Chapter 20

Twenty

Damon

The next morning, Isla met us at my house. Trent and Jason were so excited. The Fourth of July parade was a big deal in Refuge Falls.

She parked her older Toyota Camry, and as I watched her walk up the stairs to my home, I felt so many things. It was true: I was falling for this woman really fast. Should I worry about that? The funny thing was, I didn’t.

We were waiting on the porch, and the kids were holding pillowcases for the candy. They had hats and sunscreen on. Even though it was barely nine o’clock in the morning, the sun was already beating down.

Isla gave them each a hug and then gave me a hug.

Jason turned to us. “Dad, do you love her?”

I froze, and Isla tensed up in my arms.

Trent asked, “Yeah, Isla, are you going to marry my dad?”

She pulled back and gave me a confused look.

I bent down into a crouching position and waved them toward me. “I’m so glad you guys are asking those questions. I will tell you that right now, we are dating. And I do have some feelings for her. I don’t know if you two know this, but Isla and I were friends growing up, and I’m really glad she’s back in Refuge Falls.”

I held both boys close as they gave me curious looks. I wasn’t sure what they were thinking, but I could imagine that this might be hard for them.

Suddenly, Trent broke from my embrace, ran to Isla, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m glad you’re in Refuge Falls with us too. And I’m glad you’re coming to the parade with us and boating.” He looked up at her with a huge grin creasing those blue eyes.

My heart melted. I put my hands around her and hugged her too. “Me too.”

Jason played a little bit cooler, moving away from me and toward her, but not hugging her. “I think it’s cool you’re here.” He didn’t say anything else.

She smiled at him. “Should we walk down to Main Street?”

They both yelled, “Yes!”

We started walking down the sidewalk, and I took Isla’s hand in mine. The boys stayed up front in their cowboy boots and said hi to different friends as we made our way through town.

Soon we arrived at Kayla’s place. Kayla had restored a beautiful brick home on Main Street, which she also used for her real estate business. The main floor in the front was an office space. She used the upstairs floor for her living space, and she also had a downstairs area that she used for cold storage. We had all taken turns helping her with remodeling and painting. The home was painted white with black shutters, and she had a classy sign on the front that said “Armstrong Realty.”

Kayla was already in front of her house, handing out candy and talking with everyone who passed by. If any of us was going to run for politics one day, it would be her.

When she saw us, she opened her arms and hugged the boys. I was grateful that she was only a few streets over. There had been so many times she had saved my bacon by just running over if I had to go somewhere late at night or early in the morning.

She beamed at both me and Isla, walking toward us and giving us a hug. “Happy Fourth.” She handed both of us little flags to wave. “I heard this year is going to be a great parade. I’m excited.”

I put my arm around her and pulled her close. “Thanks for having us. Where is everyone?”

Suddenly, four SUVs came barreling down the side street and parked on various sides of Kayla’s house.

She grinned at me. “Ask and you shall receive.” She turned back to the boys. “Boys, I want you guys to hand out these flags for everyone. We want to always remember that America is great, and we are so blessed to live in this nation.”

The boys eagerly took some flags and waved them.

Kayla gestured to an assortment of camping chairs she’d set out in front of the house. “Will you spread those chairs out better so the adults can fit? I also have bottles of water on the porch, if anyone wants one.”

Immediately, I began arranging the chairs. Isla helped me. We gave each other coy looks, and I decided that it was fun to experience this puppy-dog type of love again.

The rest of our family joined us—my parents, Canyon, Noah, Ella, McCrae, and even Dylan. I gave everyone a hug and held Dylan a little bit longer.

Dylan grinned at Isla. “You’re dating this sorry guy again?” He took Isla into a big hug.

She pulled back and beamed at me, her cheeks going red. “I guess so.”

Dylan leaned into her. “When we were growing up, I had such a big crush on you.”

Isla’s cheeks went even darker. “You’re sweet.”

Dylan turned to me and winked. He murmured into my ear, “I could have a crush on her now.”

My skin prickled with irritation. All of my brothers could be charmers, and I would say that Dylan might be better with words than anyone. He’d only brought two or three girls to meet the family over the years, but they had all been lookers. “Watch it, little brother.”

