Whispers of You (Lost & Found #1)(59)

Lucille snorted. “Run that by the chief.”

“I just might.”

Lucille let out a low whistle as I bent to grab my bag.

“I think you’ve got a visitor.”

I straightened, turning in the direction she had her gaze pointed. The hard swallow was reflex. There was Holt, eyes zeroed in on me with intensity. He wore a Henley that hinted at the muscles beneath—dips and valleys I’d had my hands on just hours ago. He had the sleeves pushed up, exposing tanned forearms. My gaze trailed to his fingers—long and talented fingers.

Lucille laughed. “Oh, girl. You are so screwed. I just hope it’s in a fun way.”

“You and me both,” I grumbled as I started toward the man in question.

As soon as I was within arm’s reach, Holt took the bag from my shoulder. He leaned in to give me a quick kiss. “Good day?”

The normalcy of it all grated, maybe because I’d wanted it for so long. Someone to share my life with. The ups and downs of my day. But it wasn’t just someone I’d wanted. It was Holt. And now that he was here, acting as if he’d never left, I battled between annoyance and blissful relief. But the emotion eating at me the most was fear.

“It was mellow.”

“That’s good, right?”

“I think we can all use mellow right about now.”

Holt held the door for me, and I stepped through. As soon as we were on the sidewalk, he took my hand in his. The feel of those calluses against my more delicate skin sent a pleasant shiver up my arm. My body was a damn traitor for Holt Hartley.

He opened the passenger door of his SUV, and I climbed in. Holt rounded the vehicle and got behind the wheel, tossing my bag onto the back seat.

I toyed with my fingernail as Holt pulled out of the parking space and started toward my cabin. This had always been him. He wasn’t afraid of a little silence. On the other hand, I felt as if I were crawling out of my skin.

“So, what did you do today?”

He glanced over at me and then back to the road. “Got a coffee and scone at The Brew. The scone was incredible.”

I couldn’t help the smile that came to my lips. “They have the best baked goods. Did you get the orange-cranberry?”

“Yup. Finished it before I even got home.”

My heart jolted at the word home, but I shoved it down. “Then what did you do?”

“Worked with Shadow in the morning. She’s got great instincts. I really think she’d be an asset to the SAR team.”

Pride bloomed. “She’s always been too smart for her own good.”

Holt chuckled, the sound swirling around me. “That just means we need to keep her busy. Give her a job. She kept me company while I installed your security system.”

My brows lifted. “You installed it?”

Holt shrugged as he turned off the main road and onto the dirt lane that would take us to the cabin. “I would’ve preferred to have Cain’s team do it, but they’re maxed out right now. It would’ve taken them at least another week to get up here. Didn’t want to wait around.”

“No laser beams that will blow me up, right?”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “No laser beams. I promise.”

At least there was that. Holt pulled in next to my truck. “You need a garage.”

“Please tell me that your next project isn’t to single-handedly build me one.”

He grinned. “Not single-handedly. But I thought it might be a good project for me, Jude, and Chris to take on while the weather’s good.”

Chris had been harping on the fact that I needed a garage for years—pretty much since I bought the place. I was sure that he and Jude would jump at the chance to get that taken care of.

“I don’t mind not having one. It’s only a pain when it snows.”

Holt shook his head as he slid out of the SUV. “Safer for your truck and you to have one. We could put in a mudroom that connects the garage to the house.”

I rounded the vehicle and started toward the cabin. “I don’t know what you think dispatchers make, but it’s not enough for a project like that.” Maybe one day, but not anytime soon. The only way I’d gotten this place at all was because of the nest egg Gran had left me. A nest egg my father hadn’t been overly pleased about.

“I’ve got it.”

My steps faltered, and I slowly turned to face Holt. “You’ve got it?”

“I’ve got plenty of money, Wren. It’s just sitting there. Why not use it here?”

“Because it’s not your house. It’s mine. Gran gave me the money for a down payment, but I worked my butt off to get approved for the loan. And I work my butt off to pay the mortgage every month. That’s important to me. I have a place that I earned. That’s mine.”

Hurt flashed in Holt’s eyes but he covered it quickly. “Okay. No garage.”

The annoyance seeped right out of me as I took in the man opposite me. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, but after you left, I had to figure out how to stand on my own two feet. And I’m not sorry I did. It’s given me a sense of pride that I didn’t have before. When we were together, I leaned on you too much.”

“I liked you leaning.”

Because Holt liked being the problem solver, the one people relied on. It gave him a sense of purpose. That wasn’t a bad thing, but he took on things that weren’t his to carry.