Falling in Love on Willow Creek by Debbie Mason

Chapter Eleven

Chase sat in his car on the side of the road, just out of view from the cottage on Willow Creek. He’d been there for more than an hour. His cell phone rang. It was Black. He put him on speaker.

“What’s up?” Chase asked.

Black was sitting in his jeep across from I Believe in Unicorns. Both of them were feeling the sting of underestimating Sadie’s grandmother. They didn’t plan on letting it happen again.

“I’ve just had a visit from our friendly neighborhood chief of police. Seems he’s been getting calls about me from the concerned citizens of Highland Falls. Here I thought I looked all friendly and trustworthy without the beard and the hair. I even put on my best law-abiding-citizen act, smiling and waving at the passersby.”

Chase snorted. “They probably thought you were casing the joint.”

“Yeah, that’s what Gabe said.”

“Has he been able to track down the location where the bomb threat came from?” Someone had called in the threat around the same time Sadie’s grandmother had left her apartment to come down to the store.

“Not yet, and if it was Elijah as we both suspect, I doubt they’ll be able to.”

“You’re probably right.”

“You could have made our job a hell of a lot easier if you’d just bugged Mrs. M’s apartment. I don’t know how I ended up with a by-the-book partner.”

“We’re even then. I don’t know how I ended up with a partner whose brain works more like a criminal than law enforcement.”

“Good thing I like you, Mikey.” Black laughed. “Anything happening on your end?”

“No, all quiet here. I take that back,” he said as something howled in the woods, drowning out the incessant croaking of frogs and chirping of crickets. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah. Coyotes making you nervous, city boy?”

“No, of course not.” He powered up the window, deciding a change of subject was in order. “If Sadie made contact with Elijah to arrange a meet, it doesn’t look like it’s happening tonight.”

“We know she reached out to him, and we know she used her grandmother’s phone to do so. Thanks to Mrs. M, we also know she somehow managed to wipe the evidence from her grandmother’s phone. Which, just for the record, puts a big question mark beside Sadie’s name in my book.”

“You didn’t see her face when she realized her grandmother’s been hiding Elijah all along or when she discovered Agnes is at risk of losing her home and business because of him. Other than trying to protect her grandmother, she’s not involved in this, Black.”

“So, if you’re right, why do you think she set up a meet with her brother instead of handing over her grandmother’s phone to Gabe? I talked to him. He hasn’t heard boo from her. I would have been able to tell if he had.”

The fact that she hadn’t reached out to her best friend’s husband bothered Chase too.

“Don’t let your feelings for her get in the way, Roberts.”

“I don’t have feelings for her, Black. Not in the way you’re suggesting.”

“Yeah? So you don’t mind me asking her out when this is over?”

His gut clenched. “You just said you suspect her of being involved in Brodie’s death, yet you want to date her? I really don’t get you.”

“Good try, Mikey. We both know she had nothing to do with Brodie’s murder. But what we don’t know is how far she’d go to protect her brother.”

Chase pushed down the emotions roiling inside him at the thought of Black dating Sadie. The other agent was right: Chase couldn’t let his feelings for her get in the way of bringing Elijah and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department to justice. It wasn’t just about the successful culmination of the case being his ticket back to DC. He was invested now. He wanted to see justice done for Brodie. There was nothing he hated more than dirty law enforcement.

“She’ll go far enough to put herself at risk of ending up in jail for aiding and abetting,” Chase said. She already had one strike against her. She’d destroyed evidence in their investigation. For her sake as well as her daughter’s, he had to make sure she didn’t go further.

“Mrs. M’s already got that one covered. I still can’t believe that sweet little old lady fooled us all.”

“It’s always the sweet ones you’ve got to watch out for,” Chase said, thinking of Sadie. “I’d better go. Stay close to your phone. I might need you.” The silence on the other end dragged on. “Black?”

“Yeah, I heard you. Looks like Mrs. M has a gentleman caller. I’m going to check it out.”

“Let me know what you find out.” Chase disconnected and pulled away from the side of the dirt road. He was ten minutes early for their study date. Study night, he corrected, giving himself a mental shake. It wasn’t a date. He had to get his head on straight. He had a feeling he’d need all his wits about him when dealing with Sadie. The woman was running on empty yet she’d still managed to outmaneuver them. It was probably in their best interests if she remained sleep-deprived. Otherwise, she’d run circles around them.

The curtain in the front window of the white stucco cottage moved as Chase pulled alongside Sadie’s SUV in the driveway. It was hard to tell whether the silhouette was male or female. Chase hadn’t been able to reach the cottage to see if her brother was inside before she got home that afternoon, which is why he arrived ten minutes before she wanted him to. He stepped out of the car, listening for the sound of Elijah making his escape.

The yellow door opened, the outside light shining down on Sadie’s long dark hair. She had Michaela in her arms, bouncing the baby on her hip. They both looked exhausted and maybe a little frantic.

“Sorry, I’m early.” He held up a takeaway bag from the local bakery, Bites of Bliss. “I was told brownies and fudge were your favorites.”

