Chapter 6
Because of rehearsals and exercising her horses, Halley had been able to avoid running into Mike for several days. Tonight, she was driving back from Billings, enjoying the cool night air, thrilled with the success of her rehearsals and yet, a part of her missed the excitement of seeing Mike. She was sore in places she didn't think could be sore, her feet were torn up again and she was so tired, her mind refused to function properly. She'd been so busy down at the stables, at rehearsals, and making the hour and a half drive to and from Billings that she wasn't even sure what day it was. She was mentally and physically wiped out.
So when she stepped into her cottage, she didn't initially notice the small things that were off. She was heading towards the fridge, determined to grab something for dinner even though she wasn't really hungry, but when she opened the fridge, she was stunned.
She'd cut up veggies and had lots of yogurts on hand for snack foods, but … her whole fridge was filled up! There was milk and cheese, dozens of yogurts, casserole dishes with foil over top of them and … was that a cake? Had someone baked her a cake?
None of the dishes were from her mother's kitchen either. Nor any of her other family members!
This was creepy!
She glanced in the garbage and … was that her vase? It was shattered! What had happened to her vase? She loved cut flowers and the beautiful crystal vase had been a present from her mother. It had always stood on … she opened the cabinet where the vase normally resided and, oddly, there was a different vase there!
Okay, yeah, this was definitely creepy!
She pulled her cell phone out of the case and started to dial nine-one-one. But then she remembered Mike had programmed his phone number into her cell phone and she found it, pressed the speed dial and then paced back and forth, waiting for him to answer his phone.
"Halley?" he answered on the second ring. "Are you okay?"
Hearing his strong voice, she started to feel a little silly. "Mike? I umm … " she started to look around and noticed that, once again, her house had been cleaned. "Mike … "
"What's wrong?" he demanded, all business now.
She looked around again, feeling strangely invaded. Her personal space had obviously been violated and she felt shivers of fear run up and down her spine. "I don't really know exactly. This is strange but … " she glanced around again, still creeped out. "Mike, I think someone was in my house."
There was silence for a moment and she heard his car engine start. "I'm on my way out there," he told her, and sirens started in the background. "Talk to me, honey. What's going on?"
Halley looked around, not sure what to tell him. "Could you just hurry?" she asked, feeling nervous. Almost like someone was watching her. It was a horrible sensation.
"I'm coming, honey. Just hang on. Can you get back out to your car?"
Halley looked around, but the darkness outside was black. "Yes. Sort of."
Mike could hear the fear in her voice and turned up the sirens, wanting to be there for her and furious that his woman was scared and he wasn't there to protect her. "Keep talking to me. What have you been doing today?" he asked, trying to make conversation.
She bit her lip, trying to think of something to tell him. Something that wasn't the truth. No way was she admitting that she'd been in rehearsals for hours this afternoon. The teasing would be unmerciful!
"Um … I took care of my animals, mostly," she admitted, which was the truth. She'd fed and cared for her dogs, fed her horses and exercised them, made sure all the animals were happy and healthy. But she'd then left Jefferson to head into Billings for a rehearsal. No way was she telling him that.
Mike heard the hesitation in her voice. "What else, Halley?"
Darn him! She hated lying to him! Well, she hated lying in general but there was just something about Mike. She could fib all she wanted to her brothers. She'd never lie to Fleur. Sisters had to stick together! But Mike? She just … couldn't do it. So instead, she pulled the girlie card.
"Are you almost here?" she asked, putting a small quiver in her voice. Which definitely wasn't fake, actually. Looking around, it was almost as if … she noticed something in the corner of her living room. "Mike, I just found something else broken! Someone was here! Someone was in my house!"
"I'm almost there, honey. Just hang on. I'm turning the corner onto your street now."