Page 22 of The Fence Between Us

Skye, along with the others, appeared properly appalled and they commiserated with Kellyn’s frustration.

“Bekah,” Kellyn asked, “how do you know Elyza’s brothers?”

Bekah blanched, going a sickly pale color for a few moments before shaking her head. She kept her voice low as a whisper before saying, “The officer who saved me that last time,” she gulped, “he recommended them. Said there were no better men or protectors in the entire world. He gave me money for the plane ticket and everything.”

She left the other women to read between the lines. Knowing the work Rabble and Elyza’s brothers did, Skye pieced enough of Bekah’s puzzle together to know, her ex-husband was a piece of filth.

“That is one dedicated officer of the law,” Elyza whistled and the others agreed from where they lounged around the living area.

Girls Night came to an end with a rom-com that had Kellyn and Bekah throwing popcorn at the television screen when the main character professed his undying love. Even though the characters overacted and the dialog was a tad ridiculous, Skye still wondered what it would be like to have someone profess such profound love for her. Love that suggested a man would simply expire on the spot if she did not return his affection. A gloominess stole over her and she fought back the morose feeling that threatened to sour her mood as images of Rabble floated through her mind.

The text she’d sent him terrified her and she hated the way it left her open to disappointment more than anything. She’dhedged all of her bets on him once before and fell drastically when he’d failed to follow through with their plans. Despite the carefully constructed wall she’d built to protect herself, she planned to turn right around and let him through without further hesitation.

What was he doing tonight? Was he getting some extra rest or was he spending time in front of a desk, working, always working. What thoughts raced through his head and were they anything like the ones that kept her up at night, nightgown and sheets twisting around her thighs.

Skye shook her head, feeling the blush staining her cheeks.

As the credits rolled on the rom-com they’d watched, Bekah yawned, her slender hand covering her mouth before announcing her departure from the room as she sought her bed.

“It’s past my bedtime,” she joked and Skye grinned at her, recognizing one of her more common sayings, typically uttered when she’d stayed up too late reading.

Elyza and Kellyn followed her upstairs to the guest room where they would fight over who got to sleep on the bed and who got the futon. Skye wasn’t interested in fighting over either; the sofa in the living room was comfortable enough.

“I’ll never walk again if I sleep on the futon.” Kellyn’s slurred complaint drifted downstairs as she disappeared from Skye’s view.

With a chuckle, Skye settled onto the soft cushions, nestling down and burying herself under the throw blanket and assorted pillows. Yeah, the couch would work just fine.

***

It felt like only moments had passed when Skye’s eyes popped open. The sky beyond the windows still a deep midnight blue, urging her back toward sleep. Instead, she lay perfectly still,careful to keep her breathing even and her limbs still, though the need to twitch grew persistently as her muscles protested the tension straining at them. She waded through the remaining fog of sleep, back to full consciousness as she struggled to work through what it was that had woken her, what felt off. Because something was definitely wrong.

A soft thud sounded in the kitchen, and Skye’s heart stopped in her chest. She flipped back her blanket and tiptoed cautiously toward the kitchen, her toes a mere whisper over the rug and the hardwood floors. “Kellyn? Elyza? Is that you?”

Shadows played across the ground, cutting through the limited light of the waning moon streaming through the window on the backdoor. Scanning the room, Skye could make out the dark shapes of the dining table, the chair legs, and another lanky shadow, one that moved about, too tall and broad to belong to her friends.

Her eyes widened, heart hammering excruciatingly loud in the quiet. The owner of the shadow turned toward her and Skye spun, an earsplitting scream erupting from her chest as she sprinted toward the stairs.

The others are still asleep upstairs. I’ve got to warn them!

A light in the stairwell came on, and one of her friends shouted, though Skye wasn’t sure which one. A hand gripped her upper arm in a bruising vise, yanking her backward and away from her goal. Skye went weightless, flying through the air before colliding painfully with the coffee table, a sickening thud sounding in her ears. Her head swam with vertigo, and she closed her eyes, letting the cresting waves of dizziness pull her under.

Chapter 13

Rabble

Sleep eluded Rabble. Entirely too occupied with an intense game of cards, neither Declan nor Dash opted to turn in either. Rabble didn’t understand the objective and was fairly certain their game wasn’t even real but rather some strange concoction of their own design.

They continued lounging in rocking chairs along the back porch of the Sunny Morning Trellis bed and breakfast, each moving at a pace that matched their moods. He gazed at the backyard where the fading half-moon cast shadows and the darkness played with the soft glow of the porch lights.

A girls’ night at Bekah’s house stood between him and Skye. But it also likely kept him from making a complete fool of himself, and he was happy she was having fun with her friends. Bekah, although new to town, seemed to fit right in as a fourth member of their elite group. Elyza called it a book club, though he did question how much they actually discussed books and how much of the time was dedicated to sampling gossip on the rocks.

Regardless, he was thankful they included Bekah and that Bekah was open to hosting, whether or not they actually talked about books. Relocating clients always went over better when the town they moved to welcomed them with open arms. That Bekah had already made friends ticked several more sensitive concerns off of his list. They just needed to convince her to come around to the extra security measures Rabble and the guys devised earlier in the day.

Despite the relative peace of the night, caught himself bouncing his leg with a tension he didn’t understand.

“Rab, you want us to deal you in?” Dash asked.

Rabble shook his head but moved his chair closer to them. “Absolutely not. What is this madness?”

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