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“It’ll be quick,” Luke assured Holly. “After you.” He moved a step back for Holly to take the lead and tried not to take offense at the uncertainty blanketing her pretty face. He’d take it over apathy any day.
Outside, Holly stopped at the foot of the stairs to give Cash a warmer greeting than she’d ever given Luke. Her yellow T-shirt hiked up and exposed a sliver of smooth back over snug jeans. Luke flipped his cap around to give himself something to focus on other than how Holly’s hair glistened in the morning sun, or how—
“What?” she asked when she caught him staring at her.
“Nothing.” But his mouth twitched as he headed down the path behind the inn, Holly the spitfire following at a distance.
The sandy trail forked in three directions and led either to the beach or to the observation area or down the wooded, garden path, Luke remembered vividly. “The place is a lot more overgrown than I remember.” Luke bent down to examine the remnants of multiple footprints in the still damp earth and more than wind-tossed trash lying about. “Lori was right to call.”
His ears roared. He remembered hiding in the thickets waiting to see if a cabin would go unclaimed for the night. For him, it was worth the risk of getting caught trespassing rather than face going home. An unlocked window or door on one of these pseudohomes was salvation, given the promise of a good night’s sleep.
“Mr. Vartebetium stopped booking these for guests after his wife passed away.” Holly’s sandals slapped along the occasional stone. “Abby’s hoping to convince him to reopen them once and if business picks up. As of now, there are only a couple that are habitable and she’s living in one of them.” Holly moved ahead of him down the path and into the front yard of one of the cabins.
“Even if they’re not using them, it can’t hurt to up the safety and security.” Luke followed her through one of the rickety, rusted swinging gates. Storybook-like and small, but serviceable, the buildings had real charm. It was a shame more of the cabins weren’t being used. “I’m in the process of making a list of recommended security items for residents, something Harvey can make sure to get in stock easily at the hardware store. Which one’s Abby’s?” He’d make it a point to double-check her doors and windows before heading back to the station.
“The one over there.” Holly pointed to the left, but all he saw were thick shrubs and flowering plants. This area could do with a serious pruning, if for no other reason than to increase visibility. As Holly continued on, Luke could smell the faintest hint of roses drifting off her skin, and the scent mingled with the morning air.
“Well, someone was definitely here.” He pushed a solitary finger against the door of the other cabin. It squeaked open. “Wait here for a minute, please.” Luke stepped inside and swallowed against the stale smell of alcohol, dirt and cigarettes the ATF would never have approved. A collection of sleeping bags was huddled against the far wall, as if their occupants had unexpectedly scrambled for freedom out the open window in the galley-style kitchen. Empty beer bottles and cans were strewn about, along with take-out food containers from fast-food restaurants and a pizza box from Zane’s, which was near the diner. Luke’s stomach soured as memory and sympathy slipped in, but not before he decided to pay the liquor stores in town a visit to nicely remind them selling to minors meant they could lose their licenses.
He heard Holly step into the cabin and bit his tongue to reprimand her for ignoring his request to remain outside. Whoever had been in here was long gone. She’d be safe.
“I’d say they’ve been squatting here for quite a while.” Luke nudged a worn backpack out from where it had been wedged into a corner and did a quick inventory of its contents, including a school ID and... His brows knitted as his hand brushed against something metal and solid. He read the ID. “Kyle Winters. Looks as if you and Simon may have been right about him.”
Holly winced, her silence piquing his curiosity.
“What?”
“I didn’t want to say in front of Simon, but Kyle reminds me of you. How you were,” she added as if afraid of offending him, but it took more than the truth to offend him. “Bad home life. His father’s spent more time in the station’s holding cell than...” She broke off, shrugged. “Let’s say he’d give your father a run for his money in the criminal-charges department. Only difference is, Kyle’s mom is part of the problem. She bails Rex out every chance she gets, blames herself, blames Kyle. Pleads with the court, promises her husband will do better. They go to counseling, things are okay for a few weeks and then it starts over. It’s a cycle no one believes will ever end, but no one’s been willing to push back.”
“Maybe it’s time someone did.” He dug deeper into the backpack.
“Maybe.” Holly nodded. “And maybe you’re the right person to get through to him. To both of them. You might want to ask my dad— What’s Kyle doing with a gun?”
Luke hefted the automatic in his hand. “Proving Simon right, it would seem.” Guns and troubled teens were never a good combination. At least the kid had left the safety on. Luke unloaded the clip and clicked the chambered bullet into his palm before he stuck the gun into the waistband of his pants and got to his feet. “Kids will do what they have to in order to feel safe.” In Luke’s case it had been a metal bat. “Especially if they’re feeling backed into a corner.”
Holly locked her hand around his arm, the heat of her fingers practically branding him through his jacket. “I said he reminded me of you, Luke. Kyle’s not you.”
“No, he’s not.” He took a step closer, struggling against the sympathy in her eyes, and found himself wishing she’d never let go. But the last thing he wanted, especially from Holly Campbell, was pity. “But that’s because I had your father to fight for me.”
* * *
“GIVE ME A couple of minutes and I’ll get those shakes ready for you,” Holly told Luke as they entered the Butterfly Diner. “Charlie, Simon’s waiting for you outside on his bike.”
“Thanks!” Charlie scrambled off her stool and grabbed her backpack, a glittery butterfly keychain attached to the zipper glistening in the morning sun. “Mom, I’m going!”
“Be back by lunch, please,” Paige said. “And be careful!”
Holly and Luke both chuckled at the exaggerated eye roll Charlie gave her mother. “’Bye, Holly. Um, ’bye.” She skittered past Luke so quickly, Holly kept an eye on the little girl and Simon as they jumped on their bikes and rode off.
“Cute kid,” Luke said.
“She’s my new secret weapon,” Holly explained. “Keeps Simon out of trouble.” And helped Holly maintain her sanity. Simon’s attitude and proclivity toward mischief had diminished significantly since the little girl’s arrival.
“Thanks again for advancing me the money so I could get her that bike,” Paige said, but her normally perky attitude had been displaced this morning. “It’s been a lifesaver. You must be Sheriff Saxon.” Paige swiped her hands on her apron before shaking his hand. “Paige Cooper.”
“Another of Holly’s secret weapons?” Luke asked as Holly headed for the shake machine.
“Something like that.” Paige ducked her head. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Holler if you need me.”
“So.” Holly made quick business of the three mocha shakes Luke had requested. “The town meeting last night?”
“You mean Mayor Hamilton’s one-man show?” Luke slid onto the stool Charlie had vacated. “I’m sorry, but I have got to ask. How did Gil get elected?”
“Not with my help,” Holly muttered as she flipped the switch. She leaned a hip against the counter and crossed her arms. If anyone had told her a week ago she’d be having a normal, civilized conversation with Luke Saxon, she’d have called them crazy. “His opponent was Elliot Daniels. Remember him?”
“Old Mr. Daniels who worked at the library?” Luke’s eyes went wide and his shock made Holly’s lips curl up. “He was ancient twelve years ago.”
“And there’s your answer.” Holly doled out the shakes. “Voter turnout wasn’t exactly stellar, either. Gil’s name is familiar and the town does skew older. I have enough optimism left to think a lot of them wanted to give him a chance to prove he’s not as corrupt as his father.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You’ve met with him a couple of times. What do you think?”
“I think I’m the wrong person to ask about someone’s father.”
“I meant about Gil.” Holly sounded a touch disapproving.
“I’m reserving judgment. For now,” Luke admitted. “Gil and I understand each other and he’s made a few promises I intend to hold him to. We’ll see if he keeps his word.”
