Chapter 5

Aldis

I wakebefore Winnie the next morning. Well, that’s not necessarily true since I never really went to bed. I was too wound up, my mind racing with thoughts of Winnie finally being in my house, with possibilities of who could be behind the attacks, and with different ways to keep my girl safe.

I already called Triton, Chance, and Drak and gave them a rundown of what happened. They’re going to meet me at the sanctuary in a few minutes to survey the damage and figure out what to do now.

I sneak out into the hallway and pause to listen. I can hear a few cats meowing in the room next door, but there are no sounds coming from Winnie’s room so I continue downstairs and out the front door. I make sure to lock it behind me and glance around as I head over to my bike.

I hop on and take off down the driveway. The ride to Furry Haven is quick, and when I pull up, the place is quiet. I let out a low whistle when I see the damage from the fire in the daylight.

The building is almost completely rubble. There are twisted, half-melted metal bars poking up here and there. The rest is just ash, charred wood, and what I’m guessing is burned cat toys and litter.

The sound of motorcycles cuts through the quiet morning, and I turn as my three friends pull in and park next to my motorcycle.

Triton winces as he looks around, and I nod.

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad,” I agree.

“At least it was just the one building,” Chance offers.

“And that no one was hurt,” Drak adds.

“I’m going to help her clean up here, but I could use some help keeping this place safe. The cops are going to drive by, but?—”

“But that’s not going to do much,” Drak finishes, and I nod.

“Exactly.”

“Do you think the cats were the target? Or are they after your girl?” Chance asks as he steps closer to the wreckage.

“I think that it’s the land,” I say, and all three look at me. “Winnie told me that there was a guy who came by a few weeks ago and made an offer on her land, but she turned him down. When he came back with a higher offer, and she turned him down again, he said she would regret it.”

“Does she know who it was?”

“No. I’m going to ask her to describe him today, but she said that she had never seen him before, so I’m guessing he’s not a local.”

“We can take turns watching over this place. We’ll get the rest of the MC to help out too,” Triton says, and I smile.

“Sounds good. Thanks, guys,” I say honestly, and they all nod.

“Is she going to start rebuilding right away?” Drak asks, and I nod.

“I think so. All of the cats are at my place right now, and I’m not sure how long that can last.”

“You and a house full of cats?” Drak asks with a laugh, and I glare at him.

“Shut up,” I growl, and all three chuckle.

Car tires crunch on the gravel, and we all turn in time to see Winnie pulling into the drive. She looks confused to see us, but she smiles and waves as she parks and climbs out of the car.

“Hey, I was wondering where you had gone,” she says as she approaches us.

“Yeah, I wanted to get a better look at what we’re working with here.”

She nods and turns to smile faintly at my friends.

“Sorry, Winnie. This is Chance, Triton, and Drak,” I introduce, nodding to each of my friends. “Guys, this is Winnie.”

“Nice to finally meet you,” Chance says.

“Yeah, finally,” Drak says, and Winnie shoots him a weird look.

I elbow him when she’s not looking. He just grins in response.

“We’re going to head out. Call if you need anything,” Triton says, and I wave before they all turn to leave.

“What are you going to do today?” Winnie asks me.

She’s trying to smile, but I can see her eyes straying over to the damage. Her chin wobbles, and I grab her, pulling her into my arms as she starts to cry.

“It’s okay. We’ll rebuild. It will be okay,” I tell her, rubbing her back as I try to soothe her.

“I don’t think that it hit me until right now,” she hiccups, and I nod even though she can’t see me.

“I know. It looks a lot worse in the daylight, but it’s not that bad. Everyone survived. It’s just things, and we can rebuild.”

She nods, sniffling as she dries her eyes and composes herself.

“I talked to the insurance company, but they need to wait for the investigation to be finished. I can’t wait that long to be reimbursed and start rebuilding though. I’ll have to call and get some quotes on rebuilding today. If we start soon, then maybe the cats and I can be out of your place by the end of the month.”

“There’s no rush,” I hurry to tell her, and she smiles faintly.

“I should get to work,” she says, and I nod.

“Why don’t you let me handle the rebuilding? I’ll make a few calls today and let you know what they say. I’m sure you have enough on your plate here.”

“Um, are you sure?” She asks, and I nod.

“Yeah, let me help you, Red.”

