Page 82 of Fragile Sanctuary

Sutton laughed. “His cuteness makes up for all the mischief he gets into. I swear, I need ten of me to keep up with him.”

Her words had me taking stock of the strain on Sutton’s face. She covered it well. Concealer hid the worst of the dark smudges beneath her eyes, and a wide smile disguised the lines of tension around her mouth. But I could only imagine what it took to run a bakery and be the solo parent to a six-year-old son.

“I bet. He looks like he has triple the energy I do.”

“More like quadruple,” Sutton said with a shake of her head.

“Order up,” a man with white hair and a lined face said as he exited the kitchen. He grinned at me. “Thought it was you, Rho. How’s Lolli?”

“Gettin’ up to all sorts of trouble, per usual.”

“You ask her when she’s gonna marry me, will ya?”

I chuckled. “You know she’s impossible to pin down, Walter.”

He placed a hand over his heart as he handed me the to-go box. “It’s the chase that makes it so fun.”

“I’ll see if she has any plans to let you catch her.”

“You do that.”

I gave Sutton a wave. “Thank you. And good luck with your own little cookie monster.”

“I’ll take it,” she called. “Thanks for coming in.”

I headed out into the early morning sunlight but came up short as a figure stalked toward me. Davis’s lip curled as he glared at me. “You sicced yourfosterbrother on me?”

Oh, shit.

I’d shared with Trace the text that Davis had sent yesterday because, as much as I didn’t love all the brotherly interference in my life, I wasn’t an idiot. That text was cruel at best, threatening at worst. And the fact that Davis was stressing the wordfosteronly pissed me off more.

He’d never seen my family as true siblings. Never understood our bond. Once, when I was heading to Nora and Lolli’s for dinner, he’d asked why I spent so much time with people who weren’t actually my family when I could be spending time with him. That had been the end of things for me.

I rolled my shoulders back, reminding myself that people were just inside the bakery. “I didn’t sic anyone on you. But I did share the text you sent with mybrother, also known as the sheriff. Because he’s trying to find out who set that fire you were oh so concerned about.”

Davis’s jaw went hard as granite. “Are you insinuating something, Rhodes?”

“No. I’m just sharing the facts. And you can lose my number. If you don’t, I’ll make sure to let Kye know just how intent you are on getting in touch.”

Davis’s face paled.

Guilt flooded me. Not that I’d scared Davis, but that I’d used Kye’s reputation to do it. People saw the tattoos, knew his past, and put him in thatdangerouscategory when he was anything but. But they didn’t see how gentle he could be: with Fallon, with his niece, with every animal I took in.

“I don’t know why the hell I ever thought you were worth it. You’re nothing but a glorified gardener with a nice ass. I’ll find better in two seconds,” he snarled, charging down the street.

“Thanks for saying I have a nice ass,” I called after him.

But a chill skated down my spine because I’d seen real hatred in Davis’s eyes.

24

ANSON

My truck hit another pothole,and I cursed—the potholes for still being there, even though Shep had put in numerous calls to our guy who typically handled grading our drives; my truck for not handling them better despite only being a year old; and most of all, myself.

Because here I was, driving back to Rho’s house despite working on another site all day. Despite the fact that it was thelastplace I should go. Because I was weak when it came to her. Maybe Rho’s reckless spirit was catching.

As I approached the guest cottage, it was to find Rho outside, damned shorts in full display and wearing fucking cowboy boots with colorful flowers all over them. She was bent over, perfect ass in the air, trying to pick up Biscuit.

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