Page 69 of Tracking Safety

All of them inside the circle now. All of them exposed.

“I need to check on the cottages before my crew arrives,” he said. “Micah should be coming in about an hour.”

“Got it.” She nodded toward him.

Before his heart could crack any deeper, he grabbed his jacket off the hook by the back door and headed out.

The morning was cool and still damp, the grass dark with dew, the sky a pale wash of gray that promised sun later. He crossed the yard toward the cottage construction sight at the far edge of the property.

He’d slept maybe two hours last night. He didn’t need to be functional right now. He just needed to be useful. If he could get the trim work finished on the first two units before Micah arrived, the day would be productive.

He stopped walking as something in the distance caught his eye.

Glass lay shattered on the ground.

He hurried closer.

The windows of one of the cottages had been smashed, he realized.

His jaw tightened.

He scanned the other buildings.

Each had their windows broken.

Luke walked around the cottages, checking the scope of the damage. The back door of the second unit had been kicked in—the frame was split at the latch. Part of the siding had been smashed and hung loose.

Inside, the drywall had been punched through in two places. Paint cans he’d left stacked in the corner had been knocked over, and a trail of sage green had dried across the subfloor.

Luke’s teeth ground together.

He calculated the damage. The siding alone would cost him a minimum of two days. The drywall would need to be replaced entirely. The windows would need at least a week’s lead time if the manufacturer was backed up—and they usually were.

His thoughts drifted to the women this shelter was being built for—women who needed somewhere safe to land. Anger rose fresh inside him.

He’d done everything in his power to make this project seamless. But someone was determined to slow him down.

Jenna stared out the kitchen window and saw Luke lingering at the edge of the construction site at the back of the property. He stood still, his shoulders tense.

Something was wrong, she realized.

Ruby sidled up beside her and stared out the window also. “That’s his something’s-wrong stance.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Jenna said.

She watched as Luke moved to the second cottage. Her gaze shot to the building, and her breath caught.

The window . . . it was broken.

Her stomach tightened. “Who would do that?”

“Unfortunately, I know of at least a couple of people,” Ruby said. “I always say when there’s this much opposition, you’re doing something right.”

Jenna hoped Ruby was correct.

She wanted to go outside to Luke. To comfort him. To see how she could help.

Instead, she stayed where she was. That wasn’t her place right now, and she knew it.