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Lily’s waiting in the bedroom, sitting on the middle of the bed, watching with interest.
“Come on, girl.”
She follows me down the stairs, and it’s not even five minutes later when I hear Summer coming down the steps. She’s in a white tank top, no bra, and a pair of pink sweat shorts. Her golden hair is piled on top of her head, and her face is clean of makeup.
I can’t resist, I rush to her and pull her into my arms, holding on tight, and she clings to me almost desperately.
“Talk to me, babe.”
“Okay.” She pulls away and curls up on the end of the sofa, pulling those long legs up under her. “I worked late last night. Saturdays are always busy, you know? But I wanted Lily with me because I missed her, so on my way home, I stopped and picked her up from Aunt Paula. Then I took her home. At first, everything was normal at the house.”
“At first?”
“Yeah.” She swallows hard and pulls Lily into her lap and kisses the dog’s head. “I got settled, took off my shoes, put some water on to boil for tea—you know…the usual stuff. Lily had to go outside, so I took her out in the yard, and she did her business, but when I turned to go back in?—”
She pauses, swallows again, and tears spring to her eyes, so I reach over and take her hand in mine.
“Hey, I’m right here.”
“Spray paint,” she manages. “Someone spray-painted the back of my house. Fucking Whore was written all over it.”
“What in the actual fuck?”
“The cameras didn’t alert me on the app, so the police had me bring up the footage last night, and all that’s there is a hand right before he painted over the lens.”
“Jesus Christ.” My heart is thudding, my mind racing. She was alone all night after that.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because you were out with the others, and I wanted you to have fun?—”
“Whoa.” I pull back and scowl at her. “You call me, no matter what, no matter where the fuck I am, Summer. Even if you just want to say hello, but absolutely when something like this happens.”
“I was safe,” she retorts. “I didn’t want to stay at home, and the first place I thought to come was here, so I loaded Lily up, and we came over. You gave me the code to the door, and I know I should have asked, but?—”
“You’re always welcome here, and I’m glad that this is where you came, but damn it, you should have called me. My guys should have called me. For fuck’s sake, I spent all day at the ranch, just dicking around, when I should have been here with you.”
“No.” She shakes her head and squeezes my hand. “I wasn’t here most of the day. I had another wedding to see to, and I took Lily with me. There was nothing to do, Chase.”
“Nothing except make sure that you’re okay. Be here for you. Investigate who decided to vandalize your home.”
“The police are working on that,” she says with a sigh. “And I’ll be honest, I’m starting to think that it isn’t just kids. It’s not random.”
“It’s not random,” I agree with her, and now I move to the couch and put both Summer and the dog in my lap. “Who have you pissed off, Blondie?”
“No one that I’m aware of.” She sighs against me. “You’re sure you’re not mad that I invaded your house?”
“I gave you the code so you’d use it.” I kiss her head and breathe her in. “I think, until we get this all figured out, you should just plan on staying here.”
Her head comes up at that, and she stares up at me with grateful blue eyes. “I was kind of hoping you’d say that.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SUMMER
God, it feels so good to be in his arms. I’ve been a nervous wreck for the last twenty-four hours. I’d been in the bath, trying to soothe my nerves with hot water and music, when he came in and scared the bejesus out of me.
“So much for being an independent woman,” I mutter and sigh when he presses his lips to my forehead. I freaking love it when he does that.
