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“Exactly.” He opened the other bag to reveal a pair of what looked like chocolate truffles. “They’re gluten-free vegan peanut balls dipped in dark chocolate. I forgot there’s a chance you might have a nut allergy until I was already halfway here.” He ran his hand through his hair, expression sheepish. “Hopefully they’re okay for you.”
“They both look great.” I smiled. “I don’t have any allergies.”
He took a scone, so I did the same. I hadn’t thought I was hungry, but my stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since lunch, and I’d barely managed to get anything down then. The scone was still warm, and I devoured it embarrassingly quickly, but Ezra didn’t seem to mind. Duke whined, and I tossed him the last mouthful, hoping he’d behave himself for a while longer.
“So, what was stolen?” he asked, his mouth stuffed with scone. “They wouldn’t tell me at the station. I hope it was nothing too important.”
I debated whether to be truthful, but with the way the Destiny Falls gossip mill worked, I was sure he’d be able to find out from someone else if he wanted to. “My wedding ring.”
His eyebrows flew up, and he choked on the scone in his mouth. He swallowed with a wince, then drank coffee and coughed to clear his pipes. “I had no idea you were married.”
“I’m divorced, not married.”
“Oh.” He popped the last piece of his scone between his lips and reached for one of the peanut balls. I took the other. “Me too. I work as a physio for the New Zealand women’s hockey team and ended up marrying one of the players. Once she retired from professional hockey, she expected me to give up my job on the team as well, but I couldn’t. I love it too much. She ended up resenting how often I was away, so things fell apart.”
I bit into the peanut ball, uncertain why he was sharing so much with me.
“Sorry.” His cheeks colored as if he’d read my mind. “I’m oversharing. It was recent, and I’m still working through some things, especially since I didn’t have much mental space to do that at the time.”
“Why’s that?” I asked against my better judgment.
“My father had cancer. I was helping Mum care for him during my divorce. He only passed recently.”
“I’m sorry.” I felt a pang of sympathy. “That must have been hard. How’s your mum?”
“Hanging in there. Keeping herself busy with volunteer activities.”
“That’s good.” At least she had something to take her mind off the loss. “Where does she live?”
“Wellington.” He licked his fingers clean. “It’s strange that someone would only take your wedding ring. It couldn’t have been your ex, could it?”
Despite myself, I laughed. “God, no. Ryan is the last person who’d do something like that. We’re still friends.”
He gave me a dark look. “Can you ever really be friends with an ex?”
“Yes,” I insisted. But then, I supposed Ryan and I weren’t a typical divorced couple. We hadn’t been in love when we married, and while we had grown to love each other, it wasn’t in that way. “Trust me, it wasn’t him.”
“If you say so.”
His tone said he wasn’t convinced, but I ignored it. I didn’t owe him an explanation.
Duke’s ears pricked up. I listened and heard the faint noise of a vehicle outside. He didn’t race to the door, which made me think it was likely to be someone whose vehicle he’d become familiar with. Nate, perhaps. I glanced at the time. It was just after three, so the school would have let out for the day, and his shift had also ended.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” I said, standing up.
Ezra stood too. “Sounds like you have company. I’ll head back to the cottage, but come over later if you’d like to talk more. I can make you a coffee or cup of tea, whatever you prefer.”
“I might, thanks.” I absolutely wouldn’t. While our conversation had reassured me that he was at least partly normal, there was still something off about the guy, and I wasn’t about to put myself in a vulnerable position.
I escorted him to the door and opened it to see Nate and Tess on the other side. Nate’s gaze quickly cataloged my features, then flicked to Ezra. He bristled.
Don’t make a scene,I warned with my eyes.
He seemed to get the message, giving the other man a brusque nod as he passed by. When Ezra was out of the house, Nate closed the door behind him.
“What are you thinking, having him over here?” he hissed. “We haven’t got the results of his fingerprint comparison back yet. He could be the one causing your problems.”
I grimaced. I hadn’t thought about the fact those results might take a while to receive. I’d assumed that because the police had let him go, they didn’t have anything tying him to the crime.
