Noah (7 Brides for 7 Soldiers Book 6)(17)

BEHIND EVERY JUST KIDDING-There's the truth.

PEEKING AROUND THE I DON'T CARES-There's a hope or a hurt.

WITH EVERY I DON'T KNOW-There's an idea wanting to shine.



Heck, if Teagan had the funding, she'd gift all the teachers in her  school with that mug. She spun her pen on her fingers, wondering what  she would do for the holidays, and the wind blew again, louder than it  had been gusting. Today's storm was over, but the wind hadn't left.

Crack.

Teagan startled, spilling mint tea on the stack of papers, and quickly  shook the papers dry. There it was again. It wasn't distant thunder or  lightning striking close by, more like a snap or a crack but muffled,  and she had no idea what it was.

Teagan put down the tea-dampened papers and listened to the hum of her  central heat. Nothing else made a peep. Not even the wind. Whatever that  had been, it seemed out of place after a day of branches shaking and  wind howling.

She tossed her pen onto the coffee table, next to her mug and papers,  and again listened until the blood whirled in her eardrums. Still  nothing. Maybe she shouldn't have watched a Halloween cartoon marathon  with Will. The cartoons weren't scary at the time. But look at me now.

Teagan smiled at how easily Will had gone to sleep hours ago. Maybe she needed to go to bed herself.

Crack.

"What is that?" The hairs on the back of her neck stood, and she  unwrapped from her cozy afghan at the speed of a snail. "Okay. Let's  figure this out."

She crept along her living room, killing the only light, then checked  her front door and back. Both were locked. Still no more weird noises.  It was just the wind, and she needed to relax. There were a million new  noisemaking possibilities with all the new Halloween decorations, a  zombie or a ghost smacking a garage, or a fake graveyard or a banshee  scratching a fence.         

     



 

But those wouldn't make a cracking noise that seemed to come from her  backyard. "Goblins and ghosts, oh my." She grumbled to herself.

She leaned against the counter to peek out the window. Again, nothing. Only a black abyss.

Her paranoia compounded, and when she looked down, the phone patiently  waited with a blinking notification. She swiped the screen. She had  missed a text message from Noah, and Teagan opened it.



NOAH: Are you awake? Probably not. It's late.



She picked up the phone, not bothering to text back, and hit Call. What  would she say? At this point, her nerves were so jumbled it didn't  matter.

"Hey, Teagan?" He answered quickly. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"You're not in my backyard, are you?" She cringed. That didn't sound right. Or sane.

"Uh, no." He cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"

"Ha." She put her hand to her temple as the flames of embarrassment flared. "Never mind. That was ridiculous to ask."

"By the tone of your voice, you didn't think so a minute ago."

A minute ago, she hadn't heard herself speak. He had to think she was  losing it. Heck, right now maybe she was. Just the other day, she had  sworn she saw somebody walking around the backyard, but when she went to  check, no one was there.

"I'm fine. If someone was going to break in, they wouldn't make so much noise, and they wouldn't draw out the process."

"What are you talking about?"

"‘Tis the season for creepy thoughts, I guess." Still she couldn't sit  down, and wandering back to the living room, Teagan wrapped the afghan  back around her and sat upright in the center of her couch, listening  for any noise that might sound like that cracking, stripping,  plastic-breaking crack that had caught her off guard. "I'm going to go  to bed. I think I've seen too many scary movies. I'm sorry to bother  you, Noah."

"Do you want me to swing by and check things out?" he asked.

Wouldn't that be nice? She hesitated. But what was he going to do, load  Bella into his truck? Teagan drew a deep breath and picked up her tea.  "That's not necessary, but I appreciate the offer." She took a slow sip.  "I'm gonna put myself to bed now."

"You still sound concerned."

Teagan bit her lip. "Well, I was. But now I'm just going to say sweet dreams."

There were very few times that Teagan wished she had another person to  curl up next to in bed. She wasn't someone who liked to be held when she  slept. The idea of cuddling and spooning worked in the books, but to  each his own. It wasn't just that she was an independent person, it was  that she liked to have her own space. Tonight, though, having Noah to  lean against would've been nice. Even if she had rolled away to take her  own space later.

