“No,” she said softly. “Ever since you asked me that last night, I’ve been thinking about it and there’s just nothing.” Shrugging, she added, “He seemed distracted. Worried about something maybe. But he didn’t say anything specific.”
He huffed out a breath and shook his head. “Damned strange. All of it.”
“I know.” She hugged him tightly then let him go. “I’ve got a lot of work to do here, Sheriff. So I’ll get to it and you go find Alex and catch me a bad guy.”
Nathan spent a couple of frustrating days trying to track down answers to his questions. He couldn’t find Alex Santiago and he had no clue who had vandalized the diner kitchen. Frustration chewed at him. That bad feeling about Alex was intensifying, and as for Amanda …
This was damn personal. Someone was out there trying to hurt her and damned if he’d let them. Amanda was his and nobody was going to mess with her and get away with it.
Of course, he mused ruefully, he hadn’t told Amanda yet how it was going to be between them. Now that he’d decided that they were going to be together, he wanted to take his time. Keep seducing her with sex, get her used to the idea of having him back in her life before he actually told her it was time to get married. He wasn’t an idiot, after all. The last time he’d asked her to marry him it was because of the baby and none of it had ended well. It shamed him to remember it now, but it was best to go into any tricky situation with your thoughts and goals straight. Looking back, Nathan was willing to admit he’d handled that situation badly long ago.
This time would be different.
Amanda was a hell of a woman, but she had a spine and was likely to fight him on this whole marriage thing if he didn’t work it just right.
Not that it mattered if she fought him. He would have her, in the end. It would just be easier all the way around if he could just keep reminding himself to be patient.
But he wouldn’t be patient in finding whoever was behind this mess at the diner. Because he knew, whoever it was, would also turn out to be the source of the rumors. Highly unlikely that two different people would both be harassing Amanda at the same time.
When the phone rang, he snatched it. “Sheriff’s office.”
“Hey.”
“Chance.” Nathan straightened, grabbed a pen and slid a pad of paper in front of him just in case he needed to take notes. “You hear anything?”
“Nada.” Chance sounded disgusted. “I’ve talked to everybody I can think of and nobody’s seen Alex.”
“Damn.” He sat back in his chair and tossed the pen to the desktop. “I talked to Mia Hughes yesterday—Alex’s housekeeper. She hasn’t seen him in days. Says he hasn’t been home at all.”
“Well, where the hell is he, then?”
“I don’t know, Chance.” Nathan shook his head and stared off into space. “It’s like he dropped off the face of the earth.”
“I don’t mind admitting that I’m getting worried, Nate,” Chance said. “This isn’t like Alex.”
Nathan was worried, too. It just didn’t seem reasonable that nobody in Royal had heard from or seen Alex. And why the hell would he leave town without at least telling Mia? Something was definitely wrong here and Nathan didn’t like it.
Usually, in a town like Royal, the “crimes” he dealt with were kids getting into trouble or the occasional battle between neighbors. Now he had a missing man and a break-in.
“Any news on what happened at the diner?” Chance asked.
“No.” One word. Disgusted. Nathan had never felt helpless before and he didn’t care for it. He couldn’t find his friend and he hadn’t been able to discover who was behind the vandalism to Amanda’s place.
Though he did at least have a half-baked suspicion on that one. Didn’t make much sense to him, but he’d check it out. And if he were right…it would help prove to Amanda that she could trust him—in spite of the mistakes in their past.
“What is with Royal this summer, man?”
“Wish to hell I knew,” Nathan answered.
The upside of having her diner demolished, Amanda thought, was that she had more time with Nathan.
He hadn’t wanted her staying alone in the apartment over the diner until he found whoever had done the damage. So, she’d been staying here, at the house he’d had built for himself on the Battlelands. Normally, she might have fought him over his bossy, take-charge attitude, but she hadn’t wanted to stay there, either. As much as she liked the little apartment, it would never really feel safe to her again.
Nathan’s place, as great as it was, was temporary and she knew it. The only answer was to find a place of her own.
“Guess it’s time to look for that house,” she said aloud.
“You have a house,” Terri told her firmly. “Right here.”
“This is Nathan’s,” Amanda said, shaking her head as she took a sip of her tea. “Being here with him is wonderful, but it isn’t permanent.”
“Honestly, I don’t know which of you has the harder head.” As if accepting that she wouldn’t change Amanda’s mind, Terri sighed and went to a new subject. “How’s the diner coming along, anyway?”
“We’ll be able to open again on Monday. We’ve got a new grill and Pam’s been helping me clean up and restock the kitchen.”
“There’s a miracle,” Terri murmured. “Pam doesn’t exactly strike me as the helpful type.”
Amanda had to chuckle. She’d been surprised by her sister’s assistance, too. “That’s one good thing that came out of all of this. Pam did such a turnaround this last week—she’s been so nice it’s almost eerie.”
“And all it took was the destruction of the diner.”
“Whatever caused the change, I’m happy about it.” Amanda had never wanted to be at war with her sister. Over the last week, they’d worked together in the kitchen, straightening up, restoring order. Not that she and Pam were joined at the hip or suddenly becoming best buddies…but it was a start. If this new relationship with her sister continued, then the vandalism would have been worth it.
Terri set a paper sack on the kitchen table and pushed it toward Amanda. “I got what you asked for at the store.”
Amanda’s stomach flip-flopped as she reached for the bag. She took a deep breath then blew it out again. “Thanks, Terri. If I had gone into a store anywhere near here to buy it myself, everyone in town would have known by the end of the day.”
“Amanda …”
She cut her friend off. “Remember, you promised. Not a word. Not even to Jake.”
Terri made a quick cross over her heart and held her hand up. “I swear. But you’re crazy, you know that, right? You should tell Nathan.”
“I will,” Amanda said. “If there’s anything to tell.”
“Stubborn,” Terri said. “Okay, fine. Do it your way.”
“Wow, thanks for that, too,” Amanda said with a smile.
“Okay, I’m going. But if you need me, just call. It’ll take me a whole ten seconds to walk over here from the main house.”
“I’m fine, Terri. But thanks. I appreciate