When he’d walked into the bakery, the owner, along with several of her customers, had greeted him like he was a hero. It seemed Abby had stopped in on her way to pick up her dog from the spa and shared that Chase, or Michael as she knew him, had been Sadie’s knight in shining armor on Valentine’s Day. The owner and her customers couldn’t have been friendlier or more welcoming, but he’d been uncomfortable with the attention. He disliked lying to them almost as much as he disliked lying to Sadie. But he wasn’t above taking advantage of the situation or the Highland Falls rumor mill.

The women had no problem answering his subtle questions about Sadie. They were worried about her, her and Agnes. Their feelings on Elijah were mixed, which worried Chase. He didn’t trust that they’d turn him in if they saw him.

She made a face. “What else did Bliss tell you?” she asked, handing him the baby to take the bag. She opened it and peeked inside, humming with what sounded like pleasure.

“Just that she and your friends are worried about you.” He followed Sadie inside, smiling at Michaela, who was trying to shove her hand in his mouth. He nibbled on her fingers.

At her daughter’s giggle, Sadie shook her head and sighed. “You probably won’t believe this, but less than two minutes before you arrived, she was in the middle of a crying fit.”

Noting Sadie’s red-rimmed eyes, he said, “It looks like you were too. Why don’t you sit down and put your feet…” He trailed off, unable to find the couch or coffee table he’d seen when he searched the cottage earlier that morning. It looked like she’d started to unpack. The couch and coffee table were buried under piles of clothes, bedding, and towels, while empty boxes were tossed haphazardly on the floor.

She glanced around, biting on her bottom lip like she was holding back tears.

“Don’t cry,” he said, a note of panic in his voice. Crying babies he could handle, but he didn’t think he could handle a crying Sadie without taking her in his arms to comfort her.

Holding her, touching her, had become something of a habit for him. His go-to response when she was upset. It was a habit he couldn’t afford, especially now.

She looked surprised. “I wasn’t going to cry. I was going to laugh. Maybe a laugh laced with hysteria, but a laugh just the same. In my book, that’s a step above tears. We’ve cried enough for one day, haven’t we, baby?” She leaned in to nibble on the hand her daughter had just stuck in Chase’s mouth.

She froze, her eyes wide as she looked up at him. She was so close that he could count the gold flecks in her irises and see the slight curl at the ends of her eyelashes. Instead of jerking back like he fully expected her to, she surprised him by burying her face in his neck. He didn’t know which was worse—her warm, soft lips touching his mouth, or her warm, soft lips pressed against his neck.

Even while he savored the feel of Sadie’s lips on his skin and the way her body felt pressed against his side, his brain was holding up a stop sign, flashing all the reasons why he should step away from her. Right now. This very minute. For the sake of the case. But before he had a chance, Michaela intervened. She took her hand from his mouth to grab a hunk of Sadie’s hair, and pulled.

“Ouch.” Sadie jerked back, releasing an even louder ouch.

“Hang on a sec,” Chase said, working to free the long, silky chestnut strands from Michaela’s grip. “Let go of Mommy’s hair, sweetheart. That’s a good girl.” She let go of her mother’s hair to gurgle up at him and pat his face.

Sadie rubbed her head, staring at him and her daughter. “She’s jealous. She’s decided you belong to her, and Lord help the person that gets in her way.”

“I don’t think she’s jealous. Maybe just a little territorial.” He grimaced when Michaela planted her mouth on his cheek and sucked. “I think she might be more hungry than jealous. She’s eating my face.”

“I figured it out.”

“Umm, I think I did. I just told you she’s hungry, remember?”

She waved her hand. “Not about that. I figured out why she’s so attached to you. It’s your cologne. Scent is powerful in creating memories. She remembers yours from the night she was born. You were the one who comforted her that night, not me.”

“Wait a sec,” he said, taking in her crossed arms. She wore a form-fitting long-sleeved black T-shirt with black leggings. “Are you mad at me?”

“No…Okay, maybe a little. But only because I want her to love me like she loves you.” Keeping an eye on her daughter, she took a hesitant step toward him.

“Uh, Sadie, what are you doing?” he asked when she began rubbing her head on his chest. “I don’t think this is a good idea.” He nearly swallowed his tongue when she took advantage of her daughter sucking on his face by doing a full body rub against him. “Sadie, you need to stop.” Before he embarrassed himself.

“There. Now let’s see if it worked.” She stepped back and held out her arms. “Give her to me.”

“Sure.” He tried to pry Michaela off him. “I might need some help here.” She was climbing him like he was a tree, her tiny but strong fingers fisted in his hair. He held back a groan when Sadie did as he asked, pressing against him while trying to free Michaela’s hands from his hair.

“Come on, baby. Let go of Michael’s hair. You’re going to make him cry. Pretend you’re crying.”

“Babies don’t develop empathy until they’re two, Sadie. I’m not pretending I’m crying. Just—”

She stepped back, her hands falling to her sides. “How do you know they don’t? Do you have children? You aren’t married, are you?”

“No to both your questions. I’ve been reading about child development, that’s all.” His face warmed at the admission. Sadie and the baby had been on his mind a lot in those first few weeks. In an odd way, reading baby books gave him a connection to them. He liked knowing what stages Michaela would be going through. He supposed it helped him to feel close to them.

