Chapter 14

Determined not to dwell on the fact Quinn was moving back to Florida, leaving a big, gaping hole in Morgan’s life, she and Chester returned to Looking Glass Cottage.

Because of her busy schedule, housework had gone by the wayside. Morgan changed into old work clothes and tackled scrubbing the upstairs bathroom first. She thought about tidying up Quinn’s room, but just the thought of it made her want to cry.

Deciding she wasn’t ready to tackle the emotions, she shut her bedroom door. Morgan would have to deal with it another day or leave it until Quinn came back to get her car. The room would still be hers if, or when, she decided to visit.

With a thorough dusting of the upstairs guest bedroom and cleaning Quinn’s bathroom, Morgan worked her way down to the main level. Her bathroom was next, followed by a thorough vacuuming of her closet and bedroom floor.

Moving into the living room, she dusted the pictures and artwork. All were pieces that held sentimental value — her mother’s paintings, her grandmother’s, old photos, recent photos.

There was a framed snapshot of Wyatt standing in front of his motorcycle. Chester, with his custom helmet in place, stood in front of him, a silly smile on his furry little face. She remembered every detail of the day.

Wyatt had surprised her after a particularly stressful week. The trio rode off into the sunset, stopping at Sunset Beach, the spot where Morgan’s grandfather had proposed to her grandmother.

Morgan’s life on Easton Island had been idyllic, almost too good to be true. She wondered how long Amber would hang around. Hopefully, she left sooner rather than later.

She’d previously done some online snooping and found out where the woman lived. Surely, Amber had a job, a job she needed to go to. Or maybe she was working remotely, which meant she could rent the Easton Harbor cottage for as long as she wanted.

With the housework out of the way, Morgan grabbed her laptop and set it on the kitchen counter. She checked Amber’s social media page. There were no new posts. In fact, the most recent was several weeks old.

She drummed her fingers on the counter, wondering what the woman did for a living, and then it dawned on her. Morgan logged into a professional networking site; a site frequently used by those looking to connect with other professionals in their field.

She typed Amber’s name into the search bar. Her profile popped up. Morgan’s heart skipped a beat when she saw her field of expertise listed below her name. “Psychologist,” she muttered under her breath. “This explains a lot.”

Scrolling down the page, Amber listed some impressive credentials and accomplishments. Clearly, she was a woman who set goals and worked hard to attain them. Unfortunately, it appeared one of her goals was to rekindle her relationship with Wyatt.

At the very bottom, beyond her list of accomplishments, was a “contribution,” an essay she wrote sharing her thoughts about triggers for mental health illness.

Back at the top, Morgan noticed Amber listed a clinic as her place of employment. Opening a new search screen, she typed the name in. A center in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, popped up.

A list of the clinic’s staff was posted at the top. Clicking on the link, Morgan scrolled through the screen. Halfway down, she found a photo of Amber along with her credentials.

She leaned back in the chair, studying the photo. Was Amber working remotely? If so, how long did she plan to stay on Easton Island?

A horrifying thought occurred to her. Maybe Amber was scoping the island out, contemplating opening her own practice in Easton Harbor. Wouldn’t that be something if the woman returned to the island and set up shop?

The thought made Morgan’s stomach churn. She exited the screens and turned her computer off.

So engrossed in her thoughts, she jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing. It was Wyatt’s special ring tone. Morgan promptly hit the answer button. “Hey, Wyatt.”

“Hello, beautiful. How is your day?”

“It started out wonderful thanks to the special breakfast you made,” Morgan said. “It’s gone downhill since.”

“What happened?”

“Quinn’s accepting the job in Naples.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Me too. She asked for my advice. I told her I thought she should jump at the chance.”

“Because you knew what a great opportunity that it was for her and you didn’t want to stand in her way.”

“Yep. I’m bummed.”

“I’m right around the corner and on break. I was thinking about stopping by. You left your watch on the counter.”

“You’re right.” Morgan touched her wrist. “I took it off to help you with dishes. You don’t have to make a special stop.”

“I want to.”

