She pushed away the dark memories. She was so much more than what had happened to her. It was a small chapter out of her life, not the central, defining theme. She refused to let his actions dictate her choices going forward or the sort of life she wanted to provide for her children.
A few stray snowflakes fluttered down, landing on her cheeks, and she lifted her face to them, trying to focus on the pure beauty of her surroundings and the calming sound of the river. Eventually, it worked its inevitable magic on her spirit. When she felt the tension and anger begin to ease, she went to work unlocking the shed and flipped on the light.
The shed was constructed from the same stone as the house and the patio. The cold, dusty interior was filled with boxes, gardening tools, a couple of kayaks and a bike that looked older than she was.
She found the Christmas tree at once, clearly marked in a red bag. A few matching boxes around it held ornaments, just as Wyn had told her.
“Use whatever you want,” Wyn had said when Andie called her the night before. “I can’t even remember what I have there, to be honest. So much has happened this year—last Christmas seems like one big blur.”
Wynona’s father had died in January after contracting pneumonia at the care center where he had lived for several years after his brain injury, Andie remembered. A year ago, her friend had been a police officer on the Haven Point Police Department, working for Cade Emmett.
Now Wyn was finishing the last few credits she needed for her master’s of social work and she and Cade were engaged.
The two of them were so sweet together. Andie knew Wyn had loved him most of her life and Cade looked at Wyn like she was everything he had ever wanted in a lifetime of birthdays and Christmases combined.
At the party the night before, she had told Eliza Caine she wasn’t ready to date again, but here in the quiet solitude of this dusty, cold shed, she could admit the truth.
Jason had been a good man. From the moment they met when she was studying art in Portland and he was a rookie cop, their love had seemed so natural. Inevitable, even. He hadn’t been the perfect husband and she certainly hadn’t been the perfect wife, but they had been happy together.
She yearned for that connection again, even though it terrified her.
Should she call Eliza and tell her she had changed her mind about going out with Aidan’s brother? Eliza would be thrilled, Andie knew.
The idea of dating again completely terrified her. Figuring out what to wear. Trying to make conversation. Wondering what her date thought of her—if he would call her for a second date, if she should let him kiss her, if her breath smelled minty fresh or like the onions on her salad.
She shivered from more than the cold, musty air inside the shed. She could hardly even bear thinking about it.
Maybe that was the very reason she needed to do it, to get past this mental block. Once she went on her first date, she would probably not have so much angst the second time.
Why was she even thinking about this? She wasn’t going to call Eliza. Let someone like Samantha Fremont entertain Aidan’s brother and show him around town. She had enough to do—but at least that list wouldn’t include watching over Wynona’s brother.
She grabbed the bag containing the tree and wrestled it out the small door of the shed, then returned for the boxes of ornaments.
It took two trips to carry everything back across the snow. On the second trip, she spotted movement from the small porch. When she looked up from navigating the path, she spotted Marshall Bailey standing in the open doorway on his crutches. Even hunched slightly to use the crutches, he seemed tall and imposing. She had a feeling that was more from his personality than his physical posture.
She frowned as she headed up the steps. Thinking about dating again made her break out in a cold sweat, but at least it had distracted her from her annoyance at a certain sheriff.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” she said, her voice cool. “It hasn’t been cleared and isn’t safe for someone using crutches.”
A muscle clenched in his jaw. “You were taking a long time. I thought maybe something happened to you—that you slipped on the ice or something.”
He was concerned about her. The unexpected softness sent a little bubble of warmth flaring to life in her chest, though she knew it was silly. Her own ridiculous reaction made her more honest than she might have been otherwise.
“I needed a little time to cool down,” she admitted.
He studied her for a moment, his expression unreadable, then he sighed. “I owe you an apology. That was the other reason I came looking for you.”
An apology? Now, that was unexpected. “Let me get these things inside, and then you can apologize to your heart’s content.”