LITMIR.BIZ

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Her breath came in shallow gasps as Claire reached down to put a comforting hand on Chester’s warm fur.

      “You’re such a good, brave doggie. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. The bad man is gone now. We’re okay.”

      Her voice sounded squeaky, as if she’d been sucking helium and she forced herself to try some of Alex’s circle breathing: in through the nose for five counts, fill the diaphragm and hold it for five, then out through the mouth for five counts.

      She was only on her second rotation when Chester suddenly gave his howling bark again, his grumpy face concerned, just a second before the doorbell rang. Claire let out a little shriek. Was her intruder back?

      After a frantic search for some kind of weapon, she finally picked up a stout umbrella from the holder by the door, then peered through the window again.

      This visitor was unquestionably male. Hard chest, broad shoulders, a slight dark shadow on his face. Relief surged through her, sweet and pure like spring runoff.

      Riley!

      She fumbled with the dead bolt and the lock and yanked open the door, then shoved herself back in the office chair a few feet to give him room to come inside.

      Some of her fear must have been obvious on her face. Riley looked wary. If she hadn’t known him since they were both kids, she would have called him dangerous.

      “What is it? What’s wrong? I saw you flashing your porch lights as I was heading home. Are you hurt?”

      Claire wanted to sink into his arms, into that peace and comfort she had found there that day in her store.

      “Probably nothing. I feel like an idiot now. Sorry to make you get out of your car in the rain.”

      She was suddenly aware she was dressed in her nightgown, cotton and shapeless, and no bra. At least it was fairly pretty, a light, sunny yellow that one of her friends from the senior citizen center had embellished with embroidery flowers and brought over a few days earlier.

      Claire didn’t even want to think what her hair must look like, tangled and flat from falling asleep on the couch earlier. Why could he never see her under better circumstances? She didn’t always look like a frowsy invalid, she would almost swear to it.

      “What happened?” Riley asked.

      “Chester started barking at something, which is unusual for him. I came to investigate and thought I saw someone on the porch. I flickered the lights, I don’t know, just as a distraction, I guess. I had no idea you were out there, but I’m so glad you saw them, too. Anyway, it must have worked because he bolted.”

      “He?”

      “I don’t know. It might have been a woman. I couldn’t tell. I just saw this dark shape take off down the driveway. Did you see anything?”

      He shook his head and she saw a few raindrops that still clung to the dark strands of his hair, gleaming in her foyer light. “Visibility is pretty poor out because of the storm. I didn’t see anything except your lights flashing, but I can look around for you. Lock the door behind me and wait right here with Chester.”

      Did he really think she wanted to be anywhere else? She wasn’t a complete idiot. “Thank you, Riley. I’ll feel really silly when you don’t find anything. I’m sorry to bother you.”

      “You’re not bothering me. This is my job, remember?”

      He didn’t give her a chance to answer before he headed back outside, closing the door firmly behind him. He waited on the other side until she clicked the dead bolt shut, then he began sweeping the lawn with his flashlight. She watched him through the window beside the door as he methodically crisscrossed her yard and then disappeared around the side of the house to check the back door.

      What a relief to have Riley there. Not that she necessarily needed a man to protect her, but she couldn’t deny she found comfort from knowing she had an armed officer of the law watching her back.

      An unaccustomed comfort, she had to admit. Even when she was married, Jeff wasn’t the sort to handle this sort of crisis. Once when Jeff was doing his residency, a neighbor in their condo complex had come home drunk in the middle of the night and mistaken their door for his. When his key didn’t work, he’d tried to break in through a window.

      Jeff had been at the hospital and Claire had been alone with the children. She remembered how terrified she’d been, until she recognized the man and went out to talk him down and help him find his way home.

      That seemed a long time ago, but she could still remember calling Jeff at work afterward, needing reassurance or comfort or something, even just the sound of his voice.

      “Sounds like you handled it just fine,” he’d said, dismissing the whole incident.

      That was her. She’d been handling every complication since she was twelve years old.

      She petted a puzzled but tolerant Chester for another few minutes until Riley rapped on the front door again. Her hands fumbled with the lock and it took her a minute to undo the lock.

      “Did you see anything?”

      “No murdering psychos. At least as far as I can find.”

      “You think I was seeing things, then?”

      “Nope. You definitely saw someone out there.”

      “How can you tell?”

      He pulled a bundle from behind his back and carried it into the house. “I found this in a corner of your porch, back in the shadows. I probably would have noticed it when I came up to the door if I hadn’t been so worried about you.”

      She stared at the huge basket. “What on earth?”

      “Any idea who might have dropped it off for you in the middle of the night?”

      “No. That’s crazy. Why wouldn’t whoever delivered it ring the doorbell?”

      “Good question.”

      He was wearing evidence gloves, she realized. As if this was a crime scene or something.

      “You think it’s…something weird?”

      “I’m sure it’s only from one of your many well-wishers. But just to be safe, why don’t I take a look since I’m here and all?”

      “This is Hope’s Crossing, not Oakland, Riley. I highly doubt somebody’s left me a pipe bomb in a basket of…of magazines.”

      His look was wry. “You didn’t expect anybody to break into your store and vandalize it, did you?”

      She had no answer to that, so she merely pushed her chair out of the way. Riley set the basket on the console table in the entryway and began sorting through the contents.

      “Looks like we’ve got something in a package that says Sugar Rush. What’s that?”

      “Gourmet sweet shop down on Pine Street, opened about a year ago. They have the best ice cream in town.”

      “This says blackberry fudge.”

      “Ooh. Yum. My favorite.”

      He gave her a sidelong look that made her toes tingle like she’d missed a step. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

      “Though I’m not picky,” she confessed. “I like all their fudge. And the ice cream, too. Oh, and their caramel drops. Which is probably why I stay away from Sugar Rush.”

      He smiled a little and reached into the basket again. “What else do we have here? Looks like lotion.”

      He opened the lid and sniffed. “Nice. Smells like flowers.”

      “Christy Powell makes soap and lotion. Maybe the basket is from her.”

      “I haven’t seen a note yet.”

      He pulled out a thick stack of new magazines, what looked

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