Scarlett pulled into the hardware store parking lot where she had an appointment to meet with Mason so she could pick out the industrial kitchen appliances he was going to order. She got out of her car and walked toward the front entrance. Millie’s words repeated in her mind. Whatever she said to that boy scared him silly.
Acid pooled in her stomach and she felt tears threatening. What was going on with her daughter? She didn’t get it. She hadn’t questioned Haddie after Millie had talked to her on the front porch. Frankly, she didn’t feel emotionally stable enough to do so. Scarlett took a deep breath, attempting to get her roiling emotions under control as she turned the corner from the parking lot to the sidewalk where the front of the store was. She’d give it the day and ask Haddie about it later. Had she lied about the other little boy at the church daycare when she’d said she didn’t mean to hurt his feelings? Was there some streak of meanness in her after all—brought on by the current upheaval in their lives—that Scarlett didn’t see because she was blinded by love?
Scarlett pulled the door open and ran straight into someone’s chest. He took hold of her upper arms, steadying her as she let out an embarrassed laugh. “Oh my gosh, I’m so . . .” Her words dropped off as she looked up, realizing who it was. Camden West.
She’d wondered if this day could get any worse.
Answer? Yes. Decidedly so.
“Sorry,” she murmured, stumbling back a step onto the sidewalk.
The door opened wider and another man in a sheriff’s uniform with short-cropped salt and pepper hair and deeply tanned skin appeared behind Camden. Camden stepped forward so the man could exit too. Though he was older, he was very fit, and definitely handsome. He smiled widely at Scarlett. “Well, hello.” He held out his hand and when she took it, he gave it one firm shake. “You’ve gotta be Ms. Lattimore.” He nodded backward to the store. “Mason was just telling us about the project out at Lilith House, and that he was expecting you. It’s nice to have a new face in town. Especially one as pretty as yours.”
Scarlett managed a smile. She glanced at Camden who stared at her silently, his gaze piercing. Jerk. She raised her chin and looked back at the older man in uniform. “Thank you, sir. You must be Farrow’s sheriff?”
“That I am. Lowell Carson. How are you liking our little town so far?”
“I like it. You know, for the most part.” She enunciated the last four words as she looked at Camden who was still staring at her. She followed with a tight-lipped smile, which he didn’t return. He raised his hand, sliding on a pair of sunglasses.
The sheriff let out a laugh, his eyes twinkling. “Well, I hope the parts that haven’t quite won you over yet, manage to do so.” He looked at Camden. “Seems this little lady scooped that property right out from under you, didn’t she now?” Despite his jovial tone, something minute hardened in his expression. “Darnedest timing. Your offer came in the day Rand Burroughs over at the bank had a heart attack. Lucky for you it was.” His smile widened. “Farrow can be suspicious—even downright unfriendly—to outsiders. But once you’re one of ours, well, you gotta work real hard to get rid of us. Isn’t that right, Camden?” He looked at him, ribbing him in the side. Camden exhibited no reaction to the jab, though if something flickered in his eyes she couldn’t tell as they were now concealed behind dark lenses. “Don’t hold a grudge regarding the house. I told you it was too big for you anyway.”
Scarlett was taken aback by the sheriff’s words. Deputy Camden West had expressed interest in buying Lilith House before she had? Why hadn’t he mentioned that?
You’re just full of secrets, aren’t you, Deputy?
A little girl and her mother exited the hardware store, one of the child’s eyes covered with a patch, the other turned in slightly.
“I understand you’ll be using the property for an event business?” the sheriff asked, pulling her attention from the girl who smiled at Scarlett and began skipping as they passed by.
“Yes, that’s right. Weddings mostly, or at least that’s the plan right now.”
He paused a beat, his smile growing. She swore she saw his wheels turning, but with what, she didn’t know. “Weddings. Farrow will look real forward to entertaining new visitors to our town. Isn’t that right, Camden?”
Camden remained silent though she thought she saw a miniscule tic in his jaw.
The sheriff rubbed at his chin. “Hmm,” he hummed. “Of course, you’ll have to file for a business license through the Farrow courthouse. They can be sticklers for any type of innovation within the community, especially that which brings lots of traffic, so you might want to get that filed ASAP.”
“Oh, well, I don’t think traffic will be an issue. People tend to stagger arrival times for weekend events, and travel in groups. The parties might even bring a little extra tourism to Farrow? And of course, that’s only if I’m moderately successful.” She gave the sheriff a small, uncomfortable laugh. “But, um, I’ll get that filed as quickly as I can.”
“If you need me to put a good word in for you, just let me know,” he said, winking jovially.
“Thank you, sir. That’s very nice of you.”
The sheriff glanced at Camden. “Deputy West here tells me there were some critters in your wall the other day?”
Critters. Was that what he’d said to the sheriff when he’d told her he’d suspected kids messing around? And if he hadn’t really believed someone was using the crawl spaces in the walls to scare her, why had he boarded them up? Critters couldn’t climb ladders, and critters couldn’t open doors. She looked at Camden but he was no longer staring at her, instead his head turned and his gaze focused somewhere across the street. Something felt off here. “Right,” she murmured. “Yes. It was so silly of me to bother Deputy West. It won’t happen again.”
“Nonsense now,” the sheriff said. “We’re available anytime, even if you don’t think it’s something serious. Better to be safe than sorry, right? Especially with you two females out there all alone.”
He smiled, and though in her peripheral vision, Scarlett saw Camden turn his head toward the sheriff, she kept her gaze focused on the older man. “I appreciate it.”
He nodded. “Like I said, if I can be of any help with the council, just holler. And that goes for you and your little girl getting settled in as well.”
“That’s very kind. Thank you again, sir.”
The sheriff gave her another wide smile, tipping his chin and then putting the hat he’d been holding in his hand back on his head. “You have a nice day now,” he said, walking past her.
“You too.”
“Scarlett,” Camden murmured, leaning in as she walked past as though he wanted her to stop so he could tell her something. Whatever it was, she had no desire to listen.
Scarlett raised her chin higher and didn’t stop, pushing the door open and calling behind her, “Goodbye, Deputy.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Haddie hadn’t left Lilith House in a week. Her mommy was worried about her, she knew that, and she didn’t want her mommy to worry, so she’d stayed locked in the house, playing on her iPad or doing crafts that Amelia brought for them to work on together.