.”

  Shiloh snorted a laugh and leaned back in her chair. “Get lost, brother. You’re cramping our style.”

  I’d noticed that Shiloh was talking a little more since she’d built a sort of friendship with Everly. Not epic, heartfelt confessions or anything but simply joining in a little more—even if it was at my expense.

  “Go on, Hayes. We won’t leave until you’re back,” my father said.

  Everly stiffened. “I appreciate the gesture, Gabe, but I’m perfectly capable of watching my own back. I’ve been doing it a long time.”

  He eyed Everly carefully. “I know you’re more than capable, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever have help.”

  “And you’ve helped more than enough. You don’t need to be locked up in this cabin with me because my brother said something stupid. He has always had a big mouth.”

  One that spewed threats I knew he’d made good on.

  Everly sighed when no one said anything. “It’s important to me that I have control of my own life. I don’t want to feel like I’m being herded or cornered. And they don’t get to influence my life. Not anymore.”

  “She’s right,” Shy agreed. “Ev can take care of herself. She’s not stupid. She’s letting Hayes stay here nights, even though he’s annoying as all get out. Let that be enough.”

  Ev reached under the table and squeezed Shy’s knee, mouthing, “Thank you.” Shiloh moved away from the touch but nodded in acceptance of the gratitude.

  “Okay. I’m gonna go meet Calder for an hour or two—”

  “Two,” Everly interjected.

  “All right, two.” I bent and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m not trying to control you,” I whispered. “And I know you can take care of yourself. But anyone can be taken by surprise. It’s the same reason I take backup to question a suspect.”

  She relaxed a fraction. “Have fun with Calder.”

  I started for the door. “I will. I left you whoopie pies on the counter.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say that sooner? I probably would’ve been a hell of a lot less cranky if I’d known.”

  I chuckled as I headed out, locking the door behind me. Everly had given me an extra key, but that didn’t mean she fully trusted me—to stay, to stand
by her when her family pulled their crap. I’d seen the look of panic on her face earlier in the day. I’d seen the look of defeat. I could see the fight in her literally draining out.

  Everly wanted to bolt. But I wasn’t sure I could watch her go. We weren’t even together, and I could already see myself following her wherever she went. Because, all of a sudden, I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

  And I wasn’t sure my family could, either. They’d folded her into the fabric that was us. She’d become a support to Shiloh, showed my mom incredible kindness, gave Dad purpose with all of the projects they worked on, and she made Hadley feel at ease when Mom had her on edge. She was everything we hadn’t known we needed. And I was going to make sure we gave all of that back to her and more.

  “I still can’t believe she kicked you out,” Calder said as he chuckled into his beer.

  “Yeah, yeah, yuck it up.”

  “Come on. It is pretty funny. Usually, it’s you trying to sneak away from some woman you’ve decided isn’t the right fit. And now, one’s booting you to the curb. Some of your exes would say it’s poetic justice.”

  I rubbed at the back of my neck. “So I’m not great with confrontation.”

  Calder blinked at me a few times. “Hayes. You’re the sheriff. Ninety percent of your job is confrontation.”

  “Okay, I’m not great with confrontation when it comes to the women in my life.”

  “That is more like it. You’re the peacekeeper and protector. You want everyone you care about to be safe and happy. Especially your mom and sisters.”

  I picked at the label on my beer. “I’m not so sure Everly’s thrilled with that role. The protector part, anyway.”

  “She’s pretty much been on her own a long time, hasn’t she?”

  “She had her sister and her sister’s family, but I get the sense they aren’t especially close. I’ve never heard her on the phone with her, and she doesn’t talk about her much.”