Page 50 of Chasing Liberty

“Okay then.” Polly started to take a step, but something stopped her. “A lighter, a flashlight, lighter fluid, and a tool that looked like large scissors.”

“Huh?”

“You asked what the couple had bought from the store.”

Sickened by the news, Liberty bit a chunk out of the inside of her cheek.

The man with the tattoo had to be Reggie. No two people would have the same one. And there was no denying that the fire at the bunkhouse was started by him. She remembered how he’d told her that in his twenties he’d volunteered as a firefighter. Without doubt he would know how to start a fire and make it look like an accident.

Chapter Thirteen

The daily hustle and bustle had settled into a tranquil lull as Wyler drove slowly on the narrow back country road toward Shaw Lane. Buying the house had been an impulsive buy. Well, not really. He’d been fishing down by the river and saw it and had an idea that he’d like to own it. The location was great, not too far from Willow Wild and Sagebrush Rose.

He also had to prove to Liberty that he was there to stay.

Liberty was sitting in the passenger seat and seemed a bit preoccupied the last few days.

The truck’s headlights cut through the semi-darkness, twin beacons that illuminated the deteriorated road and the tall pine trees that stood elegantly along the woods.

“It’s beautiful here,” she said as she stared ahead.

He looked across the seat at her, her gaze lit by the dim light of the dashboard. “Glad you think so.”

“Thank you, Wyler.”

“For what?”

“Don’t think I don’t know why you bought The Shaw Cabin.” She unwrapped a sucker and popped it into her mouth. She’d learned that cherry candy eased her queasiness. “More for me than you. Or rather, more for the baby.”

"Believe me, Liberty, I'm fully committed to this," he insisted.

"I do believe you. The baby news is starting to spread around town, it was inevitable."

"Being married, it's not going to surprise anyone that we're having a baby," he said evenly. "It happens, whether people are married or not."

"I shouldn't have used the baby to stir up trouble with Kaitlynn."

He coughed gently, sensing her concern about the news getting out. "True, yet there might be more to it than just Kaitlynn's reaction."

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes when a person is keeping good news, they’re bursting to reveal it, to someone. Anyone. Maybe it was a relief in some way for you to finally open up and tell people.” He shifted in the seat.

“I need to find a way to bury the hatchet between Kaitlynn and me, but that woman finds every crack and infuses her poison in through the seams. One would think by now I would have left all that behind.”

“What happened? I’m sure you didn’t wake up one morning and decide to start disliking her. What did she do?”

"Back in fourth grade, while crafting Christmas ornaments with glitter, yellow yarn, and beads, I remember working hard to make my angel beautiful. Kaitlynn, sitting nearby, boasted that her ornament was the best and insulted Honor’s creation, almost reducing her to tears. Back then, I had quite a fiery spirit and retorted that Kaitlynn's angel resembled one that had plummeted from the sky and landed face-first into dog waste."

“Let me guess, things spiraled from there?”

“She grabbed my angel and broke her head off. At seven, that was a tragedy. She and I both lost our recess that day, but Kaitlynn was out for blood after. She dubbed me the “evil twin” and like a cooked noodle it stuck to the wall. It’s hard to shake a label once it’s glued into everyone’s head.”

“So that’s how that all started?”

“I understand if you find yourself attracted to her. She’s bubbly, cute, and has all her ducks in a row—”

“Wait, what? Attracted to her?” He slowed the truck.

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