She blushes at my words, and I would pay anything to know what she’s thinking right now.

“Okay. Thanks,” she says almost shyly.

“I’ll see you at home. I’ll make dinner and we can discuss all of this.”

She nods, and I watch her turn and head towards the barn to get to work. I wait until she’s out of sight before I turn and head back to my bike.

I drive to the clubhouse and head into my office in the back. I know all the contractors in town, and I call the two I trust most to get quotes and ideas on when they can start.

I spend the rest of the day asking around about any suspicious-looking guys that people have seen in town more than once. So far, I have a list of ten sightings of a dark-haired guy with shifty eyes and a medium build who was seen lurking around a few places in town. Unfortunately, that’s all I have. No one has a name or any idea where he could be staying.

My stomach growls, and I glance at the clock, surprised to see it’s already after five. Winnie will be heading home soon, and I hurry to clean up my office and head over to the sanctuary. Winnie’s car is already gone, and I curse and race home.

I let out a sigh of relief when I see her car in the driveway, and I park next to it and head inside.

“Hey,” Winnie greets me.

I blink, taking in all of the grocery bags.

“There wasn’t much here so I bought a few things,” she explains.

“You didn’t have to do that. I meant to go to the store today but got sidetracked.”

She shrugs and goes back to taking all the groceries out of the bags.

“I’ll get started on dinner. What are you hungry for?”

“I got some fresh garlic bread. I thought maybe some spaghetti?”

“Sure.”

We work in tandem, with me getting dinner started and her putting all of the groceries away. It feels nice, intimate, and domestic in a way I’ve never experienced before.

I love it.

I want this to be my life every day. Now I just need to convince Winnie that she should want it too.

“I’m going to go check on the cats,” she says, and I nod.

I feel a little guilty that I haven’t really been helping with the cats. I went and got litter boxes and some supplies, but she’s been doing all the heavy lifting.

“Dinner is done,” I say a few minutes later when she comes back into the kitchen, and we take our seats at the counter just like last night.

“Thanks for cooking,” she says as she adds parmesan cheese to her spaghetti.

“Of course, Red. How was your day?”

“Good. All of the animals seemed to be okay. I was worried they would be freaked out after the fire, but they seemed normal.”

“That’s good,” I say as a cat rubs against my legs.

Winnie separated the cats into the office down here and the two guest rooms upstairs, but there are a few that have free reign of the house. I didn’t ask her how she decided which cats go where; I just let her do her thing.

“Did you have any pets growing up?” She asks me when she notices the cat.

“No, my parents said we didn’t have the time for one. What about you?”

“My grandma had two dogs and a cat. My parents wouldn’t let me have one, but that was okay ‘cause I spent most of my time at my grandma’s place and got to help out with hers.”

“Does she still have them?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

“She passed away a few years ago. They passed in the months leading up to her death.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, Winnie.”

“Thanks.”

We eat in silence for a moment, and I search my head for something to say to lift the mood.

“I called a few contractors. There’s one who has availability starting next week. He said they should be able to get it done in three weeks as long as the weather stays good.”

“Did you get a quote?”

“Five grand,” I say, and she seems surprised.

“Oh, I thought that it would be more than that.”

I just nod, not bothering to tell her that I called in a lot of favors to get that price.

“Any leads on who started the fire?” She asks carefully, and I shake my head.

“Nothing concrete. People have seen a dark-haired man around town, but no one has any details about him.”

She nods, and I want to reassure her.

“We’ll find him,” I promise Winnie, and she nods.

“I’m sure we will. I just hope that no other damage is done before then.”

“Me too.”

We finish eating, and I take her plate and carry it over to the sink.

“Here, let me get that. You cooked, so I should clean up.”

“We’ll do it together,” I counter, and she nods.

“What about you? What did you do today?”

“I got some work done, went by the clubhouse, ran down some leads.”

“Sounds busy.”

“It was.”

She smiles up at me, and my heart thunders in my chest. I love this girl. I know we’re just getting to know each other, but we’re meant to be. I can feel it in every fiber of my being.

“Let me take you out to dinner tomorrow,” I blurt out, and she blinks.

“Okay,” she says shyly, and I grin.

“Great. It’s a date.”

I see Winnie blush and duck her head as she smiles, and I can’t help but grin. Looks like I’m not the only one looking forward to tomorrow night.