She was being an idiot. Staring down at the photo album in her lap, Jill looked at the picture of Lucas, smiling and laughing at something somebody must’ve said. His head was thrown back, his smile wide and unbridled. Running a fingertip across the picture, she thought back to the day the photo had been taken.
It had been a Saturday afternoon, and a whole group of locals from the high school decided to head to the big public pool over at the community center. The temperature had been blazing hot, she remembered, and they’d packed a big cooler full of ice, sodas, and water. They’d had a blast, but all she could recall from that day was Lucas.
The memory felt as fresh and vibrant as if it had been yesterday, instead of years earlier. She remembered it with such detail because it was the day they’d had their first fight. Of course, now that she was older and hopefully wiser, she wouldn’t even classify it as anything to get all hot and bothered about. Back then though, she’d just turned seventeen and she’d had a giant crush on Lucas Boudreau. Between that and raging teenage hormones, she’d been a walking, talking hormone bomb ready to explode at the slightest provocation.
Cue in Lisa Giardino, her high school nemesis. Not that Lisa knew or cared what Jill thought about her. She was the school bad girl, and she loved living down to her reputation. Lisa was the one all the boys flocked to when she crooked her little finger, and left them panting like pups in heat chasing after her.
All except Lucas. Somehow, he seemed immune to all her charms, and Lisa had definitely been blessed in the physical endowments department, though not so much in the mental acumen area. Things had been going great at the pool party, until Lisa showed up with her gal pals, trolling for their Saturday night conquests. For whatever reason, that sweltering hot afternoon, she set her sights on Lucas.
Jill shook her head, trying to escape the memory and turned the page in the photo album. A squeezing in her chest made her gasp. She’d forgotten about this photo. One she’d taken with her cell phone years ago, when she’d been a senior in high school. She’d printed it out, and stuck it under her pillow. Later on, she’d started an album with all his pictures and hidden it away, so nobody could find it or discover her secret crush.
Strange, but she hadn’t drug out these photos since Lucas left Shiloh Springs to head for the big city life. Right after he left, she’d been accepted at Duke in North Carolina. She remembered how excited she’d been, getting that letter of acceptance. Money would be tight, but between student loans, scholarships, and the small amount her parents had put aside, she could make it work. She’d left Shiloh Springs and headed to Durham.
Turning the page, she smiled at a picture of Lucas, Rafe and Dane standing outside the high school. Rafe had graduated, she remembered, and Lucas and Dane were one year apart. All three men looked so different, yet even then the bond between the brothers was evident.
A knock on her door startled her. She laid the photo album on the coffee table and picked up her phone, checking to see who was outside. Dante had insisted on installing one of those camera doorbells, so she’d always know who was on the other side of the door.
Only there wasn’t anybody there. She’d heard a knock, she was sure of it. Shrugging, she walked over and eased the door open, looking down the hall in both directions, but didn’t see anybody. As she started to close the door, she glanced down and spotted a small white box sitting on the ground. Atop it was a pink ribbon, with frilly little curlicues at the ends.
Kneeling, she picked it up, carried it inside and closed the door. Curiosity piqued, she sat on the sofa and held the package in her hand. It didn’t weight much, and she didn’t see any kind of card or label.
It must be for me. It’s in front on my door. But who would drop off a package and not check and make sure I’m home?
She carefully slid the ribbon off the box and tossed it onto the coffee table. Opening the white box, she realized that it was really an outer box, with another one inside, this one a vivid red. Taking the red box in her hand, she looked at it from all angles, before finally giving in and opening the lid. She gasped when she spotted the bracelet inside.
Diamonds. Each stone seemed to catch the light, reflecting back a prism of colors as the bracelet spilled across her fingertips. It had diamonds all the way around, resembling a tennis bracelet, but these stones were bigger than any she’d seen before.
Springing from the couch, she raced over to the door and flung it open, once again looking for anybody who might be in the hallway. Nobody was there, and there was nothing to indicate who might have left the gift on her doorstep.
