Page 36 of Home Town

“Bailey, are you okay?” she asked.

“I’ll be fine,” she called.

“Stop yelling. You’re supposed to be resting your voice,” Quinn chastised. “In fact, no more talking or phone calls between the two of you. Texts only. We’ll get the first flight out that we can.”

“Seriously, Quinn. Don’t?—”

“Josie. This is non-negotiable. You can’t handle this on your own. We’re available to help. Case closed. I’ll text you when we have a flight.”

He disconnected the call and she scowled, hearing his harsh words echo in her head. “You can’t handle this on your own.”

Ugh. He was disappointed in her, convinced she was a screw up, and he only knew half the truth.

Wait until he arrived and learned about the missing compass.

She sighed. Quinn was a force of nature. There was no stopping him. Her only hope was that this trip had more to do with him keeping Bailey out of the recording studio until she healed and less to do with this event.

That had to be it.

Quinn didn’t care about the town’s anniversary. Knowing him and his overprotective nature when it came to Bailey, the only reason for this trip back East was to make sure Bailey didn’t get lured back into the recording studio. It had nothing to do with her or helping with the event. And that was fine with her.

Let him spend his time chastising Xander and babying Bailey—and maybe taking care of the two tiny terrors back at the house. Having help with the kitten care would be a blessing. Then she could fully concentrate on dealing with her own disaster.

She was still holding the cell in her hand when Corey opened the door. He took one look at her face and asked, “Everything okay?”

“Yup. Peachy. Quinn’s coming home.”

Corey lifted a brow as he handed her the icy cold soda. “That’ll be nice, right?”

“Thanks,” she said as she cracked open the cap. “And he’s coming home because he thinks I’m going to screw up the event. And he doesn’t even know about the missing compass yet.”

“Oh.” He pressed his lips together and remained quiet.

“Go on. I know what you’re not saying. Call your mom.” She might as well get it over with. The shit was about to hit the fan anyway.

“You sure?” he asked, suddenly compliant. Too much so.

Was he not completely heartless after all and did care what she was feeling?

Pfft. Nah. That wasn’t it.

It was more likely he’d taken what she’d said to heart. That in a town full of nosy bodies who loved to gossip and judge, they both might be seen as culpable.

In which case they’d face the firing squad together.

She shook her head. “It’s okay. Go ahead. Make the call.”

He put down his Mountain Dew and pulled the cell out of his pocket… and she braced herself for the worst.

Josie watched as Corey tapped the screen to call his mom.

As she waited for the woman to answer she realized she’d gripped the soda bottle so tight the soda was beginning to bubble over. She slurped at it before it made a mess while listening to hear what he said.

“Mom. Hey. So I’m here at the library, up in the archives… Yes, I gave the keys to Josie. Just like you asked. But she had a question for you. She wanted to know if the historical society ever takes the objects out of the archive room for any reason… I don’t know. I think it’s for her research. For the uh…”

Corey glanced at her, wide eyed. His unspoken plea for help hung in the air. He might be a tough guy and a bad boy, but when it came to lying to his mother, he seemed to revert back to a helpless little boy.

“Website,” she mouthed.

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