My Sweet Valentine (18 page)

“Really?”

“Yeah, someone tried to break in New Year’s night. He must have scared them off.”

“Well, that's good.” Her hair was tied back away from her face, but the wind kept blowing strands around. He stopped her and pulled her closer when they got near the big rock.

“I've missed you.” He put his hands on either side of her face and enjoyed the softness of her skin.

“I missed you, too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose up to place a soft kiss on his lips. He pulled her closer, not wanting anything between them, not even the breeze.

“I want to be with you, again. Can you stay with me tonight?” He looked down at her, his emotions written clearly in his eyes. He ached for her.

She smiled and nodded. “Josie will take care of the shop until tomorrow afternoon. We open in about a week and there's still so much left to do.”

They started walking towards the car to gather their lunch. “You're lucky to have Josie with you.” He still hadn't decided what to make of her best friend. He liked the fact that she was protective.

“I was so excited when she said that she'd move down here. I can't imagine running the bakery without her. I wouldn't want to.” She smiled and carried the blanket and the thermos of soup while he gathered the large picnic basket.

“Have you hired anyone else?”

She shook her head. “Josie is interviewing two bakers today. One's from Edgeview and the other is a girl I went to school with. To be honest, I'm glad I'm not there. I didn't want to tell her that I just can't stand her.” Sara laughed. “I have a few more interviews on Monday, but it's really getting close and I'm starting to get worried.”

“You'll find someone.” He stopped and looked around. “What about here?”

She looked around and nodded. They were by some pointed rocks that blocked a lot of the wind. Setting the thermos down, she shook out the blanket and straightened it as he set the basket down.

They ate cold sandwiches and warm soup on the beach and lay back to watch the clouds pass by. Then they nibbled on the Death by Chocolate cookies she'd specially made for today.

“I've found a new favorite. These are better than my mother's homemade chocolate cookies.” He took his third and bit into the richness. “Death by Chocolate, huh?” He chuckled.

“Yeah, I have a few other great names. There's my favorite, Nut-N-Special. They're these yummy caramel nut bars with chocolate chunks.”

He laughed. “How do you come up with everything?” When she looked at him questioningly, he continued. “The names, the recipes, you know…what to make?” She smiled.

“
That's the easy part. Most recipes have been handed down to me. Some I've come up with on my own. There are hundreds of recipes out there, you just have to try and find the one that works best.”

“Trial and error.” He smiled and continued to rub her hair between his fingers. He thought he could just stay there like this all day, but when he felt her shiver, he sat up and they headed back to his truck.

The drive back was a lot quieter than the drive there. Sara seemed to be thinking and he let her. Then she turned to him and asked, “Why the Coastguard?”

He looked over at her. “Well, when I retired from the SEALs, I knew there were only a handful of things I wanted to do. This was the top of the list.”

“Why?”

“I love being a pilot. I love being a teacher even more.” He smiled. Yeah, that part he hadn't counted on. “I like molding young minds and bodies into being the best at what we do.” He chuckled. “Actually, it's quite funny that I'm enjoying it so much, since I gave all my teachers hell when I was younger.”

“What boy didn't?” She smiled.

“I remember my first day teaching. I think I was more nervous than my students. But when I got them in the pool doing drills, I realized that this was where I belonged.”

“It's the same for me in the kitchen.” She smiled and looked out the window. “Since I was young I would take over cooking dinner, baking. My mother learned early, after she found out I was good at it, to just steer clear and let me take over.”

“How does she feel about you moving out?”

“Oh, she was sad. Actually, she wondered why Josie didn't just move in to the extra bedroom.” Sara laughed. “I didn't have the heart to tell her that taking care of them is exhausting. Not that I mind,” she quickly put in. “It's just that I need to focus on the bakery right now.”

“I know what you mean. It's nice to have family close, but nicer when they don't rely on you so much. When I first got back from Afghanistan, I moved back in with my folks. My father took it as a sign that he no longer had to do anything around the house. I ended up rebuilding the deck and fixing the roof instead of going to my classes.”

When they were a few minutes outside of Pride, Sara's phone rang.

“Hello, Josie. How did the interviews go?” Sara’s smile fell away. “What?” She listened to her friend then said, “We're five minutes out of town. I'll be there as soon as possible.”

When she hung up, she turned to him. He noticed that her face was pale and her hands were shaking.

“Sara?”

“Someone broke into our house.” He stepped on the gas a little and decided he could cut the five minutes in half.

S
ara stood just inside her front door and wanted to cry. Josie's couch and chairs had been cut open and splattered with red paint, much like her furniture had in Seattle. This was her stalker's signature. Her shoulders slumped and her fingers shook. In Seattle, he had stopped with her items, but this time he had destroyed the house as well. Huge chunks of the drywall were torn out, exposing wires and pipes. The carpet was shredded, leaving places on the floor bare. Even the lights were hanging by the wires.