He laughed.

All of the adults settled in, and the boys went out in front of us.

First came the fire trucks and the sirens. Veterans rode by with a giant flag. We all stood and put our hands over our hearts, listening to the patriotic music playing over the speakers.

After that, it was a montage of people we knew in town. The mayor, Wendy, was riding in a red convertible Mustang. Her kids were in the back, throwing out candy. The mayor yelled out to Isla. “Good to see you, girl!”

Isla waved back and laughed.

Next was the high school band, the cheerleaders, the football team, and the wrestling team. Various businesses rode by in floats.

I ended up standing by the roadside with the boys. Isla joined me. We helped make sure they didn’t get too close to the vehicles while they periodically picked up candy and put it in their sacks.

Isla laughed and looked so beautiful. Her blonde curls and long hair made her seem like she was back in high school. Especially the way she’d been more carefree lately. When she’d first gotten to town, she was very tense. I could see why; she had her ex to worry about.

Her ex. Would we be dealing with him again? I wasn’t sure. I had confided in my parents and brothers and sister. I’d told them to be watching for things. Of course, when it came to family matters, we included each other. We helped each other.

I thought of her father’s parole hearing next week. We needed to talk more about that. I was hoping that maybe at the lake my father could talk to her. He had been part of search and rescue for a long time, but he was also a retired pastor. I wondered if he could have some advice or calming words for her. Something about forgiveness but also about justice. Maybe my mom could encourage her to stand up for herself. I grinned to myself, thinking maybe I should give Kayla the job of encouraging her; she was feisty.

As if Kayla could sense I was thinking about her, she pinched me in the side and nudged me. “Hey.”

I put my arm around her and grinned. “This parade delivers.”

“It sure does.” Kayla moved around to my other side and gave Isla a quick hug. “I’m so glad you’re here this year. Maybe you’ll be here a lot of years.”

Isla seemed to like the suggestion. “I hope so.” Her eyes met mine, and there was that usual sizzle that always happened when we were together.

Canyon and McCrae moved to join us. McCrae asked Kayla, “Was there a secret meeting over here?”

Kayla scrunched up her nose. “Yes. If you don’t have the password, you can’t take part in the conversation.”

He thought for a minute and then grinned. “Skittles.”

Kayla laughed and gave him a high five. “You remembered.”

McCrae and Kayla were good friends, maybe closer than the rest of us. But we were all close, so there was really no jealousy.

Canyon snapped his fingers. “That was from that movie the other night.”

Both McCrae and Kayla laughed. Suddenly, I felt a little bit on the outs, because I didn’t know what movie they were talking about.

Isla took my hand. I gazed down into her eyes and knew that I only wanted more inside jokes with this woman. It just felt right.

McCrae’s police radio went off. He turned away from us, then circled back to me. “Can I speak with you?”

I gave Isla’s hand a squeeze. “Excuse me. I’m going to talk to McCrae for a minute.”

McCrae walked with me around the corner and then said, “There’s been talk of break-ins. There were two break-ins over by the school, in those older homes that have renters in them right now. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until I heard about one of them leaving a dead chicken on the porch.”

Adrenaline spiked through me. “What?”

McCrae looked somber. “I heard that this morning and thought I should probably let you know. I mean, if we hadn’t heard about Kyle and how he’d left a dead puppy on her porch, I probably wouldn’t think much about it, but I don’t know.”

Every part of me went on alert. “Thank you. I guess just continue doing your good police work. Keep an eye out.”

McCrae put a hand on my shoulder. “Do we let the rest of the police force know about this threat?”

I knew that Isla would not like that. “She already has so much to face with the parole hearing this week. I don’t want to make it worse. But I do want to talk to Noah about getting some security up at her place. I’ll do that now.” I moved back toward the crowd and tapped Noah on the shoulder. “Can we talk?”

Noah took a step back and gave me a look of concern. “Always.”

I tapped Canyon and Dylan on the shoulders too, as well as my dad. “This way, gentlemen, for just a minute.”

