Page 55 of Lost and Found Cowboy

She let out a sigh but could only shrug in answer.

“Okay, this is pure bullshit,” Mack said, handing her the note back. “But it doesn’t help make sense of what happened tonight. If he thinks what’s yours is his, then why would he light a fire at the coffee shop?”

“It’s not about the shop. It’s just another way for him to show that he can get to me.”

“We need to call Knox in the morning. Show him this note and tell him about what happened at the carnival and our suspicions that Lyle started the fire.”

“I don’t know. It’s just going to make him even more angry, and I don’t know what he’ll do next.”

Mack couldn’t help thinkingabout all the things that had happened the day before as he and Zeus rode the fence line the following morning. He’d stayed the night, but slept on the sofa, not wanting to presume anything with Lorna, but needing to be there in case Lyle showed up in the middle of the night.

He was a little frustrated that it had taken so long for Lorna to show him the note. He understood, and they’d had a lot going on that day, but he wanted her to trust him.

Although he’d kept a secret from her as well. And he didn’t want to mention it until he knew if it amounted to anything.

All the talk about the moo monitors and cameras at supper the other night had given him the idea to plant one of the extra wildlife cameras in the alley behind the shop. After Lorna had taken the kids home after school the day before, he’d driven through the alley and hid the camera behind a potted plantwhere it would be able to capture any activity by the door. He’d hoped to catch Lyle in the act if he tried to break in again, but now he hoped it would show him who had started the fire.

He didn’t want to tell Lorna, or Knox, until after he’d had a chance to look at the footage. The camera had still been in place when they’d been there the night before, and he’d shoved it in the pocket of his jacket while Lorna was inside.

He’d planned to check the SD card when he got back to the ranch and had access to his laptop, but Duke was worried that a couple of cows had gotten out and needed him to run fence in the east pasture right away.

He spotted a downed area of fencing and swung off his horse to check it out. It was the only place he’d seen so far, and it didn’t look too bad. He shrugged off his flannel shirt—it was close to eight and the sun was already warming the day—and took his tools and some wire from his saddlebag.

They’d posted a sign on the door the night before that the shop wouldn’t be open until nine this morning, just to give Lorna a little more time to sleep and not have to rush in after everything that had happened with the fire. So, even with the repair, he figured he’d still have time to check the footage when he got home and if he found something to take it in to show Lorna before she left for the shop.

Everything thatcouldgo wronghadgonewrong that morning. Or maybe Lorna was just cranky because Mack had slept on the sofa the night before—like a gentleman—and hadn’t tried to sneak into her room. Or her bed.

Although, shewasglad he had stayed. As much as she wanted to be able to protect herself, it still made her feel safer to know he was in the house.

Max had almost cried this morning when he woke up to find that she’d brought the little scruffy stray dog home.

“I got a puppy and a cow all in the same week,” he went around the house yelling. “I love my life.”

She’d been thrilled to see the way the dog had taken to her son, cuddling up in his lap and following him around the room, but the animal had still added extra time challenges to her morning with taking her outside, watching that she didn’t escape the yard, and setting her up with makeshift bowls of food and water. Thankfully, she already had a bag of dog food since she’d been feeding her at the shop for weeks.

Izzy had been up early and was already fussing, so she tucked her into the swing in the corner of the living room and ran into the kitchen to pack a quick lunch. Gertie was coming over to watch the kids that day, and she usually showed up a few minutes early. Lorna checked her watch. Ten minutes to nine.

She needed to hustle if she was going to get to the shop before it opened.

She heard the front door open.

“Gertie, thank goodness you’re here,” she said, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she walked into the living room.

But it wasn’t Gertie looming over Izzy as she swung back and forth in the swing.

Lyle turned to her, a familiar evil smile she recognized creasing his face, the one that had terror seizing her stomach and bile rising in her throat.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lorna tried to keep the fear and the tremble out of her voice. “What are you doing here, Lyle?”

He narrowed his eyes as he took a step toward her, and she automatically took a step back. “It seems we have a few things to talk about, sweetie. Like why you called the cops on me. That was pretty embarrassing to have them show up at my front door.”

She’d heard he’d been staying out at Misty’s trailer on her family’s property, so technically they’d shown up at Misty’s front door.

“You know we have a rule about talking to the police,” he continued, advancing toward her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, the words reflexively coming out of her mouth. “It won’t happen again.”

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