Page 76 of One Kind Soul

The next couple of days involved a great deal of farmhouse improvement projects and a boatload of looking out for Lynda. Nicole loved the remodeling. Watching three Henley men use tools to build stuff? Sign her up. The looking out for Lynda? Not so much. Luckily working side-by-side with Christian pushed Lynda to the background a bit. How could Nicole hear her sister’s voice in her head when Christian constantly said the sweetest things to her? Things like he loved her and how beautiful she was and how happy he was that she was staying in Vermont.

Nicole’s extra week in Vermont was coming to a close, however, and she’d have to fly back to Kauai to work that final week and pack her belongings. Did Lynda know that was the plan? Had she been watching them?

Donovan had reported a single male being picked up snooping around Christian’s truck when Ben had taken it to pick up some extra boards for the porch floor. That male had been immediately marched into the police station where Donovan and his team had grilled the dude. The guy had been a locked vault though and hadn’t given up a word about any ties to Lynda or what he’d been doing near Christian’s truck.

“Just walking by,” he maintained though the police officer on the scene had reported the man had been peeking into the truck then scanning the parking lot of Brenton Sawmill’s lumberyard.

“Shady as hell,” that officer had said.

No other leads had surfaced. Nicole had her ticket to Kauai and she had to go, but she worried about leaving Christian behind. Sure, he could take care of himself and the police were on high alert, but if Lynda was able to escape from jail, what else was she capable of? What else did she have up her sleeve?

Nicole had to do something before someone she cared about got hurt.

“Nixen!” Christian called from the barn. He’d gone down to feed the horses.

“Yeah!” She yelled back from the loft where she’d been boxing up some of his things to move into the farmhouse. Christian had deemed it livable yesterday after the appliances and the big furniture items had been delivered and today was about cleaning out the loft.

“I miss you! Get your fine ass down here!” Even his voice when he was being silly turned her on.

“I’ve literally been at your side for days now, Chrissy! A little time apart is good for you!” She set his coffeemaker into a box then went for the few mugs he had.

Christian appeared at the top of the loft stairs, looking his usual hot cowboy farmer self in his faded jeans. Today he wore a Shepherd Orchard and Farm orange T-shirt though because the store was officially open and customers were on the property. Donovan hadn’t liked the idea of opening to the public with Lynda and her possible network of operatives skulking around Maplehaven, but Christian and Rada had made good cases, stating that more people around might make Lynda slip up. The farm wasn’t bustling with traffic, but there were enough folks coming and going that Lynda or someone working for her might get confident about blending in. Hopefully what Nicole’s sister didn’t realize was that some of the customers were plain-clothes police officers. A German Shepherd canine officer named Crow had also made an appearance, much to the pack cats’ disapproval.

“We may have been joined at the hip, Nixen,” Christian said as he sauntered over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, “but that’s still not close enough.” He used one hand to push her hair out of the way then nipped at her earlobe. His lips were warm and she closed her eyes, relishing the feel of having him so close, of knowing he was hers and she was his.

“Help me in here then,” she said.

Something vibrated between them before he could reply and Christian stepped back.

“My phone.”

“I thought maybe you bought a toy for us,” she teased.

“Don’t give me ideas, Nixen.” He dropped a quick peck on her cheek and pulled out his phone. His brows crinkled as he looked at the screen. “It’s Ben. He’s having a problem with the tractor in the east field.” He frowned. “Guess I can’t help you right now. Or give more thought to vibrating toys for us.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“That’s okay. Go. I’ll be done soon up here anyway then I’ll start taking boxes over to the farmhouse.”

“I’m so glad you’re here to be part of the moving-in phase.” Christian tugged her from the box she’d been filling and pulled her up against him. “I’ve always been eager to live in that farmhouse, but being able to share it with you makes it a million times better.”

Nicole snaked her hands up to his shoulders. “I’m happy to have a decent roommate again. You have big shoes to fill though. Tessa was a top-rate roomie.”

“I’m up for the challenge.” He kissed her, leaving her slightly breathless as usual. “Just don’t ask me to wear sequined dance clothes.”

“Right. I remember. No sequins, no tights, no body glitter.”

Christian smiled. “You’ve been listening and taking good notes, Nixen.”

“It’s all going into the book I’m going to write called Christian Henley, Hot Cowboy Farmer, The Inside Story.”

His laugh filled the loft. “Sounds like a bestseller to me.” He leaned forward and kissed her again. “I’ll be back after I fix whatever is ailing that tractor.” He took a step toward the stairs then turned to face her, his mouth opening.

“I know, I know,” Nicole said. “I’ll be careful.” She hated needing to be careful. Fucking Lynda. “You be careful too.”

“Yes, ma’am. I was also going to ask you to make a list of vibrating toys.” He pretended to tip a cowboy hat at her and as he descended the stairs, she pictured him in a cowboy hat. Black to match his hair and beard.

Shiver. That was an image to heat her all over. Forget vibrating toys. She put buy Christian a cowboy hat on her to-do list. That was all they’d need.

But what would she need to draw Lynda out of her cave? That was the far more important question. If Nicole stayed all protected by the police all the time, her sister would never have a clear shot at her and she’d keep sending in representatives, like those twins and that dude at the lumberyard and whoever she’d gotten to trash the store to do her bullying. And all of those stunts were meant to fuck with Nicole. To draw out the torture because that was exactly how Lynda rolled. The years she’d served in prison so far hadn’t changed her style apparently.