He interrupted her with a kiss and then let her go and locked the door. “I’m happy for you to have some women to talk to. You need your friends.” He stopped. “I want to upgrade our security. What happened at Seth’s made me think. I know we’re in a small town, but with Seth close, we might have to worry about people who want to steal from him.”
“If you think so.” She wanted him to be comfortable. If a few locks could do that, then she could handle it. “How did it go with Nate?”
“Good, but he wanted to be thorough. Logan couldn’t talk for long because he needed to be at the hospital. The same was true for Georgia, so until tomorrow I was pretty much the only one he could ask questions of. I’m sorry I left you here alone. It’s why I called Holly and Laura to see if they would come by and visit you.”
Of course he had. He always thought of her.
She forced those silly questions out of her mind. Henry was the best man she’d ever met and he wouldn’t lie to her. She wasn’t going to insult him by asking.
“I kept some dinner warm for you.” It was time to take care of her husband. “And I kept a second plate for me.” She winced. “I ate earlier, but I’m so hungry these days.”
“Then let’s get you some food. I could definitely eat.” He took her hand and led her to their kitchen table.
She sat beside her husband and let all of her worries go.
It was the next morning when she went out and found his tool kit sitting on his table in the shop. It hadn’t been moved in days. She could tell from the slight dust coating it.
It was later that day, she found the guns.
Chapter Two
“What do you mean you found guns? Where did you find guns?” Holly asked, leaning across the table.
Laura’s eyes had gone wide, too. “Like on your property?”
“What’s wrong with your property, Nell?” Stella Talbot walked up with a pitcher of water in her hand and started to fill all their glasses.
She might be ready to bring her best friends in on her worries, but she wasn’t ready to alert the whole town, and that’s what would happen if the rumor started going around. It wasn’t that Stella would mean to spread a rumor. She would inevitably talk to her husband, Sebastian, about the problem, and then Sebastian would ask Stef who Henry was—because he was still learning the town. Stef would go to Jen, Jen would mention it to Rachel, and Rachel wouldn’t want Callie left out. From there it would grow to Blissian proportions, and Henry would be in league with the aliens or something equally ridiculous like he was some kind of secret spy.
“Nothing at all.” Nell gave Stella her brightest smile. “Although you know I don’t believe anyone can truly own property. The land is alive, too.” She saw the minute Stella’s eyes went from concerned to slightly dead inside. Sometimes her lectures could be excellent deflection. “Did you know that Aspen trees have a sort of collective consciousness?”
Stella finished with her task. “That’s so interesting. I’m glad to know there’s no trouble after what happened with Seth yesterday. Craziness, I tell you. I was worried it might have spilled over to you since you’re so close to their cabin. We went by the hospital and he seemed real good this morning.”
“I’m glad to hear it. We’re going to visit him this afternoon.” She’d made muffins to take over to their cabin, but Georgia and Logan had stayed at the hospital with Seth. She’d left them on the table. She had a key since she and Henry took care of the place when Seth was in New York.
She’d stood and looked down at the rug and the blood stains on the floors. She’d seen bullet holes and wondered how on earth Logan had taken down so many men on his own.
If she’d been writing it as a scene, her editor would have told her it wasn’t realistic unless the hero was some kind of supernatural creature.
Her husband was her editor. Had her husband helped Logan with more than his plumbing?
“I hope we’re not going to need another town hall. I’m too busy with the wedding and all the parties that go along with it,” Stella admitted. “Jen’s got a caterer for her party, but Mel insisted that I make food for something called a Meeting of Men. I’m fairly certain Mel intends to explain to Cassidy’s grown sons what happens on their wedding night. That requires a lot of sandwiches. And I’m supposed to sneak beets into something the bride eats in case she won’t comply with something called a beeting ceremony. She didn’t spell that out. She’s talking about the vegetable, right? Cassidy’s not going to beat up the poor girl, right?”
“It’s merely a ritual in which the bride proves herself free of alien influence,” Nell explained. Cassidy Meyer had some firmly held beliefs about otherworldly visitors. Personally, Nell believed that the universe was a big place and all should be welcome. She’d told Cassidy that, and it was lucky Nell enjoyed beets because she pretty much had to eat them regularly around Cassidy now. “Don’t worry. I’m sure anyone marrying into Wolf’s family will be a deeply tolerant woman. I’ll make sure to send some food along.”
She always tried to make sure Henry had options when he went to parties where the majority of the attendees would be meat eaters. Which was all the parties he attended with the exception of their monthly vegan cooking class.
Stella’s expression softened. “Don’t you worry about that, honey. I’ve got Henry covered. It’s not any trouble to make sure all my friends get fed properly.” She shrugged a single shoulder and
