Page 77 of Inside Silence
Chapter 23
Savvy
* * *
The temperature is definitely a bit chillier than I anticipated.
Arriving with Auden in tow may have had something to do with that. For the record, that was not my idea.
He happened to pull in right behind me and was asking me about the case as we walked up to the front door. When the CID took over the Watts Lake case, his captain put him back on regular duty, so I guess he’d been out of the loop. I didn’t even think twice about the impression we’d make entering the house with his hand at the small of my back.
But apparently it was noticed.
By Nate, for one, but also Mrs. Dixon, who surprisingly is shooting daggers at Auden and sending disappointed looks in my direction. I’m not even sure what the hell is happening here, but it’s annoying. Especially Auden, who seems highly amused with the whole situation and is really testing my nerves by constantly touching me and leaning into my space. I’ve already shifted out of his reach twice, but he doesn’t appear to get the message, or is willfully ignoring it. I think he’s purposely goading Nate.
The last thing I want or need is to say something and possibly create a situation that draws even more unwanted attention, but I’m afraid if I don’t step in, Nate may lose his shit and then we’ll have a real public spectacle.
Rather than trying to control Auden, I opt to grab Nate’s hand and pull him up with me.
“Would you excuse us please?”
I smile at Bess and Mrs. Dixon, and pointedly ignore Auden, as I drag Nate around the side of the house and toward the barn.
I welcome the familiar smell of warm hay and greased leather the moment we step inside; it settles me. The only thing missing is the occasional whinny or a dull clomp of a hoof from one of the horses, but they’re still out in the field. When I was young, this place was my refuge, a place to hide out.
“What’s going on?” Nate asks when I turn to face him.
“This.”
Placing my hands on his face, I lift on my toes to kiss him. His hands instantly find the curve of my hips to pull me closer.
“Mmm, you can drag me away from my dinner for this any time,” he mumbles against my lips.
“I’m so sorry,” I rush to apologize. “That was rude of me.”
But he grins and shakes his head at me. “I’m just teasing, and not complaining at all. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”
“Neither was I,” I confess.
I don’t want to admit it was a phone call from Phil half an hour ago to ask me where the hell I was that got me out of the office.
“We had a bit of a break in the case and I lost track of time.”
Close enough.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here now.”
A soft rustle from the direction of the goat’s stall in the corner draws my attention. I could’ve sworn I just saw Angus in his outdoor enclosure. Disentangling myself from Nate, I move closer to have a look.
The stall is empty, but a little trickle of dust falls down from between the boards of the overhead hayloft. Then I hear a soft shushing.
Someone is up there.
“What are you?—”
I turn around to Nate, my finger pressed against my lips. Then I point up and motion for him to wait. I should’ve known Nate doesn’t follow instructions very well, he follows close behind me as I make my way to the ladder by the tack room.
My head barely clears the opening in the floorboards when I hear, “We were just looking at the view.”
