Page 2 of Lakesides and Longing

Paige stared at the sheriff and his deputies. They looked at her like she was crazy. And maybe she was. But not about this.

Though she didn’t know how else to explain what she saw. A man had been standing over her while she was asleep in bed. She’d screamed, and he’d run away. But he shouldn’t have been able to sneak into the house without her hearing.

“Paige, can you give us any other indication of what he looked like?” Sheriff Randall asked.

She could still hear his footsteps pounding down the hall and the stairs. She shook her head. She didn’t want to talk and hear the tremor in her voice. She hated feeling weak. This morning her horoscope had told her to be cautious in all her doings. Perhaps she hadn’t been cautious enough.

“I’ve checked the doors and windows, and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of forced entry. Did you lock them all?” Sheriff Randall had been the sheriff for as long as she had lived here. From what some of the locals said, he’d been born sheriff and would outlive them all. He was in good shape, but his wrinkles grew deeper every year.

“Yes.” It came out more like a shriek. She was vigilant about that. Even when her horoscope didn’t tell her to be cautious.

“We found the backdoor unlocked, but there’s also no evidence a car has been here. Did you hear them drive away?”

“No.” How could she? She was too busy hiding in the bathroom calling 911.

Sheriff Randall tapped his pen on his notepad. “Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?”

She closed her eyes. Yes, she’d been having nightmares. And, yes, they quite often woke her up, but she wasn’t imagining the creepy guy dressed in black standing over her. Even his face was covered.

It was far too real.

“No. I didn’t imagine it.”

“Then how did he get past your security system? I know you have a good one. It wasn’t triggered,” he said with exasperation.

“I forgot to turn it on.” Actually, she didn’t. She was tired of it going off every time she stepped into the kitchen in the middle of the night. She couldn’t remember the last time she had turned it on. Dammit. She should’ve listened to her horoscope.

“Lukas won’t be very happy to hear that.”

She snapped her head up. “And why would Lukas need to know?” She couldn’t believe Lukas had gotten to the sheriff. He’d always been meddling, but this was a whole new level.

The sheriff’s cheeks flushed cotton candy pink. “He told us to call if there was ever any issues. So I called him before I headed over here.”

“I can’t believe you called him.” She threw her hands in the air. She did not need her overprotective brother coming out here and telling her she had to move. He’d always warned her something like this would happen.

Shelovedher house, and she didn’t want to go anywhere. The last time Lukas came to visit—six months ago—they’d fought the whole time about her staying here.

He hated that she lived alone in this big house where the nearest neighbor was a mile away, and the closest grocery store was a forty-five-minute drive. She didn’t know how to convince him that she liked her isolation. He just didn’t get it.

She opened her ornate wooden door. “Thank you for coming. Let me know if you find anything else. I’ll be sure to set my alarm tomorrow night.” Though the sky was pinking now. It was already tomorrow.

The sheriff and his deputy tipped their hats at her and left. She closed the door and sank onto the floor, her back pressed against the door.

Lukas would probably be here in a few hours. She had to think of a way to convince him that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Nothing came to her.

At least he couldn’t physically force her to do anything.

But he’d probably try.

CHAPTER3

It’d taken Blake and the others a couple of hours to get off the island and on the road. Everyone had to shower and pack an overnight bag in case they needed to stay.

Then they dropped Jack off with Hayden and Anna. Blake had nearly ditched Lukas to hang with them but wanted the drive more than he wanted to babysit. Anna would just want to talk about Debbie, and at this point, he was tired of talking about her. He pushed the thought of her out of his head.

“So what’s the deal with your sister?” Blake asked as they drove down forest-lined roads without a house in sight.

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