Page 36 of Stitch & Steel
Even his heart.
The woods had been too damn quiet.
Not the kind of peaceful quiet either. The kind that crept up your spine and whispered that something was coming. That something waswatching.
But it wasn’t just the woods putting me on edge.
It washer.
Bella had been dancing around me for days. One minute soft and open. The next, steel-spined and sarcastic. She didn’t know how to make up her mind, but hell if I didn’t know exactly where mine was.
I was gone for her.
Had been since the minute I saw her swinging that chainsaw like she had something to prove.
The air was thick that morning. Heavy with unsaid things. Scout had curled up under the porch steps, his big body twitching in sleep, ears twitching with every crack of a branch or chirp of a bird.
Bella sat on the steps sipping iced coffee like it wasn’t strange that I was justthereall the time now. She didn’t say anything about it. Neither did I.
But we were circling something bigger. We both knew it.
I set down the wrench and brushed the grease from my hands.
“You free tonight?” I asked.
She gave me a sideways glance. “Why? You need something welded?”
I smirked. “A date.”
She nearly choked on her tea. “Awhat?”
“You heard me.”
“No fishing,” she warned.
“Nope. Just you and me and candlelight. A proper date.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s the catch?”
“Wear something nice but comfortable,” I said. “And no flannel.”
She blinked. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
I turned and headed toward the clubhouse without another word, but the grin she tried to hide when she turned back to her drink told me she’d be ready.
I had a few hours to pull this off.
Back at the compound, I found Bear and Pledge leaning over maps and a half-eaten tray of gas station burritos.
“Need a favor,” I said.
Bear didn’t look up. “Please tell me it’s not another load of plywood.”
“I need you two to run into town. Take a few laps. Look for any unfamiliar faces. Strangers. Vehicles that don’t fit. I want eyes on everything from the gas station to the overlook.”
“It’s tourist season,” Bear said. “Hikers, campers, wannabe survivalists. Hell, my cousin’s up here right now trying to catch trout and get laid.”