My mom gave me the kind of look that told me she knew something was going on. “Damon?”

“Mom, will you go stand by Isla and the kids?”

Kayla suddenly appeared at my side, looking vexed. “Just because I was a cancer kid doesn’t mean you need to shield me from things.”

I rolled my eyes, feeling exhausted by my sister’s argument that we tried to leave her out because she was a cancer kid. “Fine. Follow me.”

We went to the other side of her home, and I explained the situation. McCrae joined us, adding what he needed to let everyone know about the threats to the town.

Kayla looked worried. “What kind of jerk would be killing chickens?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Canyon cocked an eyebrow. “You need to bring Isla into this conversation.”

“You do.” My father nodded, and so did everyone else.

I winced, and angst stirred inside of me. Then I decided they were right. If we were going to build trust between us—something that she had been missing in her old relationship—I couldn’t be running operations behind her back. “Let me go grab her.”

I moved over to Mom and Isla on the sidewalk and put an arm around each of them. I whispered, “Mom, can I steal Isla for just a second?”

My mother nodded and turned back to the kids. She was a fierce defender of children, and she would definitely agree with me later that the children needed to stay out of this.

Isla looked worried and followed me. When she saw the group waiting for her, she asked, “Is everything okay?”

I put her hand in mine and then moved to the group. “McCrae, will you fill her in?”

McCrae filled her in about the break-ins and the dead chicken.

Her face went white as she turned to me and asked, “Do you think this is Kyle?” She looked around at the whole group like she was hoping it wasn’t true.

“I don’t know.”

McCrae crossed his arms. “I just wanted you to be aware. We have not had anything like this happen, and it just reminded me of what your ex did with the dog.”

“I should leave Refuge Falls.” She shrugged and took a step backward. “I’m putting everyone in this town in danger.”

I grabbed her and pulled her back to the circle. “No.”

My father moved to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Now you listen. This town can handle things. Especially if we work together. And I’ll tell you something else: this family can handle a lot.”

I felt myself becoming emotional, and I looked around at my brothers and sister and their determined expressions. They were all nodding.

My dad continued, “Let’s make a game plan, but today you’ll be with us. McCrae is on duty today, so he is going to go investigate. We can have a good day.”

Isla didn’t say anything.

Noah cleared his throat. “Isla, if it’s all right with you, I can call in a team of guys that can be here tomorrow. We can set up some nice security around the place.”

She looked uncertain. “What would that entail?”

“Cameras to survey the front, a few inside the house. Of course, we’d stay out of private places. We would have the back done, and we could even do around the barn.”

Kayla went to her side and hugged her. “You could come stay with me? It’s in town. Maybe it’s a little safer. My brothers have a couple of cameras up, because they like to check in on me.” She rolled her eyes and gave Isla a compassionate look. “We do all care about each other, and we care about you.”

Suddenly, tears were running down Isla’s face. “You all are so great. I’m sorry to bring this to you guys.”

My father shook his head. “Nonsense. You didn’t bring this to us. Your ex is the one that needs to be held accountable if he’s behind it. And we don’t want him to be a threat to you.”

Dylan cleared his throat. “We could file some restraining orders.”

Of course, the attorney would think that way. I nodded at him. “We definitely could, but we don’t know if it’s him, and she is trying not to let him know where she is.”

Dylan was unconvinced. “You can’t run forever. Whether it’s now or later, these things always catch up. Let’s be on the offense.”

Isla looked out of sorts.

It was perfect timing that Jason ran to my side. “Dad, you’re missing the end of the parade.”

I smiled at him and nodded to everyone else. “Let’s enjoy the day, and then we can all help put up some security if Noah can wrangle up some stuff.”

We all dispersed, and Isla clung to my hand like I was the only thing keeping her steady.

I put my arm around her and whispered, “It’s okay. As Dylan mentioned, we’re just trying to be on the offense.”

She leaned into me, staying close to me as the parade started to wrap up. Horses and more fire trucks went by. I watched my kids giggling and having a good time, and I was immensely grateful that my family could support us and that Isla was by my side. I would defend this woman, no matter what.