Chapter 5
“SHE’S A LOOKER.”
Mason glanced over his shoulder. He must have been a gluten for punishment by leaving Harmony with Carol, the woman with no filter. The only woman he’d ever dated who was brutally honest.
And he valued that.
But Carol would also be able to tell how much he liked Harmony and little he trusted her.
All evening, he’d been feeling as if Harmony had a secret. A big one, and not an omission like he’d left out Julia, which he knew Carol would fill Harmony in on, because Carol would also somehow know he and Harmony had slept together.
There wasn’t much Carol didn’t know, or could surmise.
Which is why she made for a great school psychologist.
“You’re a married man, with one kid an another one on the way,” Mason said.
His mother would call him a coward for leaving Harmony with Carol so she could fill her in on one of the reasons he couldn’t continue seeing Harmony. However, in reality, the sting of not knowing much about Julia, the woman he thought he’d loved still left him with a sour taste in his mouth. If he was being honest with himself, he knew deep down Carol had never loved him, and he knew what he’d felt for her was fleeting. With Renee, he also knew deep down he was pushing too hard and that she wasn’t cut out for his lifestyle, even if they had loved the idea of each other.
Julia had come from left field, and he’d fallen hard and fast.
But he couldn’t stay with a woman who didn’t put her child first, and the fact she’d willingly walked away from her kid and didn’t think twice, other than the occasional phone calls, spoke volumes.
However, what hurt the most, was that he had no idea she was that cold of a woman. She’d known how badly he’d wanted a family, yet she’d kept her daughter from him and not because she was trying to protect her by shielding her from having father figures in and out of her life. No. Julia had been selfish, and he should have seen it.
When he’d been in Harmony’s bedroom earlier, while getting dressed, he noticed a box on the nightstand and in the box, a half-finished cross-stitch. It looked almost identical to the one his mother had made for her oldest grandchild.
“I’m allowed to take a glance now and again,” Jake said.
“I’m going to tell Carol you said that.” Mason waved to Harmony. He’d asked his boss if he could walk through her business with her, checking to see if anything had been disturbed, or stolen.
“Hey, she’s the one who told me to check her out,” Jake said with a laugh. “Your sister thinks Harmony is perfect for you.”
“My sister thinks any woman who isn’t Lilly or Julia is the one.” Mason had given up on the idea that the perfect woman existed for him.
Then Harmony waltzed into his life, turning his world upside down, making him think he wanted things he’d tossed in the trash the moment he’d found out about Julia’s lies.
“By the way, Lilly is trashing Harmony all over town.”
“Shocking,” Mason said sarcastically. “That might actually drum up more business for Harmony than if Lilly used her for her parents’ wedding anniversary.”
“I don’t understand why you don’t just tell Lilly to fuck off,” Jake said with a bit more venom than required for the situation.
That said, Mason understood where it came from. Lilly once tried to cause trouble for him and Carol before they got engaged.
“Here comes Harmony. Don’t be an ass,” Mason said, glaring at his longtime friend.
“Who me? Do something that might embarrass you? Never.”
Mason pulled his lips tight, wishing he hadn’t said anything. “I mean it, man.”
“Relax.” Jake pushed himself from the fire truck. “Hi, Harmony,” he said with a grin. “I’m Jake.”
“I’ve heard about you,” Harmony said as she stood at Mason’s side. “Your wife told me not to believe anything you say.”
Mason laughed. “Carol is one smart woman.”
“Yeah, she married me, didn’t she?” Jake said, puffing out his chest.
“Come on.” Mason slid his arm around Harmony’s waist. “We need to walk through your shop. Catch you later.” He nodded to Jake as he guided her toward the front door.
“Do we know what happened?” she asked as she stepped inside, flicking on the main light.
“The back door was shimmied open.”
“What?” She paused, wrapping her arms around her middle. “It wasn’t an alarm malfunction?”
“Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The back door to the building, the lock was broken.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ve had the place dusted for prints and my boss, Jonah, is talking with everyone who was in the area at the time the alarm went off.”
He studied her facial expressions. Her blue eyes were wide with concern. Her brow crinkled, and her lips parted slightly before drawing into a tight line, in anger. That concerned him. Most victims of robbery or vandalism might start with anger, but would quickly move to fear.
“I need you to walk through and see if there is anything missing. We don’t see any damage, but a few drawers at your desk were left hanging open.”
“I always close them. I’m weird that way,” she said with tension dripping from each word as they slowly left her lips.
“Take your time,” he said.
“Will I contaminate anything by touching things or moving them?”
“No. We’ve collected all we can.” He hated his next question. Not because he disliked asking it, but because there was a tickle in the back of his mind telling him she was hiding something. He wanted to believe he was being gun-shy. Lord knows he had good reason, but a few things she’d either said or done over the course of the last week, and now her reaction to her store being broken into, sent his investigative instincts into hyperdrive.
And there was the fact that there wasn’t anything of much value in her shop. Mostly display books, samples, and pictures. She did have a computer on her desk in the back office.
“I need to ask if there is anyone who could be mad at you or would want to cause your business harm?”
“You mean besides Lilly,” she said, glaring at him.
“Yes, besides her. She’s got a rock-solid alibi.”
“Then, no.” Harmony walked through the store. The longer they stayed there, the more angry she became.
“I need you to check your computer. See if it’s how you left it.”
She pushed back the door, glancing once over her shoulder. “Who else had their business broken into?”
“The animal shelter. One dog is missing.”
“So this might have nothing to do with me.”
He nodded. “But someone did break in, based on the lock.” Not much made sense to him right now. Kids stealing a puppy he could see, but they’d get caught pretty quickly. “The break-in next door could be a diversion.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little over the top for a small town?” she muttered as she disappeared into the back room.
She had a point. Everyone in this town knew everything about their neighbors. Privacy wasn’t something that came with living in St. Helena’s. At least not the kind of privacy where people didn’t know your name, who you were dating, and what kind of ice cream you ordered at the local shop.
He made his way to the back room and leaned against the doorjamb. She leaned over the desk, tapping at the keyboard.
“Anything?”
She shook her head.
Liar.
He frowned. The computer had definitely been used by whoever broke in, and he knew this because Jonah, his boss, had said he’d checked the timestamp of when someone last logged in and it had been one minute after the alarm went off. Five minutes before the animal shelter’s silent alarm had been triggered.
Why did all women have to be liars? Well, not all, just the ones he decided to have feelings for.
“We’d like to take the computer to have a specialist look at it.”
She popped her gaze over the screen. “Why?”
“Someone might have done a search or tapped into one of your files that you can’t tell at first glance. It might help find out who broke in.”
She nodded. “If it will help.”
If she didn’t mind giving up the computer, then why did she lie about how the computer screen had been left? Did she not know? Not everyone understood computers, even if they were well-versed in using them.
No. His gut told him the way she handled the machine, as if she were looking for something, that she’d lied for a reason.
A reason he intended to find out.