The Marriage Charm (Bliss County 2) (18 page)

Melody was speechless, and that wasn’t something he’d seen before. Not very often, anyway. In profile her face was very still as she stared out the windshield. Finally she said, “Someone broke into my house?”

“Afraid so.”

The expected panic ensued. “The cats! They hate strangers. Drive faster.”

“I’m not going to break the law by speeding. We’ll stay within the limit and get there safely. I expect those cats have the burglar tied up in a closet somewhere, anyway.”

“Maybe.” Her voice cracked as she tried to laugh.

And failed.

“Please, Spence, I’m so worried about them.” Her whisper was almost inaudible.

That did it. He did speed up, just a little, when he saw the shine of tears in her eyes. He reassured himself that he was still within the allowable limit—and he
was,
after all, responding to a call. They hit the county highway and made it into town in reasonable time.

He saw the law-enforcement vehicle in front of her house, lights still flashing, which was showy but not necessary. Except that after a seventh breakin, maybe it was a nod to the public, signaling that they were on it.

He grabbed Melody’s arm as she went to jump from the truck. “Do me a favor and try not to touch anything. There’s always a sense of violation with a burglary, but if you’ll just let us do our jobs, I’d appreciate it. Collect the cats, and we’ll take you wherever you want to go, okay? If you notice something missing, speak up, but otherwise, we don’t need you to do anything.”

“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped as she got out of the truck. Then, being Melody, she had to turn and shoot back at him, “Except when it comes to you!”

She ran up the walk.

The next hour wasn’t pretty.

To her credit, Melody wasn’t hysterical over the pulled-out drawers, scattered pillows or even the ransacked state of her studio, but she cried silently over the absence of her cats, tears trailing down her cheeks.

He had to admit he couldn’t take it.

While the responding deputies took photographs and fingerprinted the obvious surfaces, Spence helped her search under every bed, the couch, the nooks and crannies of the entire house, and finally had to acknowledge the cats weren’t inside. He told the deputies, one being Moe and the other a county veteran, “Stay inside with her, take a statement like you would with anyone, while I look around outside. Keep Harley inside. He means well, but he’s just going to get in my way.”

Moe nodded. “Will do.”

Now, he was really used to dogs, but cats were unknown territory. Spence tried to think like a cat, gave up after a split second, and scoured the yard with a flashlight for the best place to hide if he was a small critter.

At the farthest end of the yard, under a giant lilac bush that had taken over that corner, he suddenly spotted three pairs of unblinking, glowing eyes.

All lined up.

Oh, it was them, all right. Relief washed over him in a wave. He figured he could save Melody from a raging fire or a deadly avalanche, but she’d appreciate this more.

The kicker was, of course, trying to get them all three of them on board with the idea of going back inside with him. How did one man carry three hefty cats—if he could even begin to coax them out? Crouching there, he thought it over.

So he did what any heroic officer would do and texted for backup.
Found them. Need you.

Melody burst out the door. He was slightly surprised the cats didn’t scatter, but they must have been used to her impetuous nature because they didn’t move when she dashed up and dropped to her knees next to him.

“Thank goodness.” She kissed him then, just a peck of gratitude on the cheek. Still, a kiss was a kiss in his book. Then she began the process of trying to convince her precious roommates that they should leave their safe haven.

They were having none of it.

Spence was ordered back into the house to get a bag of cat treats from the same cupboard where he’d been shown the food, and it was just possible that he saw a smirk on the face of the county deputy as he walked past carrying the brightly colored little bag.

Moe, standing there with Harley at his feet, grinned. “Anything for a pretty lady, right, boss?”

Spence shot him a lethal look, and he shut up.

He had to admit she knew cats. The treats worked like a charm.

All he needed to do was rattle the bag, and three forms cautiously emerged from under the bush. Then they followed him into the house as if he was the Pied Piper, their curved tails twitching.

