Page 59 of Falling for the Guy Next Door

Tuttle’s face turned red. “Uh—no—I mean, I’m just making sure he has an alibi. After all, I just found the bat used in the attack in his shrubs.”

The cat was certainly out of the bag and the box and whatever else a cat might get itself into, so I walked across to stand next to Nash. “I was with him all night. We were right here in this cottage.” I avoided looking in Emily’s direction. This was my fault for not telling her earlier. Now I’d had to drop the news like a bomb.

“Layla and I were here all night. Someone is trying to frame me.”

And as he said it, I figured out who. “Your anonymous tip—was it a man?” I asked.

“Yes, he wouldn’t give his name.”

“That’s your culprit,” I said. “Start with Dustin Iverton. He might just be your man.”

Officer Tuttle looked disappointed that he hadn’t caught the vandal, but something told me there’d be an arrest soon. “I might need a signed statement from both of you,” Tuttle said.

I nodded. “Just let us know.”

Officer Tuttle got in his car, phoned something in on his two-way radio and drove away. I finally found the courage to look at Emily.

She scowled at me, turned and stormed over to her car.

Ella watched her peel out of the driveway. “I take it Emily still didn’t know you two were seeing each other?”

“No,” I sighed. “Me and my stupid blob.”

Both Nash and Ella looked at me.

I shrugged. “It’s a long story. I’ll give her a few hours and then go see her. She probably won’t talk to me for a week, but we always find a way to patch things up.”

“That’s true,” Ella said. “I’ll let you two talk. I’m going back to town to help with the cleanup.”

“Tell Aria and Isla I’ll be there soon.” I turned back to Nash and immediately walked into his waiting arms.

“Thanks for that and I’m sorry about Emily,” he said.

“Nah, she’ll be fine. I’m sorry that I got you into this. If not for me, Dustin wouldn’t have come up with this diabolical scheme.”

“Hopefully, a few months’ jail time and some serious legal bills will knock that guy on the noggin. He really needs it.”

“He does. And I take back what I said about starting to feel sorry for him.” We stepped into the house. Rocky was waiting for us at the door. His tail wagged wildly when he saw me. “I guess someone is waiting for a walk. What did you decide about the song?”

“We’re going to sell it to the record company. I already let Becky and Mom know the operation was a go, and they’re nervous and excited. I sure hope this helps.”

“I think it will. I can feel it in my bones.”

Nash laughed and pulled me to him. “You can feel it in your bones?”

“Yep, it’s something Nonna always said, and she was always right.”

Nash lifted my chin and kissed me lightly on the lips. “I think I’ve found the most beautiful good luck charm in the world.”

“Or maybe I’m your lucky penny.” I pointed at my hair.

“Definitely my lucky penny.”

All of us spent a good two hours cleaning the shattered glass from the sidewalks and the shops. I sat in the café, staring glumly at the plywood Rhett and Dex had used to cover the ugly gaping hole left behind by the broken window. Ella and Isla were busy grilling Nash about our new relationship and I sat with Rhett and Jack, talking about mental health and the things that caused people to go this far off the deep end. Rhett knew too well about that. We all did. His ex-wife tried to murder Ella by locking her in Rhett’s coach house and setting fire to it. We all still shuddered knowing how close our dear sister came to a grisly end.

“Bacon and tomato sandwiches coming right up,” Dex yelled from the kitchen. The comforting smell of bacon had already helped bring us all back to earth some after the crazy start to the day. Ella had spoken to Officer Tuttle. When pressed, Dustin confessed to all of it. He told Tuttle that our breakup had pushed him to the brink of a nervous breakdown. It was hard to believe the whole thing had been so hard on him, but then like Jack had explained—everyone deals with problems differently. Some people just don’t have the right coping mechanisms to keep things in perspective.

My phone rang. It was Emily. “Excuse me, guys, I need to take this.” I hadn’t spoken to Emi since she’d stormed off from the house. Frankly, I was pretty nervous about it. “Hey, Em.” I said gently.

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