“I can imagine you won’t. Anyway, the camera caught your interaction with Foster. I asked Zane to preserve the footage. It clearly shows he instigated the encounter and you were defending yourself. I’m not worried about him finding some fed to arrest you. He won’t be able to do it. But I want you to stay away from that man.”
“Oh, I am going to try to,” she vowed.
“I think he’s dangerous.” Nate’s voice had gone soft, but there was no doubt he was serious about what he was saying. “I’ve done this job for a long time now, and I know when someone is making idle threats and when they truly mean to do what they say. You wounded more than his dick. You got his pride, and that’s important to him.”
She shrugged off the worry. “I think he’ll forget I exist the minute he leaves this place.”
“I don’t,” Nate insisted. “I think he’s the kind of man who won’t let it go until he’s punished you. I don’t want you to be alone until he’s gone. I want to put a bodyguard on you.”
She should have known Nate would be overly protective. He was that way about the whole town, but she knew something he didn’t. “I think I already have two.”
Nate frowned. “Two?” Then he huffed. “Damn it. I knew there was a reason the betting had exploded. Last night?”
She couldn’t help the smile that spread over her face. “Yes, and we’re all staying at Ty’s. When I’m not working the opening weekend party, I’ll be with Ty and Michael. Michael’s working security this weekend, and it might turn into a permanent gig.”
It would be nice to have them all working in the same place. The resort was big enough that they wouldn’t be stepping over each other all day but small enough that they could have lunch or take breaks together. She liked the idea of spending the winter exploring their relationship.
She liked the thought that Michael might find something he loved doing here in Bliss.
He’d said he couldn’t love her, but that didn’t mean their relationship couldn’t work out. Michael had been burned, and he was still healing. The way he’d held her the night before had felt an awful lot like caring. He cared about her, was letting her far deeper than he’d allowed anyone in since his fiancée had betrayed him. She needed time to show him it was okay to love again.
And if that person he loved happened to be her and they lived happily ever after in Bliss, then that was fine with her.
“I don’t know that I see Michael working security on a permanent basis,” Nate said with a frown. “I know they’ve held his job open. He was a dedicated marshal. I suppose I always expected him to go back to it when he got done punishing himself.”
She frowned at the thought. “I’ve heard that a couple of times now. Ty thinks he’s punishing himself, too. Michael didn’t do anything wrong. I think he might still be in mourning. They were engaged. She died.”
She couldn’t imagine how she would feel if something happened to Michael or Ty. She would definitely mourn for a very long time. Michael was just starting to come out of it. It could take him years to truly process a loss like that.
“I don’t think that’s what he would call it,” Nate replied. “I don’t think he’s mourned her or their relationship at all. I think he’s convinced himself that he hates her, but what he truly hates is the fact that he got tricked. He doesn’t trust his own instincts anymore. I know how that can feel, and it’s a hard place to come back from.”
“His instincts?” She wasn’t sure what Nate meant. “Like his professional instincts? You think that’s why he didn’t go back to work?”
“No. I don’t think it’s about work at all. Michael doesn’t have a problem sticking his nose into police business when he thinks he can help. What he’s worried about is far worse,” Nate corrected. “He doesn’t trust his instincts when it comes to who will hurt him. He thinks because Jessie fooled him that he has to have his walls up at all times. He doesn’t trust himself to make the right decisions about people. I think it’s good that he has you and Ty now. Ty’s a good man. Michael can learn to trust him if Ty gives him time. I’m happy that he’s coming out of his shell, and I’m happy to put all of this on his lap instead of mine. The truth is we need to hire a couple of new deputies. I was going to see if we could get a professional guard up here, but I trust Michael to keep you safe. Are you sure you need to work at the lodge this weekend? You couldn’t put it off for a week or two? I don’t like the idea of you being so close to him.”
“I know I could run into him at the resort, but I’m planning on staying as far from the villas as I can,” she explained. “From what I understand the people who stay in the villas don’t normally spend a lot of time in the lodge proper. They have everything brought out to them and they have their own staff, so I think I can easily fly under his radar.” She thought Nate was making a little too much of this. “I need to work this weekend to prove I can handle the job. We won’t have another big party for a while, and I want to nail this job down as fast as I can. Not that I don’t love it here.”
She didn’t want him to think she was ungrateful for everything his family had done for her.
Nate held up a hand. “No one wants to see you go, Lucy, but we’re all happy you’re moving on to a bigger, better job. We’ve enjoyed having you around, and we’ll be sad if you don’t come back every now and then.”
“Of course.” She just had to get the job first, and that might mean ducking every time she saw one of the Foster siblings until she had herself firmly established in the role. Once Mr. Roberts knew her better, she would feel more comfortable going to him with the evidence she had against Brock. “We’ll need to get away every now and then. And I’ll be back lots over the next month or so because I’m helping with Winter Festival.”
“Yes, we always have our festivals,” Nate said with a grimace. “They usually end up with someone being murdered.”
“We haven’t had anyone murdered in a while now.” It was true that Bliss had a pretty bad murder rate per capita, but it was almost all out of towners.
“I was very happy that Henry chose to kill all his guys down in Mexico.”
Nate seemed to be forgetting a big part of that story. “I don’t think he chose to. I think he was kidnapped.”
“Yes, and his friends killed the whole cartel in a place where I didn’t have to do any paperwork. I sent him a fruit basket to thank him. You get through Winter Festival with no deaths and you get a fruit basket, too.”
She could use a fruit basket. “I’ll make sure it’s on our list. No murders.”
Nate stood and reached for the Stetson that had been sitting on Zane’s desk. “All right. You tell Michael if he has any questions about this guy to call me. He also needs to call me if he shows up again. I know y’all have security up there, but I’m still the sheriff. He needs to let me handle the situation if I can.”
She agreed whole heartedly which was why she fully intended to tell Michael about Nate’s visit. But maybe soften it up a little, not mention the whole Brock-had-threatened-to-ruin-her-life thing. “Will do, Sheriff.”