Page 61 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
Since the break-in, Nick had been glued to my side. He’d been at my house for dinner every night. Afterward, we would curl up on the living room couch and watch a movie. He had declared that my exposure to Westerns was sorely lacking now that I was a Montanan, and he had taken it upon himself to remedy the situation.
Nick hadn’t let me sleep alone, despite my initial protests. Sleeping next to Nick each night was still difficult. I would lay awake for hours, wondering if he’d be gone when I woke up. Nick had sensed my unease because he hadn’t pushed. Not once. We had slept close but that had been all. Not once had he made a move for sex.
But it was coming.
This morning, Nick had suggested we go snowshoeing. And by suggested, he’d shoved a pair of snowshoes in my hands and ordered me to go change. When I’d come downstairs wearing a pair of black insulated leggings, Nick’s eyes, filled with lust, had locked on my legs and ass.
It wouldn’t be long and Nick would make a move to end our sexual hiatus. I just hoped that when the time came, I would be ready.
But I wasn’t worrying about it now. Instead, I was excited to be having dinner with Silas and Maisy. Mostly, I was looking forward to getting to know Maisy better. I missed having girlfriends close to home and I envied her relationship with Gigi. Maybe one day I could consider them both good friends. If I stayed in Prescott, that is.
“So are Silas and Maisy a couple?” I asked Nick. At the party, they’d seemed close but I hadn’t seen them touch and I didn’t want to make any wrong assumptions.
“They’re just friends,” Nick said.
I didn’t get the chance to prod for more because the second we crossed the threshold into the café and joined Silas and Maisy in a booth, they jumped right into questioning me about the break-in.
“They didn’t find any tracks or anything in the woods?” Maisy asked.
“No.” I frowned. “Sam looked all over the next day and didn’t find a thing. He thinks that someone must have walked to the house along the driveway where the snow had been plowed. There weren’t footprints anywhere except right by the edge of the garage.”
“Creepy,” she said. “And you don’t have any idea who might have wanted to get into your house?”
“None.”
Jess had stopped by yesterday to tell me that they were at a dead end. I was deflated and scared. It terrified me that the criminal was still at large.
“What do you think?” Silas asked Nick.
“I don’t know. Jess, Emmy and I did some guessing but didn’t come up with much. It might be a random burglary, someone breaking into a fancy house on the mountain to score a load of pricey pawn items. Though, I doubt a common thief would come at night when someone was likely to be home or have the skill to disarm her security system.”
“What about kids?” Silas asked. “Some of those high schoolers are fairly tech savvy. Could it have been a prank?”
“Maybe. I could see some of them getting past her security panel. But to leave no trace, wipe prints, think about footprints? It seems a bit too sophisticated and way over the top for a prank. We’re thinking this was professional,” Nick said.
“Like a professional thief?” Maisy asked. “Why?”
“Money,” I said. “I’m from a well-off family and someone may have broken in hoping to get a big payday. Scare me into handing over a wad of cash and fancy jewelry.”
“Oh my god!” Maisy yelled. “You can’t stay there then! What if someone wants to kidnap you for ransom? You’re in danger, Emmeline!”
“Maze, calm down,” Nick said.
“Calm down? How can I calm down? How are you not taking this more seriously?” she asked.
“We’re all taking this seriously,” he said.
We were so wrapped up in our conversation that none of us heard a woman approach our booth. “Nick Slater and Silas Grant. It’s my lucky day.”
I looked up to see the woman who had pressed herself up against Nick months ago when he had taken me to The Black Bull.
“Go away, Andrea,” Nick said.
“Blech,” Maisy said.
Silas ignored her presence completely.
“There’s no reason to be rude, Nick. I just wanted to see how you two were doing. See if you needed anything? Anything at all.” Her words were filled with innuendo and her breasts were thrust out as far as she could manage.
