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“It was my fault. An accident.”
“But somebodydidthis. More than once, according to Ben. Why?”
“I don’t know.”
He gritted his teeth. “You don’t know? Or you don’t care to tell me?”
Her face finally tilted up and her dull eyes met his. She very pointedly said nothing.
Quinn latched on to what he’d overheard. “Does this have something to do with your property?”
The skin around her eyes tightened almost imperceptibly. “Why don’t you ask some of your developer friends about that?”
That seemed such an inexplicable shift of topic, Quinn felt momentarily dizzy. “Why would my developer friends be interested in Love’s Garage? Not that it’s not…special.”
“Never mind. There’s no way to tell who’s done this. It’s just vandalism, just kids, probably. I was stupid enough to get myself injured. Nobody hurt me.”
“This isn’t just vandalism—”
“It is. Ask Ben. Hell, it could be some kid I turned in for drunk driving after an accident. Who knows?”
Muscles burning, Quinn began to pace the short length of her living room. The sight of the ugly moss rock hearth made him madder still. “You’re in danger. Regardless of how you feel about me and my inconvenient interest in your life, I’m staying here.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m not going to leave you alone.”
“Yes, you are.”
Quinn spun around and glared at Lori. “What the hell is wrong with you? We’ve been friends for years. You need help. Let me help you. Don’t tell me a damn thing if that’s the way you want it, but let me stay.”
She reached out slowly for the chenille throw and wrapped it around her body, the cast making the movements awkward. Nearly a full minute passed while she tucked it beneath her legs and fiddled with the edges. She didn’t look at him when she spoke.
“My garage is ruined. It’s going to cost thousands of dollars to get it back in working order. My septic tank is full of oil. Some of the oil leaked out into the gravel, so I have to pay the EPA to monitor my soil and test my well for the next couple of years.
“The insurance company finds the whole thing ‘suspicious,’ so God only knows how long they’ll take to pay whatever they’re willing to pay. And I’ve got to find some way to get everything up and running, or I can’t pay my workers. I’ll lose the trucks. I’ll…”
He took a step toward her, but she shook her head.
“I just want to be alone, okay? I can’tdothis right now, Quinn. I can’t do anything right now, so please go away and leave me alone.”
His anger tumbled into alarm. She was serious. She’d rather be alone and in danger than with him. “Please let me stay. Or at least go sleep at Molly’s. Just don’t stay here by yourself, damn it.Please.”
Her good hand emerged from the cocoon of the blanket and rubbed at her eyes. She seemed to consider his perfectly reasonable request for a long while.
“Fine,” she muttered, and the beast clawing through his chest paused to listen. “You can sleep on the couch.” Without a glance in his direction, Lori lurched to her feet and swiped a prescription bottle off the coffee table. “I’m going to bed. My hand hurts.”
She shuffled away.
“Hey,” he called, “have you eaten anything today?”
Her only answer was the slamming of the bedroom door. Pitifully, this did nothing to ruin his relief. He could stay. He could watch over a woman who didn’t want him around and find out what the hell was going on.
After grabbing Lori’s keys off the table, Quinn headed for the front door. He’d take a quick look around the grounds, grab his overnight bag from the car, and then he’d call Ben and threaten a law enforcement officer with physical injury in an attempt to get more information.
But instead of hunting down the creep who’d been harassing Lori, Quinn stepped onto the sidewalk and ran straight into his turncoat sister.
Molly grabbed his arm. “How is she doing?”