Melody dispensed the treats, and after they’d daintily devoured them, they jumped on the mantel to inspect the mess in her studio. But not until they’d flicked a glance of disdain at Harley. With the cats safe and sound, Melody informed him that all the jewelry pieces she was working on were missing, and some of her tools, as well.

She looked...well, shattered.

He was going to damn well fix that.

“I have a safe, actually, but I don’t use it much,” she confessed, a few tears resurfacing. “This is Mustang Creek, after all. Luckily, I did put some of the gems Mrs. Arbuckle wanted in the necklace she commissioned in there, but I just bought a gorgeous diamond for an engagement ring she ordered, and it was here on my worktable, so I could study it while I did the design. I have insurance, of course, but that stone simply isn’t replaceable.”

“We’ll need a full written inventory, with photographs. The state has a special unit to investigate fenced goods on the internet. Luckily, your pieces are one of a kind. With enough information, they can flag each of them.”

“My computer is missing, too,” she said bitterly, “but I take pictures of the pieces with my phone before I store the digital files. At least that was with me this evening.”

“That’s welcome news.” He meant it. “You know, and mind you I’m not saying I’m glad this happened, but it might be the break we need. If a trolling motor gets stolen, no one thinks twice, but a Melody Nolan piece is a different story.”

Although the quality of the stolen items had escalated with this particular theft, the MO was similar—entry through a broken window, the mess left behind—so Spence was convinced that they were connected.

“Happy to help,” she said gloomily.

He turned to the deputies. “I’ve got this from here. You boys can go.”

Damned if he didn’t notice another smirk. Apparently, it was no secret that he was more than a little interested in Ms. Nolan. Once word about the way he’d carted her off from the Galloway party got around town, he was going to catch some ribbing.

Worth it.

Spence eyed the trio of cats. “I’d suggest we go out to my place, but I’m guessing that idea would not be met with universal household approval, so Harley and I will just bunk down here. In the morning I’ll call Gary at the hardware store, and he’ll come fix your window.”

“Oh, that’s subtle,” she said, the sarcasm unmistakable.

“I’ll sleep on the couch. Do you really want to stay here alone?”

*

H
E HAD HER
THERE
.

Alone? No, thanks. Besides, the triumvirate was okay with it. Despite the presence of a dog, in their eyes clearly a lower life form.

Melody had to agree with his earlier assertion that there was a sense of violation in the knowledge that people had broken into her house, taking whatever they wanted, frightening her beloved pets. In the process, they’d destroyed any feeling of personal security. It was generous of Spence to offer to stay. He was right, too, as little as she wanted to acknowledge it—having a man and a dog in residence might allow her to get some sleep. Besides, the cats required a lot of persuasion to get them into a car on a good day, and this was unfortunately not a good day. Or rather, night. And she couldn’t possibly leave them in the house after what had happened.

At least the party had been a success. She was happy for Hadleigh on that score.

She picked up a pillow and put it back on the couch and helplessly surveyed the chaos. Books scattered, drawings everywhere, even her DVD collection was all over the place. “I don’t know where to start.”

Spence walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them lightly. “The bastards left the kitchen alone, aside from the broken window. A cup of tea might be nice. We can take a deep breath and clean up in the morning.”

The man did have a way with those talented hands. She relaxed a fraction as he soothed her knotted muscles with his thumbs. “Not a bad plan.”

“Occasionally I have good ones, believe it or not.”

She turned around, her gaze softening. “I have never doubted your intelligence or integrity, just your motivation. But I’m emotionally incapable of having this discussion tonight.”

He seemed to understand, his right hand coming up to touch her cheek in a brief caress. “I’m really sorry about all this.”

He was hardly responsible for what had happened, but she got the impression that maybe he felt he was. “I think I’ll skip the tea. I’m just going to brush my teeth and fall into bed.”

Harley was completely in favor of that; he followed her into the bedroom, jumped onto the bed as if he slept there every night and settled at the foot of it. With a brief thump of his tail on the double-ring wedding quilt Hadleigh had made for her, he laid his head on his paws and closed his eyes.

