Page 32 of To Hold and Protect

“Cross my heart.” She made an X over her chest.

“Where and when did you see this man?” Parker asked Willow after Skylar and Everly left.

“I’m not sure it was the man in your sketch, but it could be. He was walking on the side of the road a few miles outside of town.”

“What road did you come in on?” Tristan asked.

“It was after I turned off 221 onto that road that eventually becomes Main Street.”

“Mackel Lane, named after the Mackel family, the town’s founders,” Tristan said. “What did you notice about him? Clothes, height, weight, anything unusual?”

“Nothing unusual. He had on a yellow T-shirt. I remember thinking his shirt matched my car, and that was why I noticed him. Oh, he had a backpack that had what looked like a rolled-up tent attached to the bottom. The only other thing I remember about him was that he had a ponytail like in your sketch. What’d he do?”

“If it’s the man we’re looking for, he’s an arsonist,” Parker said.

“Oh. That’s not good.”

Parker glanced at the sketch. “What about height and weight?”

She shrugged. “I’m not good at guessing things like that. I’d have to say average maybe?”

“If he’s camping out, that’s going to make it even harder to find him.” Tristan tapped the sketch. “I need to get this copied and distributed to my officers and Skye’s deputies. You have time to show Parker where you saw him?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

And that was how Parker found himself spending more time with the woman he’d planned to ignore.

Chapter Fifteen

Willow had never put much thought into cars. She’d bought Sunshine because she’d wanted a reliable vehicle that would last a long time, and Volkswagens were known to last practically forever. Plus, it was a fun little car to drive, and it was a convertible, something that had been a must-have for living at the beach. Yellow was such a happy color, and she was going to love zipping around her beach town in Sunshine with the top down.

“What kind of car is this?” she asked as Parker drove them to where she’d seen the man walking alongside the road.

“A Dodge Challenger Hellcat.”

Of course, a sexy car would have to have a cool name. Although she didn’t know much about cars, this one was powerful. She could hear it in the rumble of the engine—it sounded absolutely wicked—and she could feel the automobile’s power as Parker accelerated.

“I’m guessing you like cars?” she said.

“Yep.”

The man was exasperating. For the past ten minutes since they’d left his house, all she’d gotten out of him was only enough words to answer her questions. She wished he didn’t fascinate her. The last thing she needed on her Man Hiatus was a fascinating man she was insanely curious about...one who lived next door, which meant she couldn’t avoid him. It didn’t help that she found him even sexier than his ridiculously sexy car.

“There!” she said when they reached the spot she’d seen the man. “I remember because of that weird-looking tree stump. I noticed him, then got distracted at seeing a stump with a face that looked like a goat. I meant to come back and take a picture, but then I forgot about it.” After seeing the money pit she’d inherited, the last thing on her mind had been goat-faced stumps.

“You can get one now.” He stopped the car in front of a dirt driveway next to the stump. “Old Man Earl lives up there. After lightning hit the tree and killed it, he carved the stump in honor of Billy.”

She got out her phone and clicked on the camera icon. “Who’s Billy?”

“His goat.”

Humor laced his voice, and amusement lit his eyes, and as she looked at him, all she could think was that Mr. Grouchy Pants maybe wasn’t so grouchy after all, and that she liked him...when he wasn’t being grouchy. She liked him a lot, if she was being honest with herself, and she always tried to be that. And in the spirit of being honest with herself, she was attracted to him. Maybe more attracted than she’d been with any man since Austin.

Question, am I going to do anything about that?

The answer was that she didn’t have one. And when she was faced with that dilemma, she didn’t do anything while she made a list of the pros and cons, and then thought about it some more. So that was what she’d do.

“Billy the Goat.” She grinned. “So original.”

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