He took a few notes, poked his head back outside the door and appeared to be doing his job for a few minutes while Harper stood where he’d left her, feeling in the way in her own shop.
“I heard about Andrea’s passing,” he said as he came back inside. “I’m sorry. She was...special. And I know how close you two were.”
Special. That’s how Gabe referred to a woman he’d dated for a year? Maybe he didn’t feel like he had a right to sympathy for the passing of his ex-girlfriend he hadn’t seen or spoken to in the last five years. And maybe he was right about that.
“We really were,” she said. “I miss her. So does Zoey.”
“That’s her daughter?” Gabe clarified.
Harper nodded. “Zoey’s four. I’m her guardian now.”
Gabe shot her a sympathetic smile, then glanced away. Andrea had never told Gabe the truth about Zoey.
“Did anyone tell you about the father?” she asked cautiously.
“My grandmother said that she was on the rebound after me,” he replied. “Grandma was a little more judgmental than that, but that was the gist of it.”
A flat-out lie, but it was the story Andrea had put around.
“Well, Zoey is a sweetheart,” Harper said. “We’re doing all right, but it’s hard with Andrea gone.”
“Yeah, I can imagine.” A couple of beats passed between them—an awkward pause.
“Anyway,” Harper said, clearing her throat. “Back to the robbery.”
“When did you find this?” he asked, professional reserve back in place.
“This morning when I came in. Ten minutes ago,” she replied. “With all the patrol on these streets, I’m surprised no one noticed it earlier.” She paused, a thought suddenly occurring to her. Gabe was here on disciplinary action—how much authority did he really have? She was tired, had a lot to deal with today, obviously, and didn’t have time to waste.
“Are you supposed to be taking cases?” she asked with a slight frown. “I mean, will I have to repeat this all over again with another officer?”
Gabe shot her a flat look. “Yes, I can take cases. Dispatch assigned me. You want to take that up with the chief? Get a less ornery officer, or something? I’m not here because I’m bad at my job. I’m here for being mouthy with my boss.”
She smiled wanly. “I was just checking.”
“So, we’re okay here, then?” he said, tucking a thumb in his belt. “Because if you’d rather have some other cop take over, I’m sure I can go patrol the school zones or something.”
She heard the sarcasm in that gravelly tone, and she felt heat in her cheeks. He’d always been like this—brash, opinionated and stubborn as all get-out.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said. It might be time to let some old resentments go. “It’s been a rough day so far, so maybe cut me some slack.”
He eyed her for a moment, then scanned the scene. “We’ll take fingerprints. I’m not expecting to get too much, though. I noticed both the phone and alarm lines were cut outside.”
“That would explain why my alarm didn’t go off.”
“This was no smash and grab,” Gabe confirmed. “This was planned.”
“In the best-patrolled town in Colorado,” she said.
Gabe didn’t answer. His boots crunched over broken glass as he headed toward the display case. “We’ll need a complete list of anything missing. Descriptions would be good, pictures if you have them. We’ll be watching pawn shops and online sale sites. Whatever they took, they’ll be selling.”
Harper felt her eyes mist. The immensity of the damage and the work ahead of her to clean up was just starting to sink in. She’d have to call her dad—the owner of the store—and tell him what happened, too...
“How much cash was in the register?” Gabe asked.
“Just change—I made the deposit last night,” she replied. “There was about a hundred and sixty dollars in the drawer.”
“Approximately how much was the merchandise worth in the case?” he asked.
“Five or six thousand. Those were all Swarovski crystals.”
“Was there anything under this case?” Gabe asked from across the room, and Harper looked up with a start. The veil—her grandmother’s wedding veil that Heidi was going to use for her wedding...that Harper hoped to wear one day for her own wedding...
“Yes,” she said. “A pink box...shoebox size. It’s not there?”
She crossed the room to where Gabe squatted next to the display case. The space beneath it was empty, and a lump rose in her throat.
“What was in the box?” he asked.
“My grandmother’s veil,” she said woodenly. “It’s not replaceable.”
Harper wiped a tear that escaped her lid and pushed herself back to her feet. She had no intention of crying in front of Gabe Banks. This was all a pretty big shock, and adding a missing family heirloom to the mix was more than she could handle with grace and dignity at the moment.
Gabe rose to his feet, too, and she was struck by the sheer size of him. He’d always been tall, but the past decade had solidified him into steely manhood. This was no longer the lanky, cocky teenager.
“Hey.” His tone softened. “I don’t have a lot to do around here for the next two weeks. I’ll pour all my bad attitude into your case.”
She blinked back her tears. “Would you do that?”
“What else am I supposed to do with my time? I think that’s the idea—give us some peace and quiet to sort out our personal issues.”
“And you want some distraction from that?” she asked with a small smile.
“What can I say—I’m comfortable with my skeletons. That’s why you never liked me much.”
“I liked you fine,” she said with a shake of her head. He raised one eyebrow, and she felt the heat come back to her face. “I just didn’t think you were good for Andrea,” she conceded.
She hadn’t been blind to his charm and good looks back then—she’d just known better than to let herself fall for him, too. All the girls swooned over Gabe Banks. He’d been filled with flirtation and laughter in some moments, and then brooding and distanced in others. What teenage girl could resist such a “complicated” guy? Harper, that’s who.
“Well, you were right about that,” he said. “I wasn’t any good for her. So, no hard feelings.”
At least he recognized that much. Still, she found herself searching his features for Zoey—his eyes, the shape of his ears. Zoey looked a lot like Andrea, but she wasn’t an exact replica of her mother, either. She had dark hair like her dad, and the tiny cleft in her chin was Gabe’s, too. This was Zoey’s father, and she’d have to figure out her next move in that department. So far, she’d been focused on finding her balance as Zoey’s new mother, but she’d never been entirely comfortable with Andrea’s decision to keep Zoey a secret. Zoey would be asking about her father eventually, but Harper was now faced with a dilemma of her own: Should she tell Gabe about his daughter, or should she let it lie?
* * *
Gabe walked around Blessings Bridal collecting evidence and taking notes for the next hour. He’d never been inside this shop in all the years he lived in Comfort Creek, but he’d passed it often enough. Everyone knew the Kemps, and Blessings Bridal serviced all the brides in the surrounding small towns.