“Some watchdog,” Melody said with a suffocated laugh, kicking off her shoes.

His tail thumped again, but his eyes stayed closed. The signal was clear. He was in for the night.

She went into her master bathroom, grateful the thieves hadn’t vandalized that, too, and got ready for bed, putting on a pair of shorts and a worn T-shirt.

Sexy stuff.

She went back out into the living room/studio in her bare feet. Spence had removed his boots and stretched out on the couch, his arms crossed behind his head.

“Just come and sleep in my bed,” she told him. “I’m not in the mood for anything but actual
sleep
, but...it would be better to have you there.”

He glanced up at her. “Sure?”

He looked so tall and solid and safe. Given recent events, she was
very
sure. “Yes. Besides, your dog’s already settled in, so the more, the merrier.”

He got to his feet. “I’m going to walk around the house one more time, make sure everything’s secure.”

“Thanks.”

Melody crawled into bed, aware that she was still tense, until Spence came into the bedroom and began to quietly undress, except for his boxers. When he joined her, she immediately spooned into him. She felt the warmth of his body against hers, listened to Harley still snoring softly and finally, finally she relaxed.

He draped an arm around her waist. “I’m right here.”

If she hadn’t been so vulnerable and shaken, she might not have whispered into her pillow, “I have no desire to fall in love with you again.”

“It’s okay if you do.” The reassurance was accompanied by the slight tightening of his embrace. “I promise.”

At any rate, she
thought
she heard that as she drifted into an exhausted sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

F
IGURATIVELY SPEAKING,
THE
next day felt as though a tsunami had blasted the coast of Wyoming—although, of course, the state had no coast.

Moe hadn’t been kidding about the irate parents and their complaints over the trail ride. Spence saw that his inbox was jammed with complaints. He needed to approach Hadleigh right away, but the night before had been complicated for them both, no doubt about it.

The latest robbery had him severely pissed off on a personal level, although he had to admit that waking up with Melody snuggled next to him, her shapely bottom pressed against his groin, had been a sweet perk, despite the whole untenable situation.

Except there was no way he could lose the erection that had kept him awake half the night, and his unsatisfied body certainly didn’t improve his mood. In the light of day, the damage to her house looked even worse, but other than the window, nothing was actually broken, and he’d done his best to help her clean up before he left for work. She’d thanked him very nicely as her trio of cats watched her give him another chaste kiss on the cheek, and he’d departed, feeling like a deserter. The place was still a mess.

After dropping Harley at home, taking a lightning quick shower and throwing on some clean clothes, he’d made arrangements to have her window repaired ASAP.

His morning went from bad to worse.

There was a traffic accident on Main Street involving the mayor. Spence answered that call himself.

Somehow, a load of cattle, headed for auction, had somehow nudged open the door to their transport truck when the driver stopped for gas, and meandered through town, causing that accident. The driver, while he could drive a semi-trailer truck, knew nothing about cattle, and the mass escape had to be handled. Luckily, Spence could herd cows even without a good cutting horse, and there were plenty of cowboys around to lend a hand. With the assistance of these good-natured citizens pitching in, the cattle were all herded back into the truck, but it took a while. One stubborn cow had discovered the joys of a bed of hostas at someone’s residence, and refused to budge. Much to the amusement of the onlookers, Spence finally had to rope her and use his truck to urge her away from the buffet of plants. The owners weren’t home, so he’d had to leave them a note explaining what had happened. They weren’t going to be pleased when they saw their ravaged landscaping.

Then there was a fistfight between two boys during the beginning of football practice at the high school, and the elderly coach—the same one he’d had back in the day—couldn’t deal with it because they were taking some serious swings at each other. A concerned parent watching the practice called the police.

Fine, but in the end, that turned out to be a case of overreacting; when they got there, the incident was already over, and handshakes had been exchanged. He’d even talked the principal out of suspending them since no one was hurt.

He couldn’t wait for this day to be over. It wasn’t murder and mayhem, thank God, but all the small stuff added up to a big headache.