Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (15 page)

“Good morning.
” He
looked at me with that
sexy
l
opsided grin of his. My hands
flew to my cheek
s
,
sure they’d
flamed a
beet
red
.

“C
offee
.” I pushed
my fingers into my hair, my palms pressed against
my temp
les.

As I joined Logan at the table, h
e scooted
a
plate
of pastries
toward me. “I surprised Julia and knocked on her back door—these
are
fresh
from her oven.
”

“So much for no gossip
,”
I
snickered
and rubbed Goldie with my bare toes.

“Julia
understands.” He bit off a chunk
of
a
cinnamon roll and washed
it down
. “
I need
to
ch
eck in at the station.
Maggie’s on her way here
.
”

“I’ll be fine.”

“
Keep the doors and windows
locked.
I’ll take the front
door key and lock it behind me
.
”

“
W
ho
ever’s
behind this
was
only
trying to scare me. They haven’t made any
actual
thr
eats.” We both stood
and I found myself encircled in
his
arms. H
e k
issed the top of my he
ad
, and
I tilted my face up
, but he had already turned away.

T
he door
closed
behind him
. I inhaled and held the air inside my lungs
to control my breathing
.
My phone
vibra
ted in the pocket of my robe
:
a text from Maggie
. “
I’m outside.”

I went
down
and let her in. “
You’re here early.”

“I
hope you have coffee,
”
she said, as we made our way back up the stairs.

Moving Logan’s dirty cup to the sink,
I replaced
it
with a fresh one
for her
. “Thanks for
keep
ing
me company. I
t wasn’t necessary.”

“
Our friendship didn’t end because you’re living here now.
” Maggie added a spoon of sugar to her cup.
“
My brother’s hea
d can be turned by a pretty lady
,
but no woman
has
threatened
his heart—until now.”

“Logan
…
he’s...
T
he timing i
s wrong.
I can’t let
my craziness infect his life.”

“
E
veryone has a story. Life doesn’t come tied up in neat
packages with silky
bows
. I
t’
s made up of mountains, of valleys, of deserts and
we’re blessed to find refreshing
green pastures along the way.
The tough seasons
enable us to appreciat
e the softness of the meadow
s
.
”

I wanted to believe,
but
m
y defeatist attitude
still
hung on by a thread.
I retrieved the
pot
from the counter across the room
and re
filled our cups.
I settled back at the table. Maggie looked as if she wanted to say something more—I waited.

“Dr. Ellie
really
is
easy to tal
k to
.
I think she
might help.
”

“
My parents insisted I
talk with
a co
unselor after I lost my hearing—the support helped
.”

“You’ll like Dr. Ellie
.” She paused and
che
cked her cell phone
.
“I better go
open f
or business. By the way,
Gi
na, the owner of Serenity Blooms, is
picking
up her
antique table, the one I mentioned to you the other day
.
”

“
I’ll be
over in a few minutes
.”

“Good. Logan doesn’t want you left alone.”

After locking the door
behind Maggie
,
I
walked
into the bedroom.
I’d n
eglected to make the bed—no doubt
distracted by the aroma
of coffee
. With a smile
,
I tugged the covers in p
l
ace and prepared
to shower
.

Suddenly
,
G
oldie
crouched
at my feet
. “You sense danger?”
My whole body trembled
an
d my stomach knotted in pain
.
I checked to make sure I’d engaged the lock on the apartment door
and d
id a quick walk thro
ugh of the house—no fires.
Goldie alerted me again
by
lying
flat on the floor.
Alarmed
,
I
sent
a
text to Logan
, with only the numbers 911
.
I held my breath as
I eased
the edge of the drape back
to pee
k out the corner of the window
.
I coul
dn’t see anything
wrong
.
I threw my robe off and grabbed my jeans and a shirt.
Goldie
let
me know someone was at the door.
My heart pounded
,
I opened it,
praying I’d find
Logan
on the other side.

Chapter Nine

Sam’s
911 text had me speeding
down Shoreview Drive
, blaring my siren. People
rush
ed
outside their cottages
.
I
slow
ed
to t
ake the curve onto Main St
reet.
Tiffani ran out of Rubi’s D
iner
and
Gina hurried out the door of
Serenity
Blooms.
Their faces
reflected
con
cern
,
a
s though a
tragedy had occurred
.
I
hope
d they we
re wrong.
Please,
let her be okay.

Alec
and I arrived from opposite directions.
A
pungent ta
ste
lodged
in my throat
as I
u
nlocked the front door
of the bookshop
.
We
entered the supply room
from the main part of the shop and I took the stairs three at time.

Sam opened th
e apartment door and rushed
into my arms. S
he shivered as the wetness of her tears fell onto my shoulder
.
She
stepped
back and
folded her arms across her chest.
Not wanting to sever the connection
,
I kept my hand on her shoulder
. “What happened?”

“Goldie dropped flat
at my feet,
her way of signaling danger.
She
’s never wrong.
”
Her eyes darted around
, her body
trembling.
I touched her chin so she would focus on me.

“
I’ll take you to Maggie’
s shop.
” On th
e way I stopped and had
Julia
go with us
.
I wasn’t taki
ng any chances. What if
someone still lurked in th
e shadows?

After making sure Maggie locked the door, I rushed
back
to the bookshop. The
intense
fear in Sam’s eyes tugged on my heart
.
Who was
doing this to her?
I thought of
Lilyan, and quickly dismissed
it
as a
crazy
idea
.
Lilyan
had
never
been
destructive
or dangerous.

Alec
met me at the front
.
“We
searched upstairs and down. N
othing
.”

“Leaves one place.
” We headed for the alleyway behind the shop
. Goldi
e’s instincts had been dead on
.
T
he painter had resorted to using her SUV as a canvas
, and
what looked like key scratches gouged into
the vehicle
’
s finish
. “
Fingerprint it and c
all a tow
truck
.
”
I inspected it
again
. “
Tell Hank to get on it now.”
After a complete search of the area failed to turn up anything else,
I called Maggie and gave her t
he all
-
clear for Julia to return to
her shop.

We
combed the area
a second time
. Drips of paint were t
he only evidence. “You think Nicole
’s ready to take a shift?”

“Are you kidding, boss?
Sh
e’s biting o
n her
badge. Why?”

“U
n
til we solve this case
, I’m off patrol
.
”

“I’ll have Hank
make a new schedule. Okay to give
Nicole
the night shift?”

“Y
our call
.
Might have Ted ride along wit
h
her
the first co
uple of nights.
”
The four of us—
Alec
, Ted, Nicole and myself—w
ere the
entire
Serenity
C
ove Police Department
.
When he wasn’t attending classes,
Hank manned the ph
one
.

“
I’m going to M
aggie’s. M
ake sure Ted gets out here right away—a fingerprint or two would be good
.” I slapped
Alec
on the shoulder and hotfooted it back
to the antique
s
shop.

The ship
bell pealed my arrival. “My tw
o favorite women
.”

Maggie stood. “
I need to check a couple of things.”

“What did you find?
”
Sam
twisted the ends of her hair.

I sat in the chair Maggie had vacated.
“
Someone
vandalized
your SUV
.”

“Details?
” She raised her eyebrows
.

“Several key scratches
down both sides
and
defaced with paint.”

Her chin dropped
. “This
horrible nightmare
needs to
end
.
”