“Chester and I are here.” Morgan told him goodbye and let Chester out. While she waited, she weighed the pros and cons of mentioning him pulling Amber over earlier. There was no way she could tell him she’d been doing a little digging around and what she’d discovered.

Wyatt must have literally been around the corner, because moments later, his patrol car pulled into the driveway and he parked behind her SUV.

Morgan met him halfway. “Thanks for bringing my watch by.”

“You’re welcome.” Wyatt handed it to her and sneaked a kiss.

“I already told you how my day was going. How is yours?”

He tipped his hand back and forth. “Just another day on the beat.”

“Nothing exciting, like a bank robbery or a police chase?” she teased.

“Nope. Same old, same old.”

“I see.” Morgan turned away, fighting the urge to mention Amber’s name. Clearly, Wyatt was not going to tell her about pulling the woman over.

“How is the open house planning going?”

“We’re ready to rock and roll.” Morgan rubbed her palms together. “I invited Grace to join us and hope to send some invitees her way.”

“I ran into Grace earlier in town.”

“She mentioned seeing you.” Morgan swallowed hard. Now was her chance to see if Amber’s name came up. “She thought you had pulled me over.”

“I pulled someone over who drives an identical vehicle.”

“Right down to the color, the model, everything,” Morgan said. “We both know it wasn’t me. Amber coincidentally drives my same vehicle. Did you think it was me?”

“No. The license plate number was different, so I knew it wasn’t you. She ran a stop sign and started driving erratically. I had no choice but to pull her over for reckless driving.”

“That’s certainly an excellent way of getting your attention,” Morgan said sarcastically.

“You think she did it, hoping I would pull her over?”

“Don’t you?”

Wyatt clenched his jaw. “C’mon, Morgan.”

“C’mon, Morgan what?” Her eyes flashed with anger. Wyatt was either playing dumb or truly didn’t believe Amber had manipulated the situation. She was putting her psychological background to good use. “Please tell me you don’t for one second believe she moved into a house down the street, bought a vehicle or is leasing a vehicle identical to mine and plowed through a stop sign, driving recklessly while you were in the vicinity is all by chance?”

“I don’t know. I already told you…there are only so many rentals on the island. Her options were limited. Maybe she’s owned her SUV for a while. She told me she was looking down at her cell phone and didn’t see the stop sign.”

Morgan crossed her arms. “And you believed her? Did you give her a ticket?”

Wyatt looked away.

“You didn’t give her a ticket.”

“I gave her a warning and told her if it happened again, she would be issued a citation.”

“I see,” Morgan whispered. “Lovely.”

Wyatt threw his hands in the air. “I can’t win. Would you rather I arrest her and put her in jail?”

“Yeah. At least I would know she wasn’t chasing after you.”

“You are seriously overreacting.”

“Am I?”

Their eyes met, both filled with frustration.

“Look, let’s not talk about it,” she finally said.

“Let’s not. Clearly, you’re letting Amber get under your skin.”

“Maybe I am, but you will never convince me her actions aren’t intentional. All of them.”

Wyatt rubbed his forehead and muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?”

“I never pegged you for the jealous type.”

“And I’m typically not, but this is so blatant, so over the top, I’m surprised you can’t see it for what it is.” Morgan knew she should stop, should let it go, but she didn’t. Instead, she said exactly what she’d been thinking. “Maybe you’re enjoying Amber’s attention. After all these years, she’s returned to Easton Island and is chasing after you. She left you high and dry and now she’s back, trying to woo you.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “You can’t be serious.”

Morgan stared at him, waiting for his response. Maybe an admission. Maybe a denial. At this point, it could go either way.

“I love you with all of my heart,” he said quietly. “But I refuse to stand here and let you accuse me of leading Amber on or giving her any sort of encouragement. I need to get back to work.”

Wyatt turned on his heel and returned to his patrol car. He climbed inside and drove off.

Morgan pressed her hand to her forehead, her mind reeling. Earlier, she had thought her day couldn’t get any worse. Not only was it worse, but it had taken a serious nosedive.