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“It really is a nice place.” Didn’t she already say that?
“Thanks.”
Taupe paint covered the walls, broken up by white trim. The entryway ceiling soared high above their heads. Not what she expected from the farmhouse-style exterior. Sparse, tasteful furnishings in espresso brown were the only sign that people lived there at all. No pictures on the walls. No knickknacks. No personal items. And cleaner than a model home. Sterile, really. “It’s difficult to believe two bachelors live here.”
“I plan on getting back to my own place soon. I’m only here to help Uncle Sam until he’s better.”
Did that mean he planned to move in on the sanctuary soon? Fear drove Seyla forward into the living room, her mind grasping for some way to stall him. She had to catch whoever was sabotaging the fencing before it was too late. She couldn’t let the animals down. She couldn’t let Jessa down.
It had to be tonight. Time had run out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jax showed Seyla the location of her room and set her bag on the bed. “I’m down the hall, last door to the left, if you need me. My uncle’s door is the first one. Ellen’s room will be on your side of the hall, the next door to the right. Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
Jax walked back downstairs to the kitchen, with Seyla trailing behind him. It felt too personal, having her in his home. Actually, his uncle’s home.
Irritation zipped through Jax. He clamped his mouth shut to avoid reminding her ten more times that he wasn’t a freeloader. That he was here to help out Uncle Sam. He hoped she believed him. It rubbed at his pride to think she saw him as one of those guys who lived in his parents’ basement.
Wait. Why did it matter if she did? Why did he care what she thought?
But he did.
He shouldn’t have kissed her. There was too much at stake for each of them. The whole situation was too messy. And he didn’t do “messy”. The letter from his mother had reminded him how different they were. How impossible a relationship would be.
So, if he knew that, why was the reminder such a punch in the gut?
Jax turned to her. “Can I interest you in some fruit and sandwiches?” At Seyla’s nod, he went to the refrigerator and collected some turkey lunchmeat and Swiss cheese. Although he normally didn’t eat lunchmeat, at this point he’d eat cardboardand was too exhausted to make anything else. He retrieved a loaf of sliced bread from a cupboard. “Mayo or mustard?”
“Mayo.”
Jax fished a fruit salad, along with mayonnaise, from the refrigerator. He dished the fruit into bowls while she assembled the sandwiches. Grabbing a couple bottles of cold water, they set the stuff on the table. After they prayed for the meal, they dug into their fruit.
“Sorry this place is such a mess,” Jax said, pointing to the smoothie machine. How had he forgotten to put it away? Was he getting worse? Between that, the coffee left in the coffeemaker and his uncle’s vitamins sitting on the counter, they’d left the kitchen a wreck.
“Are you kidding? You think this is messy?”
Warning bells went off in his head. “Don’t you?”
“This place is spotless.” Seyla bit her lip. “Okay, I have to ask. Is your uncle a minimalist? I don’t see anything sentimental.”
Jax shrugged, careful to keep his tone neutral. “The way I see it, things aren’t important. People are.”
Seyla held his gaze for a moment before her attention dropped to her bowl.
A heavy silence settled over the room. The only sound was Rock’s panting as he shamelessly begged for a piece of lunchmeat.
Uneasy, Jax set his spoon in his bowl and changed the subject. “So, did the sheriff say you have to go to the station tomorrow or did he ask you everything he had to tonight?”
“He said he’d call me if he had any more questions. I mentioned Travis and Ethan to him. He sent some deputies out to locate them, but they radioed back that they hadn’t found them.”
“Hopefully, we’ll uncover who’s behind this now that the police are more involved.” Jax thought he glimpsed a frown flash across Seyla’s lips. Then it disappeared.
Was she upset because police involvement would mean publicity, which would damage the sanctuary?
Had her actions tonight been motivated by concern for the people at the fair? Or for the sanctuary’s reputation? If it was the latter, things were going to get a whole lot worse for her.