Allen stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders and she felt a little more centered.

Robert and Larry, his deputy, stood in the mess, taking notes.

“Sara.” Robert walked towards her with a frown. “I've already talked to Detective Price. He says he's sending someone down. They want to log everything for their reports.”

She nodded. She'd listened to him half-heartedly. Then Josie walked out of her bedroom, tears streaking down her face. Sara rushed to her and hugged her.

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” she mumbled in her friend’s hair.

“Ssshhh, it's not your fault.” Josie held on tight, then she pulled back and tried to give her a smile. “Now this guy has pissed me off. He better look out.”

“It is all my fault.” Josie shook her head.

“This creep better run from me now. He stole my favorite sword.” Josie's eyes watered a little more. Josie was a collector of swords of any style. Samurai, mid-century, modern. It was a strange hobby for anyone, let alone a five-foot Asian-American baker. But her collection was worth more to her than all of her furniture and other possessions. The knowledge that her stalker had not only ruined everything in their house, but had actually stolen a sword turned Sara's stomach.

Larry walked by and coughed. “Sorry, if you have a minute, Miss Cheng, I need to know if there was anything else taken from your room.”

Sara watched Josie wipe her face and try to smile. “Sure, I'll be right back.” Larry walked into her friend’s room and Sara smiled when Josie waved her hand in front of her face and pointed to Larry's back. Josie was right—Larry Buck was tall, blond, and handsome. He always had been, but Sara had known him since they were in diapers together. He was more like the brother she'd never had, but for Josie…She thought of the possibilities.

Allen walked up behind her. “Does Sara need to go through her rooms?”

Robert shook his head. “I'd prefer she stayed clear. At least until the guys get here from Seattle. Maybe you can go into the kitchen, look through everything there.” Robert looked at Allen. “If you have a minute?”

“Sure.” Allen looked at Sara. “Go ahead, I'll be right in.” Sara was too dull to realize that Robert had wanted to talk to Allen alone.

When she entered the kitchen, it reminded her of walking into the bakery last month and her heart skipped a beat. Was her stalker responsible for the mess there as well? Every drawer was opened, every utensil was twisted. Her pans were thrown around, knives stuck out of the walls. Bare wires were hanging from the exposed drywall. Food was thrown on the floor and poured over the countertops. She leaned against the counter and felt like crying. What had she ever done to deserve this? Why was someone so determined to scare and destroy her?

Just like when her apartment had been destroyed, she started running through a list of her ex-boyfriends, ex-coworkers, ex-friends, anyone who would want to do this. No names or faces came to mind. She hadn't realized tears were falling until one fell and landed on her hand, causing her to jump.

Allen walked in just then, a frown on his face. “What do you think about staying with me for a while? Robert doesn't think the place is habitable, at least until the landlord’s insurance pays to repair it. He's arranged it so Josie can stay at Amber's apartment since Amber is pretty much living with Luke now. Amber's stuff is still there so it's furnished and everything. Just until we can catch whoever did this.”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“If you want, you can stay with Josie?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I'll be fine with you for a while. I'd like to stay with you.” She tried to smile a little.

A few hours later, they walked into his house. Beast barked and ran in circles to welcome them. When she sat down and he jumped into her lap, she laughed and smiled. Allen and Robert had packed a few items of hers in a bag, but she didn’t want to touch them. Instead, she'd gone over to her mother's house and packed some of her old clothes that she had left there. She'd tossed the other clothes in the trash can.

Josie was all set up at Amber's apartment above Patty's store. She'd worried about her friend, but Josie had insisted. “Besides, it's right across from the bakery. This way I can literally roll out of bed and walk to work.” They had taken her to the apartment. Amber had met them and handed over a set of keys.

“I can't thank you enough.” Sara had hugged Amber. She'd only known her for a few months, but knowing that she was marrying Luke almost made her family.

“I'm never here anymore, anyway.” Amber smiled.

“Hey?” Allen said, waking her from her memory. “Do you want something to eat?” She shook her head. “How about some soup?” She shook her head, again. He walked over and sat next to her. “I know you're upset, but you need to eat something.”

She looked at him and could see the worry in his eyes. Nodding her head, she said, “Sure. Some soup sounds good.”

“Great.” She watched him smile and wondered what she'd done to deserve him. “I'll go heat some up.” He stood, but paused to place a kiss on her head.

She closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't want food. She felt weary and broken. Not to mention that everything she had was now destroyed, again. She rested her head back against the pillows. Beast curled up beside her and sighed. She rubbed his thick fur and closed her eyes.