“See. My point exactly,” Mia said. “There’s no assurance of how things will go, ever.” It was as good as fact to her, but it didn’t help her navigate her current situation any better. She was going to have to make a change and give Kenton back his home, because it was really his castle, like the old phrase said. The beautiful home even had a castle-like turret.
Okay, decision made, she thought, as she put the dough into bread pans to rise. She’d stop by the apartment building’s office, which had been unscathed in the fire, and see if she could still get a spot in their other building. The commute was going to make her life more difficult, but it couldn’t be helped. She needed to vacate Kenton’s house.
“Could you take Eliot for a few months?” she asked Shasta, who lived on the outskirts of town and had property enough for a dog to run.
“Of course I can,” Shasta agreed readily. “I’ll take good care of him for you, if that will help.”
“Thanks,” Mia said. She had no intention of making big plans, but she could make little arrangements to keep going.
An hour later, Mia stopped by her apartment complex on the way to the twins’ day care center. After talking to the leasing agent, she felt a little better. The renovations were going well, and her original apartment would be ready for her to move back into in a month. That wasn’t so bad. In the meantime, they had a unit for her in the neighboring town. She could do one month of a longer commute, and Eliot would be happy with Shasta, she hoped.
Things were looking up, Mia told herself as she headed to pick up the girls. Jen, the care provider the girls liked the most, helped Mia get them to the car. As they each strapped in a child, Mia told Jen about her housing problems and how she almost had them resolved but lamented the longer drive.
“I can help you out with that,” Jen offered.
“How? Are you going to come and babysit for me in my new apartment?” Mia joked.
“No, but I might be able to offer you a place to live that’s closer. I just had a ‘she shed’ built in my backyard.”
“A what?” Mia asked. Jen was offering her a shed to live in?
Jen smiled. “It’s not quite how it sounds. It’s really a small cottage. Mine is set up for crafting, so I have electricity and water. It could work for a short period, and the girls might enjoy it. It would be like living in a dollhouse. Think about it.”
“I will,” Mia said as she put the girls’ bag in the trunk of her car. “And thanks.” She gave Jen a wave and got in her car.
People were generally kind. Mia had learned that long ago, which is what had made her life as a carefree single going where the wind blew her so fun. Life as a parent was full of all sorts of worries that she’d never anticipated having, but friends and acquaintances had come through for her just the same. So the message from the universe was clear. She had options, decent ones, and either way, it was only for a few weeks.
By the time she drove the ten minutes to Kenton’s house, both girls were asleep in the back seat. Also a blessing of sorts. She could slip out of the car and maybe have a talk with Kenton about moving before they woke. She hadn’t apologized to him sufficiently yesterday after the dog puke incident, and she wanted to express her thanks for having lived there for the past weeks. There. She’d make a nice little speech and start packing her stuff to move out tomorrow or the next day.
She pulled into the driveway, parked near the garage, and quietly got out of the car. Kenton was working on the front porch, scraping paint from a railing that she hadn’t even noticed was peeling. His shirt draped across his wide frame, hinting at every line and curve hiding underneath. And the muscles in his arms rose and fell from the work. A familiar warmth bloomed in her stomach. It was the same one she had felt that night they met. She sucked down a deep breath to cool her senses. When had scraping paint become so provocative?
“Hi,” she called, getting his attention as she walked closer. “I wanted to—”
“Hey,” Kenton shouted, his focus behind her and his jaw set.
Mia spun around. A man was approaching her car from the opposite side. Instinctively, she hit the lock button on the key fob. He raised something black and shiny, and she thought he was going to smash the window next to Emma, but then she heard a loud bang and froze. Was that a shot?
Oh, yes, it was. The man was holding a gun!
“Get down,” Kenton ordered, sprinting past her toward the shooter. The other man eyed Kenton before taking off with Kenton on his heels.
Mia crouched and made it to the car, getting in the back seat with the girls and locking the doors again. She pulled them from their seats and onto the car’s floor with her. Her heart was racing, and she experienced raw fear as she never had before.
“It’s okay, babies,” she tried to reassure the twins, but her voice was shaking. It was definitely not okay. Someone had just threatened her nieces.
5
Whoever the guy was, he was in shape, Kenton concluded after a two-block chase that ended with the man jumping into a waiting car and taking off. Kenton got the license plate, but he doubted it would help. Likely either stolen or a rental. Crooks didn’t tend to drive their own vehicles.
He jogged back to the house and found Mia hunkered down in her car. When he tapped on the window, he caught a look of panic on her face before she recognized him and opened the door. Her fear needled him in a way he couldn’t quite understand.
“He’s gone for now. Let me help you.” While she carried one twin, he took the other. He lifted the girl and held her close to his body. “Get in the house quickly.” Once inside, he put the twin on her feet where Mia could take her hand. “Stay away from the windows. Go into the living room and keep them busy on the floor.”
“What happened?” Mia’s ponytail was askew, and her eyes wide.
“Just do what I say,” he said. “Please.”
Even though he hadn’t left home that day and didn’t think anyone could have entered, he swept the house from the attic to the basement, looking for signs of intrusion. Finding nothing to concern him, he moved to the exterior, carefully checking the garage and yard. He found a bullet embedded in the trunk of a huge oak tree near Mia’s car. The single shot must have sounded to the neighbors like a backfire, since it hadn’t garnered any attention. Kenton was glad for that. He needed to think and make the right contacts, because he doubted this was a simple case of attempted robbery, carjacking, or kidnapping.
This was more serious. The assailant had looked like a professional, in Kenton’s estimation, based on his clothing and the type of weapon he’d carried. The missed shot surprised Kenton, though. Unless the intention had been to frighten him. If so, message received.
When he was satisfied the house was safe for the moment, he went to Mia. She looked up at him from the living room floor with less panic in her eyes but no smile. The girls were putting pieces in a children’s puzzle and seemed unaffected.
“We’re safe for now,” he said, wanting Mia to have that much comfort. “I need to make some calls.”
“What happened? What was that man trying to do?” She kept her voice level, but it was underpinned with stress.