Locking her front door, she slumped down on the couch and studied the bracelet. It couldn’t hurt to try it on, right? She wouldn’t, couldn’t keep it, but there wasn’t any rule that said she didn’t get to have a bit of a thrill somebody wanted to shower her with expensive gifts.
Clasping the catch of the bracelet, she turned her wrist, watching the play of colors and sparkles against her skin, the diamonds catching and refracting the light. It was stunning. Too bad she couldn’t keep it, because it had to be some kind of mistake. Nobody she knew would’ve left something this expensive on her doorstep.
“Alright, you beautiful thing, who do you really belong to, and what am I going to do with you?”
Shrugging, she picked up her cell phone and dialed Lucas’ number. Maybe he’d know what she should do about her mysterious gift. When the call rolled over to voicemail, she hung up without leaving a message, and decided to call someone who could tell her what to do, because she didn’t feel safe having something this expensive laying around her apartment, especially since it was obviously a mistake, and had been delivered to the wrong address.
“Evening, Jill.” Rafe’s deep voice came through her phone. “What can I do for you?”
“Hi, Rafe. I’m hoping you can give me some advice, answer a question I’ve got.”
“I’d be happy to. What’s your question?”
“There was a knock on my door a few minutes ago. When I answered it, there wasn’t anybody there, but I did find a package on the floor in front of my door.”
“Was there a card or note, anything to indicate who might have left it?”
She shook her head before it sank in Rafe couldn’t see her, since it wasn’t a video call. “Not that I found. I checked the hallway again, and the floor around my apartment, but there wasn’t anything.”
“Did you open it?”
“Um, yeah. Rafe, it’s a diamond bracelet. At least, they look like real diamonds. But who’d send me something like that? And leave it out in the hall, where anybody could stumble upon it? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t make sense. Has anything like this happened before, somebody leaving things for you?”
“Not that I remember…wait, somebody did leave a red rose once. But that’s not the same thing.”
She heard Rafe sigh. “It sounds like you’ve got an admirer, one who’s stepping up his game. Have you noticed anybody hanging around? Any calls where somebody doesn’t speak on the other end of the line?”
“No calls. I haven’t seen anybody hanging around.” She bit her lower lip, wondering if she should tell Rafe about thinking somebody was following her home from the bakery. She probably should, because if she didn’t, somebody else would. “I did have a weird feeling the other night, when I was walking home from the bakery. It was the night everybody came and helped with cleaning the place. Anyway, I was walking home and thought somebody was following me. You know that feeling you get when it seems like somebody’s watching you? It was like that, only I didn’t see anybody.”
“Has that happened before?”
“Not that I recall. It was probably nothing, except—”
“Except what, Jill?”
“There’s also two of my tires were flat this morning. I drove home from church, and stopped at home to change my clothes and pick up some food I was taking to the bakery. Everybody was going to be there, and we’d be painting all day, so I volunteered to bring food and drinks. I came out to the car and two tires were flat.”
“Yeah, I know about that. Dad mentioned it while we were at the bakery this afternoon. Said you thought you might have run over something on the way home from church.”
“Dante said they didn’t find any reason for the tires to go flat. Figured it was a slow leak or something. He put four brand new tires on my old junker.”
“It makes me wonder, because it’s a few too many coincidences in a relatively short time frame. Have you met any new people recently? Anybody make your internal radar go off?”
“Not that I can think of off the top of my head. Anyway, what should I do with this bracelet? If these are real diamonds, and they do look legit although I’m no expert, I don’t have a safe place to keep them.”
“I’m gonna stop by and pick it up. Did it come wrapped or anything?”
“There was a jeweler’s box inside of a plain white box. There was a pink ribbon.”
She could hear Rafe moving around, and she knew he was on his way. “Do me a favor. Put everything into a plastic bag, one of those zipper kind if you have it. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Rafe. I hated to bother you, but I wasn’t sure how to handle something like this. I tried to call Lucas, but got his voicemail.”
