Page 43 of Rescued Hearts

“I should go. Felicity is going to be waiting.”

“I’ll walk you out.” With a hand on her lower spine, he guided her out of the house and crossed the short span of driveway to her van.

He wasn’t the kind of man to linger after sex.

He may not be well-versed in handling women he wanted to see again…but being her protector? That came as naturally as breathing.

Chapter Ten

Honor was still floating on cloud nine when she entered her sister’s house. Okay, maybe cloud nine was rating her encounter with Gray too low. She’d call it cloud fifteen at least.

Her purse hit her bed, and she spun on her heel, humming to herself as she headed to the kitchen.

The day had beenamazing.

Her time with Gray left her feeling light and alive in ways she hadn’t in…well, forever.

And then working with the vets had been unexpectedly fulfilling for her soul. Seeing those men unwind and relax… some of them had even laughed…it stirred her and gave her a renewed sense of purpose.

She always hoped her jewelry would incite joy and excitement in people, but the class was so rewarding in a different way.

Even her time spent talking with Gray’s sister today had been fantastic, full of real conversation and laughter. Since making the choice to come to Willowbrook, everything in her life seemed to suddenly fall into place.

So why did something feel…off?

Honor turned toward her bedroom.

When she entered the space, a cool draft washed over the back of her neck, and that was out of the ordinary. As she headed to her room, her brows knit.

At the threshold, she stopped as her gaze took in what had been off to her. The window—it wasn’t quite shut.

Stepping closer, her frown deepened. That didn’t make sense. She hadn’t opened it. And Felicity never would have, not in the summer. They ran the air conditioning, and they were both careful about conserving energy. They never would have left the window open.

Carefully, Honor crossed the space to inspect the window. The lock was intact—not broken. The screen was still there too. No one had tampered with it.

Maybe she really had opened it but forgot?

No, no. Rationalizing wasn’t working, and her heart was only hammering harder.

With a firm hand, she pushed down the window and locked it. She started to turn away but swung back, testing it twice before walking out.

She tried to push aside her unease and focused on fixing dinner. Chopping onions, paring carrots and stirring them in oil to get a fragrant mix didn’t help settle her nerves. She continued to work, adding the vegetables to a stock pot and then mixing up her sister’s favorite dish—dumplings.

The chicken had already been baked the night before, and she located the sealed container in the refrigerator. When she straightened up, she saw someone standing there and jumped.

Felicity had entered through the door linking the kitchen and garage. She let out a laugh at Honor’s reaction to seeing her. “Jeez. You must have really been in the zone not to hear me come in.”

She drew her lip between her teeth and worried it back and forth.

Felicity stopped laughing and her eyes widened, fixing a serious look on Honor. “You okay?”

“I…I’m not sure.” She set the container of chicken on the counter so she could face her sister.

Felicity looked at her harder.

“Something was weird with my bedroom window.”

Her sister’s eyelids fluttered with surprise. “What was weird about it?”

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