“The sad, blonde girl who liked puzzle books?”
Trust her aunt to remember Charlotte as the girl who was sad and liked puzzles, as opposed to the one who’d smashed every single one of Aunt Cass’s cherished handmade nativity figures on the fireplace mantel. “Yes, her. I haven’t seen her or heard from her in years, and I told him so.”
“Was it her young man?” Suddenly Uncle Des was on the line and Piper realized her aunt must be holding the phone up between them.
“I don’t know,” Piper said. “I never met him.”
“Tall. Big shoulders. Young lad.”
“You met Alpha?” Piper blinked. “Six years since she robbed us and you never told me that!”
“Didn’t know who the guy was. Just saw her smooching someone in the woods out my window one night when I was locking up. Told her to knock it off and come inside. He ran off and I never saw his face. I didn’t think it was anybody’s business. But I gave the police a description then and I’m happy to do so again now.”
“You come by tomorrow and fill us in,” Aunt Cass said. “In the meantime, you might want to see if Dominic Bravo wants to rent a suite. You remember him? From youth group?”
“Yeah, of course I do.” Dominic was a great guy. Sure, the former high school athlete was pretty quiet and shy, and floundered in school. But when Charlotte’s robbery rampage had included knocking Piper unconscious, Dominic had been the one who’d realized Piper was in trouble and had come to find her. “Didn’t even realize he was back in town.”
“He’s back in town for a few weeks studying for the police academy. His grandmother says he’s staying with his sister and all her little ones right now, sleeping on their pullout couch.”
“Good for him! My friend Benjamin is taking the final suite for tonight, but I’ll keep Dominic in mind. Speaking of which, I really must call the police now. I’ll come by and see you tomorrow.”
She said her goodbyes and hung up the phone. When she heard a floorboard creak behind her, she turned. Tobias was standing in the doorway, leaning on his cane. As far as she could tell the cane was simply part of his eccentric style and fashion sense, as opposed to something he actually needed to walk.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I couldn’t help but overhear. You have a problem with intruders?”
Piper stepped back. She hadn’t even thought through how she was going to tell Tobias and her other two guests about what had happened with Kodiak. “Yes, I was just about to call the police. Then I thought I’d call you, Gavin and Trisha together in the living room to update you all.”
He ran one hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. “You know, rumor has it that back in World War II, the enemy used the most inventive booby traps against the Allies, including exploding soap, oil paintings and chocolate. It’s all about thinking like a predator, Piper.”
“How interesting.” She smiled politely. “But I’m sure if we do beef up security we’ll find something a little less dramatic.” A building as old as The Downs tended to attract a lot of quirky folk, but exploding chocolate was definitely a new one. “Speaking of history, have you ever heard the rumor that The Downs used to be used in alcohol smuggling?”
“Oh, my expertise is in warfare, not local history.” Tobias shook his head. “But, I’d have thought most of the action took place closer to either Michigan or New York. This stretch of Lake Erie was supposed to be fairly uninteresting.”
Downright boring is the way she’d have been tempted to describe it, if it wasn’t for Charlotte bringing unwanted chaos to her door.
The next couple of hours passed in a blur. Cops came to take their statements. A tow truck took Benjamin’s vehicle to the garage. She called her other two guests, married lawyers Gavin and Trisha, but only got their voice mail. Tobias typed though it all.
And Benjamin...
She leaned back on the couch and looked down at her tea. Benjamin had been everywhere at once, plowing the drive, sanding the steps as the freezing rain continued to fall, taking coats as people came in and giving them back as they left again. He’d even found his own linens and made his own bed when she pointed him in the direction of his suite.
Before she knew it, the clock struck eleven.
“Why don’t you have a Christmas tree?” Benjamin’s voice cut through her thoughts.
She looked up and only then realized that they were now alone in the living room. “I put so much work into decorating the barn, I didn’t really plan to do anything for inside the house. I’m going to cut down a tree for the barn tomorrow.”
The fire dimmed in the hearth. Benjamin added some kindling, then got down on his stomach and blew on the flame. The dog promptly laid his head on top of him. Don’t let yourself get too comfortable, pup. He’s not staying long.
“How did everything go when you called your sister?” she asked.
“Okay.” He sat up and the dog moved with him. “But she sounded really stressed. I should be there making things easier for her, not adding to her problems. It’s bad enough I’m the guy who triggered her anxiety disorder to begin with by some stupid snowmobile accident. I don’t want to be the guy who makes her relapse right before her wedding.”
There was a bitter edge to his voice that she wasn’t used to hearing, almost as if he was simultaneously talking and smacking himself on the back of the head.
“I get that.” She leaned forward. “But don’t beat yourself up. You saved my life from a violent creep today. And that snowmobile accident happened way back when you were a kid.”
“I was fifteen.” He turned back to the fire. “I was old enough to know better.”
Piper pressed her lips together. Benjamin had been driving underage, on a highway, without a license and without a helmet. Those were a lot of mistakes to go through life hanging over his head. The older friend he’d been snowmobiling with hadn’t even survived the crash and the media coverage had been harsh and relentless. Long before she’d met Benjamin, she’d known exactly who he was—her generation’s poster child for foolishness.
“Well, I’m going to sleep.” Benjamin stood. “I’ve got a long drive tomorrow.”
“Good night.” She started up the stairs shortly after she’d taken care of the fire. The Downs had three unique guest suites on the second floor, but her room was up another flight of stairs in a large loft space with slanted ceilings and round windows.
When she opened the door that led to a flight of stairs to her loft, she felt fur brush past her ankles, then Harry bounded onto her bed under the eaves. She snapped her fingers and pointed to the stairs. “Sorry, dog. I need to sleep. I can’t afford to be woken up in the middle of the night just because you feel like wandering.”
The husky gave her a pointed look with sky-blue eyes that looked like his owner’s. What had she been thinking inviting a constant reminder of Benjamin to move into her home?
“Tell you what. I’ll get a doggie door installed soon. Okay?” She let him down and locked the door behind him. Then she changed into a fresh T-shirt and track pants, set her glasses down on the bedside table and slid under the blankets.
“Thank You, God, for bringing Benjamin here to save me,” she prayed as a sigh slipped through her lips. “Now help me protect my heart until he leaves.”
Exhausted sleep swept over her before she’d barely finished her prayer.
A creak jolted her awake.
Piper