“It’s no problem. This is my job. We’ll figure out who might be leaving you tokens of their affection, and let them know to knock it off. Unless you want them to keep sending you stuff?”
She shuddered at his words. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Rafe chuckled at her response. “Got it. See you in a few.”
She disconnected the call and got up to do what he’d asked. Of course, that took all of a minute. Now she had to wait for Rafe to show up and take the diamonds off her hands. Each tick of her kitchen clock seemed to reverberate throughout the apartment, the incessant sound echoing in her ears.
When the doorbell rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin, then called herself all kinds of an idiot, because she knew it was Rafe. Still, she checked the camera before opening the door. He stood on her doorstep, dressed in jeans and a button-front shirt with pearl snaps, and his ever-present cowboy hat. Grinning, he reached for the baggie she didn’t even realize she held in a stranglehold in her right hand.
Rafe whistled when he looked at the bracelet. “Those are some rocks. If they’re real, they cost somebody a good chunk of change.” Without waiting, he walked into her apartment and sat on the couch.
“I don’t understand any of this. I can’t think of anybody who’d send something like that. It’s over the top, and while it’s beautiful, I’d never wear anything like that.”
“Sit down, Jill.”
Uh oh. From his serious expression, she knew whatever he was going to tell her wasn’t good news. Her insides tightened, waiting for him to tell her she was in trouble. Wracking her brain, she couldn’t figure out a single thing she’d done or said that might cause Rafe to be upset.
“Rafe, what’s going on?”
“I talked with Dad a few minutes ago on my way here. Seems like your brother didn’t exactly tell you everything he found when he fixed your tires. Somebody tampered with the valves on two of them, letting out all the air. You wouldn’t have been able to drive on them, and with the valves damaged, they’d have to be replaced. Not an expensive fix, but I find it suspicious that you’d have two of them occur spontaneously. Plus, Dad said there was evidence of scratches around the valves.”
“What are you saying, Rafe? You think somebody deliberately flattened my tires? Why?”
“That’s what we’re going to figure out.”
Jill felt physically ill at Rafe’s implication. It couldn’t be possible. Nobody wanted to hurt her. There had to be another explanation.
“I’m going to take this in to the sheriff’s office and lock it in the safe. I’ll see if we can get some prints off of the box or ribbon in the morning. Can you stop by sometime and give me your prints, so we can eliminate yours from any we might get off the box?”
“Of course. I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon, if that’s okay. I’ve got deliveries to the bakery in the morning.”
Rafe stood and held his hand out to Jill, helping her up. He squeezed it gently, his eyes filled with compassion and a touch of concern. “Lock up tight after I leave. I’ll have the on-duty deputy do a ride by a couple of times to keep an eye on things. If you need me for anything, you’ve got my number. Use it.”
“I will, I promise. Do me a favor? Don’t tell Lucas about this. He’s got enough on his plate right now, with this story he’s working on and trying to find his sister.”
Rafe studied her intently, and she barely resisted the urge to squirm under his perusal. Too bad she wasn’t great at hiding her emotions, and with his job Rafe was an expert at reading people.
“I won’t go out of my way to say anything—yet—but I’m not gonna lie to him if he asks.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Jill. Get some sleep.” Rafe pulled her close and gave her a hug, then headed for the door. “Lock this behind me.”
“After what you told me, I’m liable to stick a chair under the knob.” She gave him a cheeky grin, and he returned her smile.
She turned the deadbolt, made sure it engaged, then sank onto the couch with a pillow clutched to her chest. After finding out about the suspected deliberate damage to her tires, and the possibility somebody might actually be watching her, she doubted she’d get much sleep.
Too bad Lucas wasn’t around. He always made her feel safe, being by her side. Right now, she could use a little of his calming influence, because she had the feeling her life was about to become a roller coaster ride, and the bottom of her world was about to fall out from beneath her.