Chapter 12

Audrey

The following morning, I sat at the dining room table, which had become the de facto office for Dallas and me. Sipping coffee, I was busy emailing back-and-forth with my lawyer about the itemized list I intended to have her send to Matthew. Canceling a wedding was a pain in the ass, in case you were wondering. The only factor working in my favor was that the scheduled date was over six months away. I felt lucky to be able to get refunds on anything. I had no option but to forfeit deposits. I was relieved I had a good job that paid well. After I graduated from NYU with my law degree, I’d taken a position as an Assistant Attorney General for New York State. I was a small fry compared to the lawyers working in the private sector, but I still made decent money.

The abrupt end of my engagement to Matthew had created a domino effect in my life. I’d only remained in New York because of my relationship with Matthew. I’d never intended to stay beyond graduation. New York was an amazing city—fun, buzzing with energy, and alive with so many options. It was easy to feel as if the world was at your fingertips there. Yet, for me, it was a fun place to live temporarily, or to visit. Matthew had persuaded me to stay, insisting we’d never get the career opportunities we had there anywhere else.

I looked around my family's home. I contemplated whether I could ask my parents if I could stay here for a while. While I loved it here, that didn't quite appeal to me either. Haven’s Bay would always be a touchstone for me, but I couldn't quite imagine being here all the time. My mind spun to Dallas. I was practically chanting a mantra in my mind about him, reminding myself again and again that I shouldn’t hope for more. Last night had been pure heaven. I could seriously get used to falling asleep tangled up beside him.

Dallas had been in and out of the dining room this morning, alternating between working on his computer and taking calls in another room. It was clear he was handling something intense related to work. Although I supposed everything related to his work was intense. I didn't know much about what he did beyond the broad strokes. I knew from Thea he had been promoted quickly within the FBI, and he led a number of investigations out of the FBI’s Boston office. Even she didn't know the details related to them because he couldn't talk about them. Sadly, I knew quite well that he’d been the investigator to stumble onto his father’s financial crimes. He’d removed himself from the case, yet he still had to witness his family get torn apart over it.

He looked worried, his gaze tense today. It made my heart ache a little, if only because I didn’t like seeing him like that. Thinking about him made me restless, so I went to the kitchen to start a fresh pot of coffee, needing something to keep me occupied. While it was brewing, I walked upstairs to drag the Christmas decorations out of the attic. I might be crazy, but since I was here and Christmas was right around the corner, I wanted to decorate the house.

I was halfway through stringing lights around the fireplace when there was a knock at the front door. I heard Dallas’ footsteps, and he leaned in the archway into the living room, his eyes widening when he saw what I was doing.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Hanging Christmas lights,” I said, stating the rather obvious fact.

I knew his question wasn’t about that, but more about why I would even be doing this. Yet, I didn’t feel like answering because it meant contemplating the state of my heart.

He was quiet, something flashing in his eyes. “Okay, I'll get the door then.”

He stepped into the entryway and opened the door. Cold air swirled inside. I heard a voice I recognized.

“Come on in, Howard,” Dallas said.

I plugged in the lights around the fireplace, wiped my hands on my jeans and walked over to the entryway. “Hey, Howard. Long time no see,” I said.

His eyes widened, a grin splitting his face. “Audrey! I heard from Sherry you were here. Good to see you.”

“What brings you here, Howard?” Dallas asked.

“I thought I'd stop by to see if you'd seen anybody next door,” Howard explained.

I angled my head to the side. “Why are you asking? We can't really see the house from here with the trees in between.”

“I know, but since there’s only a few houses nearby with anyone around, I’m checking. Someone broke in last night,” he explained with a slow shake of his head.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Dallas said.

Howard sighed. “Honestly, I'm dealing with a break-in once or twice a week. Someone’s got an organization going on around here. They're making bank too. They steal electronics and valuables from every house. When people give me estimates of what's missing, it's ten grand plus. They've even stolen vehicles from people that leave summer vehicles here. It surprised me somebody broke in nearby last night because I knew Dallas was here. They’ve mostly been breaking into homes that are surrounded by other vacation homes, so no one’s even within a mile.”

“How about I get you some coffee?” I asked as I stepped past the front door. “We can sit down for a few minutes.”

I went into the kitchen to pour coffee, while Howard and Dallas sat down at the dining room table. When I returned, I could tell Dallas was in investigator mode. He had a notepad out and was jotting down dates and actually drawing a map. Leave it to him to go right to the details. By the time Howard was ready to go, Dallas had full accounting of whose home had been broken into, when and what was missing.

As Howard stood to leave, he caught Dallas’ eyes. “Damn smart of Warren to ask you to check on this place. If anything, you being here will be the only reason this place doesn't get robbed too.” Howard’s gaze flicked between us. “How long will you two be around?”

I felt Dallas’ eyes on me, but I didn’t look his way. Anxiety bloomed in my chest. This shouldn’t have felt like a loaded question, but it did.

Dallas spoke first. “I told Warren I’d be here until after the New Year.”

I couldn’t quite bring myself to answer because I didn’t have an answer. What I wanted to say was I’d be here for the month too. That had been my plan before I encountered Dallas. I’d wanted the peace and quiet this place could offer me. Now, I wanted to soak every drop of time I could with Dallas. Yet, warning bells were ringing loudly in my mind. The more time I spent with him, the more I wanted him. That was dangerous.

Howard carried on after Dallas answered, asking him a few more questions and leaving me off the hook to discuss my plans. We saw Howard out, and I finished putting up the lights in the living room, while Dallas returned to his ‘office’ in the dining room.

Not much later, I slipped into a chair across from him. He appeared to be going back and forth between the map he’d penciled for the locations of the break-ins and something on his computer.

“I can't believe this,” I said when he glanced up.

He shrugged. “I can. It's not like it hasn't happened here before. It's smart and easy pickings for somebody who just wants to make some quick cash.”

“Seriously? How much money can they be making?”

Dallas cocked his head to the side, his mouth curling up at one corner. My belly did a little flip at that. His smiles were too delicious for me.

“You don’t think like a criminal. It might not seem like much, but if they’re pulling 10K value for every break in, they pawn it off and keep the cash. These guys are headed to one of the cities, Portland or Boston probably, and selling what they steal. I'm sure they have an arrangement in place with some pawn shops. I figured I would take notes and maybe I can be a little help while I'm here,” he explained.

I nodded and took a sip of my freshly filled cup of coffee. “I’m sure Howard will appreciate it. You seem busy today. Is everything okay with work?” I asked.

He eyed me, his gaze assessing. “Nothing unusual. Some activity on a case I'm handling in Boston. You don't mind, do you?”

“No, of course not. It's your job. It's not like you expected me to be here. You certainly don’t need to do anything different because I am.”

As soon as I spoke, a thread of tension ran through me. I realized this was the point where he probably expected me to tell him what my plans were. The truth was, I wanted to stay here for the entire time that I would've been in Italy. That had been my original plan. I didn't want to go back to New York. That was the last place I wanted to be. Even though it would be nice to see my family, I wasn’t up for anyone feeling bad for me about how things ended with Matthew. I preferred to stay here and lose myself in Dallas. Even though I knew it was a potentially disastrous idea, I’d patch up my heart and face the world later.