It wasn’t practical to keep Skye away from her family. Sheridan had been aware of that ever since Skye showed up. “I won’t go back to Cain’s cabin,” she said. “Now that I’ve moved in here, I’ll stay and get the house ready to sell, like I promised my parents.”
“If you’re going to do that, you should take this.” Skye went into the kitchen and returned with a Kel-Tec P-3AT semiautomatic handgun.
“I don’t want a gun, Skye,” Sheridan said, refusing to take it.
“I know you don’t like them. But I also know you’re a decent shot, and it might save your life.”
“What if I’m overpowered before I even get a shot off? Then that gun could be used to kill me instead of save me.”
“What’s your other option?” Skye asked.
With a sigh, Sheridan took the semiautomatic and placed it under a couch cushion. “Fine.”
Skye frowned in disapproval. “You’re going to put it there?”
“It’ll be more accessible. Otherwise, I could be caught without it, wondering where I left my purse. And even if my purse is handy, I’d have to dig around, among all the other junk I’ve got in there.”
“I guess you’ve got a point.”
“So you’re leaving right away?” If Skye was relinquishing her gun, she wasn’t planning to stay much longer.
“Tomorrow, as soon as I can get a flight.” She laughed, slightly embarrassed. “It’s not all you. I miss my husband and my kids.”
“I know.” Sheridan met her friend in the middle of the floor and gave her a fierce hug. “I’m sorry I’m so torn. I understand how frustrating it must be for you.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I’ve been through this myself, remember? Just catch the son of a bitch who tried to kill you.” Skye pointed to the couch where Sheridan had hidden the gun. “And promise me you’ll use that if you need to.”
“I’ll use it,” she said.
When Karen found Cain on her doorstep, she became more conscious than ever of their age difference, and the toll those extra years had taken on her body and her face. Maybe it was because they were alone for the first time in twelve years and she’d probably never be completely immune to him. Her reaction had nothing to do with John. She loved her fiancé. He evoked an entirely different set of emotions—peace, a calm contentment and appreciation for his companionship and support. John was the kind of man a woman married; Cain the kind of man she dreamed about.
That was the insight a little maturity had brought her. If only she’d known twelve years ago what she knew now. Back then, she’d cared only about obtaining the object of her desire. She hadn’t realized that being with someone less perfect, who accepted her and her flaws, would provide more satisfaction in the long run.
With a quick glance outside to make sure the lights were off in her neighbors’ homes, she pulled her robe more tightly closed and gestured him inside. “I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you earlier. John stopped by unexpectedly.” He’d brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate their engagement. It’d been a sweet, romantic gesture, and they’d made love for the second time in one day, which rarely happened. Maybe because he was older than she was by a decade and a half, John seemed content with sex a couple of times a week. He liked to cuddle or watch TV with her almost as much as anything more physical, which suited her fine. But he hadn’t been himself lately. Finding that rifle in Cain’s cabin had created a sense of urgency in him, an anxiety that had left him off balance.
Cain stepped inside, his eyes passing over her living room before taking in her appearance. As satisfied as she was with John, Karen wished she was more beautiful, more desirable—even irresistible. She didn’t want to be with Cain anymore, but she would’ve been flattered to see some appreciation in that handsome face, maybe a hint of regret for so easily passing up everything she’d offered him.
Instead, she noticed some very obvious signs that he didn’t want to be where he was—the slight rumpling of his eyebrows, the stern set to his jaw, the worry in his green eyes. “What’d you want to show me?”
Tucking her disheveled hair behind her ear with one hand, she raised the other in the classic stop signal. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” She hurried to her bedroom, found the note in her purse and brought it to the living room.
His eyes fixed on her engagement ring for a moment when she handed it to him. But then he opened the note.
A second later, his gaze lifted to meet hers. “Where’d you get this?”
“It was on my doorstep when I returned from school today.”
“You don’t have any idea who put it there?”
“None. But it’s not the first one I’ve received.”
His glower darkened considerably. “Where are the others?”
“I burned them. I—I had to get rid of them. I hoped…I don’t know what I hoped. That whoever it was would simply stop and it would be over, I guess.”
“It’s Robert,” he said.
She tightened her belt again. “Robert?”
“Amy said something about it to him once. He just mentioned it to me tonight.”
“How did Amy know?”
“I don’t think she knew. I think she suspected.”
Of course. She was so hyper-focused on Cain she could almost smell the interest of a rival. “And voiced those suspicions to Robert.”
He nodded.
Her knees went weak at this news. Robert was the last person she wanted connected with these notes. He competed with her for John’s love and attention and resources. He’d use what he knew to destroy her if he could. “He’s trying to get rid of me. That’s why he’s sending the notes. It’s a way to scare me off without involving John. But he’ll involve him if he has to. I have no doubt of that.”
As Cain studied her, she wished he’d give her arm a comforting squeeze or her shoulder a pat—something to indicate he’d forgiven her and that they could at least be friends. She felt like such a fool for making the mistakes she had, for putting herself in this unenviable position.
But Cain didn’t touch her. He maintained a very careful distance. “He’s not sure,” he said. “And going to John could make it look like he’s out to get you any way he can.”