Page 39 of Home Town Knight

“I definitely needed a nap.”

“And the dinner with Owen?”

I smiled, glancing at the path ahead of us. “I needed that too. We talked some things out.”

“Like Jessi said, you can feel safe with Trace, Aiden, and River. That includes Owen as well. He’s one of us.”

“Seems like you know the sheriff well.”

“I’ve known him for years. He’s a good friend. He’s done a lot for Jessi and me, and for Last Refuge. For all of Hartley. That loyalty has cost him plenty.”

I thought of what he’d told me at dinner. “Losing part of his family? The Rigsbys?”

She stopped walking and turned to me. “They losthimby doing what they did. But yes. Owen is our family now. He’s the best kind of man. I trust him with my life. So can you.”

She spoke adamantly, as if she knew about my suspicions of the sheriff. And I figured she must. Owen had probably told them about thebloodsucking reporterwho wouldn’t leave him alone.

Things had changed between Owen and me. We were friends now, or getting there. But earlier, when he’d dropped me off here at Last Refuge? We’d been furious at one another. He’d still believed I was biased against cops. Yet he’d vouched for me. Jessi and her family had taken me in, and they’d promised to keep me safe, despite their concerns about me being a reporter.

It was kind of incredible.

“I suppose even the best people are complicated,” I said.

“That’s certainly true. My husband’s one of them. He can be an absolute sweetheart, but if you intend to inflict harm on an innocent? Trace will be one of the scariest men you’ll ever meet. If we hadn’t taken a chance on trusting each other,I’d be in a very bad place. Jessi needed help in her past too. She turned to Aiden, and he stepped up. That’s what this family does.Everyonein this family.”

“You’re lucky.” When was the last time anyone had promised to look out for me? Not because they wanted something, but because it was the right thing to do. Not since my dad had died, that was for sure.

And maybe Owen, I realized.

“Wearelucky.” Scarlett glanced at the panoramic view, valley and mountains stretching into the distance. “Sometimes life only comes in shades of gray. And the rules have to bend to keep everything else from breaking. Do you know what I mean?”

She turned and stared at me intently. Trying to say so much more than her words had conveyed on the surface.

“I think so.”

Scarlett smiled and patted my arm, going back to the sunny demeanor she’d shown when she’d first introduced herself. “Good. Try to relax, but if you need company or anything else at all, don’t hesitate to let us know. There’s a list of numbers in your cabin.”

“I saw it. Thanks.”

After saying goodbye, I went into my cabin, adding the box of desserts to the sandwich Owen had brought me. Scarlett’s words tumbled in my head like gemstones, becoming clearer every second. She’d hinted aboutbending rulesandshades of gray.

She had to mean that Owen and his friends had bent the rules, but they’d done it for the right reasons. To save people.

I had bent rules myself. My most trusted source was a white-hat hacker, and he had bent plenty of rules to uncover the truth in the past. Too much corruption and injustice would go undiscovered without sources like him.

Sitting on my bed, I took out my phone to check mymessages. My editor Pam had sent a couple of texts while I’d been with Owen. She wanted an update on the murder story, even though she’d already agreed to wait until tomorrow night.

Technically, I had promised to ask Sheriff Douglas for comment. I was supposed to work my connections and status as a witness for the sake of our paper.

For the sake of my job.

But right now, after the confessions I’d shared with Owen and that conversation with Jessi and Scarlett, my job seemed far less important in the scheme of things.Screw the exclusive on the Tucker murder, I told myself. I would write up a half dozen clickbait articles on other topics for Pam as an apology. But I wasn’t going to jeopardize Owen’s investigation or his trust in me.

Because I suspected Owen Douglas was a better man than I’d ever imagined.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Owen

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