Page 82 of Cautious Love

“Thanks Mama, talk soon.”

“I love you, son,” she says.

“I love you too,” I tell her and hang up.

“I’m sorry you had to come home to this,” I say, looking down at Shiloh.

She shakes her head, l lips thinning. “I should be the one apologizing.”

I lean down and press my lips to her forehead. “No, I should.”

“After they get pictures and our statements, I’ll start cleaning up.”

“I can help.”

“No, Shy, I need you to take a second and relax. Your adrenaline is on high. I don’t need you collapsing on me.”

She huffs and crosses her arms. “I’ve been in scarier situations than this,Sheriff. I’ll be fine.”

The corner of my mouth turns up. “Suit yourself.”

“Alright, outside is done,” Noah calls.

“Great, can you get Shiloh’s statement, please?”

Noah looks between us, and I puff out a breath. “To be clear, Shiloh has been staying with me.”

He nods slowly. “And to be clear, you want that to be in the report?” he asks.

I shrug.

“Do you know any possible suspects?” Calder asks me.

I glance at Shiloh, and she nods. She might not want to press charges, but I do. Not that I could. There’s no telling what would come out of his mouth.

Calder lifts a brow and glances at Shiloh again. “It wouldn’t possibly have anything to do with—”

I lift a hand, stopping him because I don’t want to hear the words, and I definitely don’t want Shiloh to have to think about it. But according to the look on her face, she already is. “We’ll figure it out, but he is suspect number one. Finish writing it up and photographing and head out.”

Noah and Calder give me an odd expression, but don’t say a word, and finish their job.

Shiloh answers all of Calder’s questions, and when he’s done with the living room, I pick things up. It’s going to take a while to put everything right again, but I don’t really care. I’m just glad she’s okay.

But Grey has another thing coming if he thinks there won’t be retaliation. I might be the Sheriff and have to stay within the bounds of the law on this one, but I’m coming for him.

The guys head out, and Fletcher walks in, feet crunching on glass. He whistles and looks around.

“Who did you piss off this time, Sheriff?” he asks.

I narrow my eyes and finish putting the last of the unbroken dishes in the cabinet. For some reason, they didn’t look in the dishwasher, so I still have a few plates, bowls, and cups left.

“Is this why you ran out of the house like your ass was on fire?” Fletcher asks.

I nod, running a hand through my hair. “Shiloh got home, and she found this, and then she called me. I didn’t think. I just did. I was afraid someone was in the house.”

He nods solemnly. “Fair enough. I have the plywood. Let’s get you all boarded up. That window might be special order though. I doubt Bobby’s Hardware has it.”

I nod. “It’s fine. I wanted to replace them anyway. They’re original to the house, so I guess I’ll be doing that now.”