Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

B ailey was thankful that the worship service at church was filled with lively music this Sunday. It'd taken a while to fall asleep last night, and then several dreams had awakened her up with a start. Each time, it took over a half hour to go back to sleep again.

By the time her alarm went off this morning, she was starting to wonder if she'd have been better off pulling an all-nighter. Then, at least the lack of sleep would've been on her terms.

Jordan leaned against her leg. She reached down and lifted him into her arms, where he laid his head on her shoulder. It wouldn't be long before he'd be too big to hold like this, and church was about the only place where he was calm enough to give her the opportunity.

When worship ended, she watched to make sure her boys connected with their Sunday school teachers and then took a seat, suddenly feeling very alone. Funny how even the air around her felt colder than it had before.

She noted how the couple in the row ahead of her were sitting close together, his arm across the back of her chair. A pang of longing hit her hard. The last thing she needed was to cry at church.

Bailey grabbed the bulletin and looked it over, the words blurring in front of her. Crying in front of Nate last night was bad enough, but then she had to go and lose her cool while in his arms. What on Earth? The memory made her face warm.

She wasn't sure what had come over her, only that she had the sudden need to be held and comforted.

And Nate? He'd been amazing—with the right combination of patience, encouragement, and candor that she needed.

She'd always considered Nate a friend, but since Joe's death, he'd really stepped up to help her and the boys. For a moment last night, there'd been something in his eyes that made her pulse speed up. Something that made her question everything about their friendship, and then it was gone as quickly as it'd appeared.

Now, she was almost sure she'd been imagining things. Which was far more dangerous because when she realized she'd misunderstood him last night, there was a twinge of disappointment.

Nate was right. Joe would want her to be happy. To move forward and live her life. That probably included sharing her life with another man at some point, but that wasn't something she was ready to think about yet. Certainly not with Joe's best friend.

Not that he was interested in her like that.

She forced her thoughts and attention back on the message and made notes to keep herself on track. When the sermon was over, Bailey looked up to see Gabe and Paige Harrison at the end of the aisle. Paige caught her eye and smiled .

Bailey gathered her things and welcomed a hug from Paige. She and Gabe, another police officer with the Destiny PD, were married a few months ago in a beautiful ceremony that even included his canine partner, Loki.

"It's good to see you both. How's married life treating you?"

Paige looked up at her husband with a smile on her face and a slight blush on her cheeks. "It's been good." The sweet look was replaced with one of concern when she turned back to Bailey. "How have you been? We've been keeping you and the boys in our prayers."

Gabe nodded. "I'm sorry for the trouble at your place this last week. I'm glad to hear you've been in touch with Jenny and Nate. If there's anything any of us at the station can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

That was one thing Bailey had discovered when she'd married Joe: The officers at the PD were like a family of their own. They looked out for one another, and she was thankful for that.

Joe's parents lived on the East Coast. Even before he'd died, they saw them once a year at Christmas, and that had continued to be the case. Her own parents had passed away years ago; they'd never been close, and she had no siblings.

If it weren't for the Destiny PD family, she didn't know what she would've done. It was probably three months after the funeral before she had to go grocery shopping or start cooking her own meals again.

"I appreciate that. Thank you."

She said goodbye to the couple, made small talk with several other people on her way to the classrooms, and then picked up the boys.

As she often did on Sundays, she went through a drive-through on the way home to get a couple of kids' meals and a chicken sandwich before heading home. The scents filled the truck and made Bailey's mouth water. She hadn't eaten breakfast and regretted that decision partway through worship.

They were singing along with a soundtrack from one of the boys' favorite Disney movies when they approached the front gate to the farm. Bailey's foot nearly slipped off the brake when she noticed the large, red FOR SALE sign that had been nailed onto the post out front. Instead of a phone number below, it said, "See owner for details."

Anger filled her as she rolled the window down to punch in the passcode. What she wanted to do was get out of the truck and rip the sign right off the post, but she'd watched enough police procedural shows to wonder if there might be fingerprints left behind. She snapped a photo with her phone and did her best to rejoin the boys in song as she drove through the gates.

She didn't want to interrupt Nate or Jenny on a Sunday if they had the day off. She'd call the police station and report the for sale sign to whoever was on duty.

The road led past the sizable parking area and around to the country store.

Bailey was about to continue around the bend when something about the store snagged her attention. The two large flowerpots on either side of the front door had been knocked over.

Her stomach knotted, and the pangs of hunger were replaced with churning dread.

"Boys, I need to check on something really quick before we head home."

"But I'm hungry!"

"Can't we eat first?"

"That's enough." Her firm voice, a tone reserved for serious situations, silenced the objections. She pulled to a stop in front of the shop. "I'll be right back. Stay in the truck."

As much as she wanted to hope that something natural had knocked the pots over, she knew that wasn't the case. Even when they had a terrible thunderstorm roll through a year ago with record-breaking winds, the heavy planters stood strong.

Bailey placed a hand on the gun tucked into a holster at her waist. Once they purchased the farm, she'd gotten to where she didn't go anywhere without it.

She ascended the four steps onto the deck and cautiously approached the front door.

The pots hadn't just been knocked over. They'd been smashed to pieces. Now that she was closer, every single window had been shattered as well.

The door itself wasn't closed completely, but she didn't pull it open. Instead, she cupped her hand against the window and peered inside.

Everything she could see was in disarray from a display shelf across the way to the checkout counter.

Tears of anger burned her eyes, and fear coursed through her. She clenched a fist as she jogged back to the truck. With a deep breath, she turned to look at her sons.

"Boys, someone broke into the shop and made a real mess of everything. We're going to need to call the police and stay here until they arrive." Before Seth got too worried or they started to complain about being hungry, she raised a hand to stop them. "You can eat your lunch here in the truck while we wait."

Eating in vehicles was something she'd forbidden since Seth was little because it always ended up in a colossal mess. Both boys' eyes widened in disbelief .

"Really?" Seth looked at his little brother. "Can we still have ketchup for our fries?"

Even if the boys did their worst on purpose, the mess in the truck couldn't even begin to compare to what she was going to have to deal with inside the store.

"Yes, you can still have ketchup for your fries."

"Yay!" Jordan's excitement was impossible to miss. Seth seemed happy with the idea, but there was a shadow of worry on his face, too.

"Everything's going to be fine. I'm going to call the police so they can take pictures, and we'll just eat our lunch while we wait." She gave her oldest a smile to reassure him. As quickly as she could, she got their meals set up and carefully handed the food to them. "I'm going to step right outside to make that call. You two be careful not to make a mess."

The boys only nodded as they began to devour their food.

She left the truck's engine running so the boys would stay cool. With one eye on the door to the store, she dialed the Destiny Police Department.