"All right, then. Sweet dreams, Teagan."

The call ended, leaving her with her phone limp in her hand.

That was a red flag that she should have seen with her ex-husband.  Teagan never wanted to be next to him when they were lying in bed. She  liked touching him when it was mutually beneficial, but afterward? She'd  never been interested.

She'd always assumed it was because of her independent and strong  personality. But maybe not so much. Was she any less strong for calling  Noah tonight and wanting to cuddle with him now?

No, she didn't think so. He didn't present as the stereotypical alpha male, oozing dominance but in a respectful way.

Like a partner.

That was something to think about. Tomorrow. After she had enough sleep  so that the outdoors didn't make her jump when it snapped, crackled, and  popped.



###

That didn't sit right. Noah tossed his cell phone back and forth then  rolled up in bed. Not two minutes beforehand, his mind had been cloudy,  but now he was firing on all cylinders and unsure what to do about it.

Bella was tucked in bed, and calling Teagan back to double-check felt like the wrong thing to do.

"Are you in my backyard?" What kind of question was that? The kind that he wasn't comfortable with.

He paced from the guest bedroom where he had been sleeping to the master  bedroom, which slowly was becoming useful again, and stood in front of  the chest of drawers where he'd finally unpacked his clothes.

Even if he got dressed, what was he going to do? Nothing. Bella was  asleep, and even if she wasn't, he couldn't take her to a situation  where Teagan was scared.

Or was she? Was he searching for someone to save because the career he had loved was gone?

No, this wasn't a chance to play hero for the girl he had a crush on.  His instincts had never been adrenaline driven, and he'd never gone in  search of accolades. Something was wrong, and he quickly dressed in  street clothes.         

     



 

He didn't want to call his folks. It was too late, and they'd have too  many questions. The guys that he'd reconnected with? What if Bella woke  up? She'd met Zane in passing because of Gambler, but Wyatt had done a  few solid favors for him and Lainey before he got home.

Noah scrolled through his phone contacts and swiped his buddy's name. It rang three times before a groggy Wyatt answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, man. It's Noah, and I know it's late. But is there any way you can run over here? I'd love it if you could watch Bella."

"Everything okay?" Wyatt asked, yawning.

Noah ran a hand over the scruff on his chin. "Wyatt, man. I know you're  good at your job, and you'll get me when I say I don't know."

The voice cleared on the other side. "See you in ten."





CHAPTER TWELVE



Headlights rolled into Noah's driveway as he paced by the front door.  The panic in Teagan's voice was seared into Noah's memory despite her  protests that nothing was wrong. If nothing was wrong, she wouldn't have  called. Or she might have, but that wasn't what she'd say.

Wyatt jogged to the front door, and Noah let him in.

"Bella's asleep. She shouldn't wake up."

His friend eyed the concealed carry tucked under Noah's shirt at his  waist. "If you want me to go with you, Paige can come over here  instead."

Noah shook his head. "It's probably nothing."

"I can't believe it's nothing if you're locked and loaded."

"True enough." Noah's fingers curled by his sides, and he was itching to  bolt out the door. He gave a curt nod. "I'll explain when I get back."

Wyatt's jaw set as he lifted his chin in measured deliberation. "All right, partner. Stay safe."

If Noah'd had any parting promises to offer, he'd have done so. But his  only response was to hustle out the door and hope that he was  overreacting. Everything was fine. An animal got into her trash. A  branch cracked. The storms had loosened a wood plank. He continued  making the list as he revved his truck and headed toward Teagan's.

Of course, all this could be overreacting. She hadn't asked him to come  over. Was this too much? He rubbed his chest as he made a tight turn,  hauling double the residential speed limit.

If nothing was wrong and she knew he came over anyway, he might need to reassess his gut instincts. But they were never wrong.

"You're not in my backyard, are you?"

Noah made the final turn toward her street and pulled over a block short  of her house then slid out of his truck. He gently pressed his door  shut.