Page 44 of Dream Chaser

Tension left my muscles. I blew out a long breath.

“Unbelievable,” David muttered, jaw working.

“You’ve been warned. Now, if anyone comes back without the owner’s permission, it becomes trespassing.” The officer walked toward the house. “I’m documenting the condition of everything as it stands right now.”

As we entered the foyer, a young worker holding a drill appeared in the living room doorway. “Pack it up, guys,” David told him. Then his eyes flicked over to me. “Guess you’re happy. This is the last thing Preston needs now.”

“Be thankful you’re not arrested for trespassing,” I said. “Preston will be fine. He knew what he was doing. Give me my house keys.”

Scoffing, David rummaged in his pocket and set them on my palm. The key ring was different. This was a copy. Preston must’ve still had the original.

I swallowed my frustration. I’d deal with him later.

“Anything else?” David asked.

“The windows. You took the old ones out. If it rains, the water will get inside.”

“And whose fault would that be?” He huffed out a condescending chuckle. “I’d finish the job and put the windows in tomorrow, but you don’t want me to. Might as well cover them yourself. The plastic’s outside, Mrs. Marshall.”

A long list of names I wanted to call him queued up on the tip of my tongue, but it wasn’t worth it—not in front of Officer Smith, who was examining the house and taking pictures.

Once he was done, he quietly spoke into his radio, gaze shifting from me to David.

It took a surprisingly short time for David’s crew to pack up and leave. No incentive was bigger than the scowling policeman watching.

“Let us know if anyone comes back,” Officer Smith said as David’s truck sped down the street, raising a cloud of dust.

The weight of the day pressed on my shoulders. “I will. Thank you.”

He nodded, sympathy flickering in his pale gray eyes. For a second, he reminded me of Dad—stern on the outside, but with the biggest heart I’d ever known.

After a goodbye, he left too, leaving me with the mess Grandma’s house had become. I spent an hour inside, straightening what I could.

Outside, a forgotten staple gun lay on the plastic the crew hadn’t hung. I hauled a ladder onto the porch, picked up the gun, and stapled the sheeting over the gaps where old windows had been.

I’d finish fixing everything once I had money.

But I still had none.

And now I had one more problem to add to the pile.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Nova

August

My mistakes replayed on the drive back to Emerport: marrying Preston, settling for a life I’d never really wanted and a relationship that pleased my mother but never made me happy.

The weight of everything I needed to do crushed me. When I pulled into Emerport in the evening, hot tears streamed down my cheeks.

I parked and got out of the car a mile from Eleanor’s, just a couple of blocks from the office. Maybe a few minutes of fresh air would help me calm down.

If she saw me like this, she’d ask questions. What would I tell her? She had already helped me so much by letting me stay at her place. I didn’t want to burden her even more with my problems. Besides, it was on me to solve them. I had to confront Preston and demand the keys back.

My mother’s betrayal only added to my distress. I leaned against my car, wiping away tears with my palms. Footfalls echoed in the distance, putting me on alert.

“Nova?”