Page 19 of Where She Belongs

She nodded.

“We did for a while, but we never wanted that life. The traveling and living in hotels. It can wear on you.”

Rylee nodded again. “Yeah, I could see that. My dad was the same way. Me, too, I suppose. To be able to find a place to call home, to lay your head at night, to know where you belong? That’s the dream.” New York didn’t feel that way. Then again, Rocky Ridge didn’t quite either.

Tate’s eyes were on her, and the warmth of them was enough to give her pause. She’d put a missing puzzle piece into place when he opened that door last night. But that was silly. They barely knew each other anymore. It was just the nostalgia speaking. Rylee couldn’t help herself. She turned toward him and half-expected him to look away.

But he didn’t.

He maintained her stare, reading her, searching for what, she couldn’t be certain. It was the smile in his eyes that kept hers locked with his. “I envy you,” she blurted.

His smile faltered. “Why’s that?”

“You know what you want. Where you’re going in life. You have a career that suits you. A family by your side. Everything you could want.”

“Not everything.” Tate had murmured it under his breath. Or something that sounded an awful lot like it. She wasn’t brave enough to ask him to expand on it, though.

Instead, she sighed. “I went to school for business. My uncle was a businessman, and he was very analytical. He wanted to make sure that I developed an understanding for how the world worked. In his eyes, a business degree could ensure I was taken care of in whatever field I wanted to conquer.”

“And was he right?”

Her steps faltered as she considered Tate’s question. If she got married to one of the men back home, she’d be able to use her knowledge while helping run charities. Having a knowledge of moving parts when it came to money, catering, invitations, etc., would come in handy. And if she chose not to marry? She could get a job in nearly any field—but maybe that had more to do with her familial connections. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted.

They made it to the house and Tate picked up his pace to block her way into her home. “Stay here while I check it out,” he demanded.

Rylee’s hands were immediately on her hips. “It’s my house.”

“And I’m not going to let you become a casualty of whatever you might have heard.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.”

“I mean it, Ry-Ry. You might have been able to keep up with us when we were kids, but this is different. Stay. Put.” He didn’t give her a chance to argue that time before he took the steps two at a time and entered the house.

Rylee waited outside for what felt like an eternity. It shouldn’t have taken so long for him to figure out what was wrong. The longer she waited, the more anxious she became. Eventually, she threw her hands into the air and stomped over to the barn. Her father had a gun safe in there. It had been years since she’d handled a hunting rifle, but even if she didn’t pull the trigger, she’d look scary enough.

It took three tries before she figured out the combination. The rifles were old, but in decent condition due to the quality of the safe. Unfortunately, they weren’t loaded and she couldn’t find any ammunition readily available. There wasn’t any time to hunt it down and most folks around here knew to run when they heard the telltale sounds of a bullet being chambered.

She marched back toward the house and pushed through the door. “Tate?”

A loud crash followed by a grunt and a hollered curse had her running for the basement stairs.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The basement was more like a cellar than anything else. There were crates of supplies to take care of animals that used to reside on the farm. There were some old bags of feed, thankfully untouched by rodents. There wasn’t much sign of life down here at all, which was why Tate couldn’t make sense of what Rylee must have heard.

He flicked his phone’s flashlight around the immediate area then up on the walls as he searched for the fuse box. Rylee was probably right about that being the culprit during the storm. Hopefully it was just a tripped fuse. At least then he wouldn’t have to worry about replacing one.

The metal box was on the far right of the basement. Opposite the water heater, water softener, and furnace. Normally those were out in the garage, but this house was older. It would be better if Rylee had them moved out to the garage if she planned on making this place permanent.

But that wasn’t likely, was it?

He’d heard her tell Jason that she only planned on staying for the summer. What that meant for the property, he couldn’t be certain. She might sell the place for all he knew.

Tate sighed. That was the last thing they needed right now with that developer breathing down their necks. The property adjacent to both his and Rylee’s was the one up for grabs. What would they do if they found out that Rylee was interested in selling?

Then again, Rylee had said she didn’t like the idea of a developer encroaching on their small town. Perhaps they were safe for the time being.

He stepped over a crate filled with what looked like extension cords and shined the light on the fuse box. Tate toggled a few of the switches but nothing happened. He groaned. It looked like this wouldn’t be so simple after all. He didn’t know much about electrical work but there were a few guys in town who owed him a favor. He could probably get one of them out here.