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Rissa laughed. “You didn’t think living on an apple farm that hadn’t worked in decades was a thrilling idea?”

He rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched. “Took a while for it all to grow on me.”

She squeezed his arm. “But you didn’t protest when Knox wanted to give it a go? Even though it would have been a smarter financial decision to sell it.”

She knew him so well. “I didn’t protest. I thought he’d run screaming for the city in a few weeks. Yet, here we are a year and a half later. Everyone living here and everyone happy.”

Her smile widened. “It’s so nice to see you all back together, supporting each other the way you always did.”

He kissed her lightly. “Having you here makes it even better.”

Now to figure out a plan to identify who was behind the mess and then how to stop them so they could enjoy the rest o their lives.

Rissa wondered how many generations of people had curled up on the sofa in the farmhouse library. She imagined Jay had bought the furniture along with the property. Evidence proved he’d spent most of his time in what they called the family room, but he must have spent at least some time in the room where Burke had set up his office. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left the books here.

She wondered if he’d imagined his great-nieces and nephews enjoying the space, imagined them filling it with another generation of kids who would learn to value the earth and work to help it.

While Burke made his calls and worked, she put on headphones and listened to music to give him privacy. She’d explored the room with Frizzle before snuggling into the couch to read. She’d offered to leave the room so he wouldn’t feel awkward on his calls, but he’d kissed her and said he’d rather they stayed together while everyone figured things out.

The mystery rolled around in her head while she listened to instrumental jazz and flipped through books looking for more notes. The IED suggested a military connection, or someone used to violence. She’d only been on a few dates with Dan before he’d burned her. He obviously could be physically violent, but she didn’t know if someone who made bombs would have that kind of personality.

In that last physical interaction, Dan had enjoyed watching her fear, especially when he’d held the lighter directly to her skin. His eyes had gleamed with excitement while she’d screamed and writhed, trying to get away.

She shoved away the memory of him on top of her, holding her arms above her head with one hand while he’d used the other to burn her. He’d enjoyed her terror and her pain. If he’d delivered the box, he would have wanted to see the explosion and the aftermath. Unless he’d watched from the woods, she couldn’t see Dan being their IED man. Boomer hadn’t reacted as if anyone was hiding nearby, watching them. It didn’t match.

Curt Anderson had committed his crimes bloodlessly. He’d used spreadsheets and numbers to defraud people. He’d become involved with criminals when he’d put himself in debt to them. His response had been to steal more money.

Neither mindset appeared to be one that would choose a bomb, which brought her back to the purpose behind leaving an exploding present on the edge of the farm.

It hadn’t been set up to ensure a specific person would open it, so the bomber didn’t care who they hurt—even kids or animals.

That required a certain amount of emotional detachment, which brought her back to the theory that whoever had left the present had been hired to cause mayhem.

If the purpose was to kill, the IED hadn’t been effective. In fact, it had been worse than ineffective. It had alerted the entire farm to a threat without causing any serious harm. That wasn’t the action of someone who wanted to kill or of someone who had killed before.

Which made it weird.

Burke moved into her field of vision, and Rissa nearly yelped. She pulled off the headphones with a grin. “Sorry. You surprised me.”

He sat on the coffee table facing her, then leaned forward to brush his lips over hers. “I could practically hear your brain puzzling something out. A new unit or the exploding present?”

He knew her so well. “I was thinking that it was a dumb move with the IED. Because you reacted so quickly, the only thing he accomplished was alerting you to his presence and his intent.”

Burke straightened, then lifted her legs. He slid onto the couch beside her and rested her legs over his lap.

Frizzle immediately raced over, putting her paws on the couch, wanting to be included in the party. Rissa lifted her to join them. Frizzle raced up and down the couch before settling back between her and Burke. He brushed his hand over the Yorkie, and Frizzle arched into his touch. Rissa knew exactly how she felt.

“So, you’re thinking this was an amateur.”

Rissa nodded. “A professional hit would have ended much differently.” She shuddered at the thought.

Burke nodded, and they sat in silence for a moment. His brow furrowed, the way it had when he’d worked through a tough physics problem in high school. “Either the aim was to frighten us, or it was a weak attempt at causing actual damage. What else?”

“I was thinking about the personalities involved. Dan is a brute who enjoys using his strength to dominate. He liked watching me struggle against the pain and the fear.”

Burke frowned and his fingers drifted over her sweater where it covered the scar. “If he were in the woods watching the results of the IED, he had time to do more damage. It would have been easy to shoot me if that had been his intent. I was dazed for a few seconds.”

Rissa shuddered and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “I’m relieved that didn’t happen.”