Sadie’s shoulders slumped. “It’s not your cologne at all. You love her, and she knows you do.”

“She knows you love her too, Sadie.”

“Sometimes I’m not sure that I do.” She looked away, obviously embarrassed. “And just like she senses you love her, she senses that…” She shook her head as if willing the words away. “I’ve dreamed about having a baby ever since I was a little girl. When I hit my late twenties, I started to worry I’d never be a mommy. It’s the one thing I wanted more than anything else. And now that I am…It’s nothing like I imagined. I can’t do anything right.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself. You’ve had a lot to deal with on your own. It’s not easy being a single parent.”

She gave him a weak smile. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“In a way, I guess I do. I never knew my father. My mother raised me and my brother on her own.” Until she gave up on herself, and on them. Sadie didn’t need to know that though.

“You turned out pretty well. Maybe there’s hope for me yet.”

He wondered if she’d still think that when she eventually learned the truth. “You can tell me to mind my own business if you want, but why haven’t you let your friends help? From what Bliss at the bakery said, you have plenty of people who would love to lend you a hand.”

She gestured at the half-opened boxes littering the kitchen and living room floor. “And let them see this? All I’d need is for it to get around town how badly I’m failing at motherhood.”

“You let me in, and I don’t see a woman who’s failing.” He finally managed to pry Michaela’s fingers from his hair and repositioned her on his hip. “I see a woman who could use a hand unpacking a few boxes, that’s all.” He didn’t think now was the time to mention everything else she had yet to deal with. Little steps at a time were probably all she could manage at the moment. “I don’t mind helping out, you know. You can sit at the table and eat your brownies and educate me on the flora and fauna of Highland Falls while I unpack. No.” He held up his hand when she went to object. “You’d actually be doing me a favor. There’s nothing I like more than organizing a space.” It was the absolute truth. The mess was giving him a headache.

He walked over to the playpen in front of the patio doors that had been open this morning, relieved to see they were now shut and locked. As he bent to put Michaela into the playpen, she dug her fingers into his arms, letting loose an ear-piercing scream. “Okay, so that’s not going to work.”

Sadie smiled as she bit into a brownie. “Here,” she said around it, wiping her chocolate-coated fingers on her T-shirt before reaching for something on top of the box.

He stared at the smears of chocolate, wondering if she even realized what she’d done.

She walked over. “Put her in here.” He did as she suggested, fitting the baby’s legs in the holes of the striped fabric. “Now hold out your arms.” She slid the straps over his arms, placing them on his shoulders. Once she’d fastened the strap at his back, she patted his arm and leaned in to kiss Michaela’s cheek. Sadie drew back and cocked her head. “That’s my phone. I better grab it.”

“I don’t hear anything,” he said to her retreating back. He shrugged when she didn’t respond and looked down at the baby. “Okay, you be a good girl for me, sweetheart, and we can have this place shipshape in no time.”

He bent down to pick up a handful of clothes off the couch, and Michaela gurgled around a smile. Perfect, she thought it was a game. By the time Sadie returned, he had the couch and coffee table cleared of clothes and bedding.

“Sorry about that. It was Abby. I did what you suggested and told her the truth. She called Mallory, exactly like I knew she would. They want to meet up tonight.”

“Now? It’s almost ten o’clock.”

She wouldn’t meet his eyes as she walked to the entryway and slipped on a pair of sneakers. “It’s the only time Mallory can make it. She has five boys and a full-time job. Once Abby gets an idea in her head, she won’t sleep until we come up with a plan. I promise, I won’t be long.” She was out the door before he could stop her.

It didn’t mean he didn’t try. He ran to the entryway, grabbing the door just before it closed behind her. She must have run down the walkway to the SUV because she was already sliding behind the wheel. “Sadie, wait. What am I supposed to do with Michaela?”

“Bottles are in the fridge, diapers and onesies on her changing table. First door on the left,” she said in response to what she must have assumed was a blank look instead of a panicked one.

“Sadie, I’ve never changed a diaper before.” And he didn’t want to learn now. Either she didn’t hear him or she was ignoring him, because she started up the SUV’s engine, waved, and backed out of the driveway.

Chase retrieved his cell phone from his pocket. He’d been had. “Hey, Chief, Chase Roberts here. Is your wife at home with you?”

“Yeah. She just went to bed. Why?”

“This is going to sound odd, but would you mind checking that she’s in bed and not sneaking out a window?”

“What’s going on?”

As he relayed what Sadie had told him and his own suspicions, the creak of floorboards and then the sound of a door opening came through the phone. “Honey, did Abby mention anything about meeting with Sadie when you talked to her tonight?” Gabe sighed. “Thanks. No, everything’s okay. I have to go out for a bit. I shouldn’t be long.” A door closed and floorboards once again creaked before the chief came back on the line. “Sounds like you’re right, and Sadie’s meeting with Elijah. I’ll head over your way, see if I can spot her SUV.”

“Thanks, Gabe. I’ll call Nate. Knowing him, he probably put a tracker on Sadie’s car.”