Page 60 of To Hold and Protect

“If your reason for that is Everly, you know she’d be all-in if it was Willow,” Tristan said.

Yes, his daughter had made her feelings known, but he had two good reasons for not letting himself even think about a future with Willow. She had a dream of living at the beach and was leaving soon. The other reason...he couldn’t trust himself. Had he really been in love with any of his past girlfriends? He didn’t think so. After every relationship had ended, along with the regret had been a bit of relief. So even if he came to think he was in love with her, how could he know for sure?

If he didn’t have his daughter, he might be willing to try, but he did have her, and it was one thing to have his heart broken, but Ev’s? Just no.

His phone chimed an alert. “Marsville Fire Department, respond to a car fire at 610 Dogwood Lane. Repeat, car fire at 610 Dogwood Lane.”

“The hell,” he and his brothers said together as they stood, all of them recognizing the address.

Parker put his hand on Kade’s arm. “You stay here and keep an eye on our girls.” The address was Willow’s house, so the car had to be her beloved Sunshine. “Don’t say anything to Willow. When I know what’s going on, I’ll come back.”

Willow had ridden to the community center with him, Everly, and Ember. Fuzz was here with Tristan, but Duke had been left at home since the goofball couldn’t be trusted not to eat the cake or find some other mischief to get into. Recognizing the alert, Ember was at the end of her leash, ready to go. Fuzz, who was never on a leash because he never left Tristan’s side unless it was to go with Skylar, looked up at Tristan with his ears straight up, as if understanding it was time to go to work. Parker walked out of the building with Tristan and their dogs.

Since he’d planned to let Greg cover for him tonight if there were any fire calls, he’d driven the Hellcat. “I’ll follow you.” He split off from Tristan and headed to his car. He’d had blue lights installed when he’d bought the car, and he lit them up. Tristan lit up his lights and siren on his police SUV, and Parker followed him home.

Willow’s car was a total loss. Parker stood next to Tristan as they waited for his firefighters to roll up the hoses. “She’s going to be crushed. She loved that car.”

“Going on your theory now that a woman is behind this, then I’m thinking our unsub knows about Willow and doesn’t like you spending time with her.”

“Shit.” Not that the same hadn’t occurred to him standing here, but shit. Hearing his brother put it into words made it real. He scrubbed his hand through his hair, wincing when he ripped a few strands out of his ponytail band.

“If that’s true, that we have a jealous woman on our hands, she’s going to escalate if we don’t catch her soon.” Tristan slung his arm around Parker’s shoulders. “Think hard, brother. You’ve met this woman somewhere. I don’t think she’s from around here, so think about women you’ve met at your conferences. You can probably eliminate your art shows since your last one was two years ago.”

“This makes me so angry that I can’t think right now. I have to tell Willow about her car, and then there’s Ev’s private party with the family tonight. I don’t want to ruin that for her. But I’ll start making a list later.” And did this mean he had to stop seeing Willow? For her safety, he should.

“Tristan and Skylar are taking Everly with them,” Parker told Willow when he returned to the community center to find the birthday party was winding down. He’d sent Ember home with his brother, too. After the fire was extinguished, Ember had alerted on an accelerant. No surprise there.

“Everly was looking for you when it was time to cut her cake. Skylar said you and Tristan got called out to a fire.”

“We did. I was sorry to miss her cake cutting.” Especially because of the reason.

She slid her arm around his as they walked to his car. “I took lots of pictures for you.”

Before her car had been destroyed because of him, he would have loved that she felt comfortable doing that, but now he scanned the people around them, wondering if someone who apparently thought he’d wronged her was watching them. Was he putting Willow in more danger just by walking with her? He should swear off women for the rest of his life. Obviously, the universe didn’t think he was meant to be in love. Funny that, since he was a boy who’d always wanted to love and be loved back.

He closed the passenger door after she was seated, then as he rounded the hood, he debated when and how to tell her that Sunshine was basically a large piece of burnt toast sitting in her driveway. Now? Take her somewhere else to tell her? He had to drop that bomb on her before she saw her car.

“What’s going on, Parker?” she said, seconds after he buckled his seat belt. “You’re acting weird.”

Okay then, telling her now was the answer. He unbuckled his seat belt, then shifted to face her. He blew out a breath. How was he supposed to tell her that some vindictive woman he’d apparently wronged had set fire to her car? That he was bad news to be around?

If his little girl wasn’t home waiting for him so she could open her presents, he’d drive Willow somewhere far away. Somewhere without a risk of her being hurt because of him. But that wasn’t a viable option. He had no choice. He had to tell her, and then he had to tell her they couldn’t see each other anymore. If something happened to her because of him, he’d never forgive himself.

So he answered her question. “Someone set Sunshine on fire, and I think it’s my fault.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“What?” Willow couldn’t comprehend what Parker was saying, and when he repeated it, she stared at him. “Why would someone set my car on fire because of you? How bad is the damage? You got it put out and Sunshine just needs a little bodywork, right?”

He wrapped his hand around hers. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing left to save.”

“My beach car.” She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth to keep it from trembling. Sunshine was insured, of course, but she was attached to her car. She didn’t want a different one.

“I’ll buy you another one.”

“No, you will not. It’s insured. I just don’t understand why someone would burn up my car or why you say it’s your fault.”

He sighed. “We think now that our arsonist is a woman, someone I’ve met before, and apparently slighted somehow.”

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