Belle’s head swiveled and when she saw her mother sitting on the couch, her face brightened and she leaned toward her. Reese let her slide from his outstretched grasp into Maggie’s embrace.
He backed up and perched on the edge of the recliner, his heart aching, memories fogging his thinking.
“Are you all right?” Maggie asked. She cocked her head, looking at him as though trying to figure out what was going on inside him.
She probably thought he was an idiot, based on how he carried Belle. He clamped down on his emotions and cleared his throat. “Yeah. Sure. I’m fine. I just...” He motioned toward a now-content Belle.
“Don’t have much experience with babies?” she asked with a raised brow.
“Ah, no. I don’t.” Desperate for a change of subject, Reese touched the radio on his shoulder and got Eli. “Anything?”
“Nothing really. I’ll be up there in a minute.”
True to his word, Eli knocked about a minute later and let himself into the house. Wiping his shoes on the mat, he said, “I found some disturbed ground, but can’t tell if it’s recent or not.”
“Like someone watching the house?” Reese asked.
A pause. “Yeah. Could be. But probably not. I don’t think it was the robber.”
Reese wasn’t sure. “Maybe not. Maybe it was just a teenager or someone looking for an empty place to crash for the night. The more I think about it, the more I don’t see how someone could have been waiting for her. How would they know who she was in the first place, much less where she lives?”
Maggie said, “So this was just a random thing? Someone tests the doorknob to see if I’m home and then runs off when I ask who’s there?”
Eli sighed. “It could be some high school kids. We have our fair share of troublemakers. Nothing too serious, but...”
Maggie frowned and bounced Belle on her knee.
Reese said, “There hasn’t been time for the guy who threatened you to find you. It was just a few hours ago.”
“What if he followed us home?” she asked.
Eli and Reese exchanged a glance. “You mean these guys pretended to leave the bank and doubled back to watch the action?”
She shrugged. “Why not?”
Another exchanged glance with Eli and Reese rubbed his chin. “I can’t say it’s not possible. Highly unlikely, but not impossible.” He paused. “Then again, you were really the one who made it possible for us to capture one of them.”
She grimaced. “And he did threaten me—us.”
Reese looked at Eli. “What do you think?”
Eli pursed his lips. “I think it’s too soon to say, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Reese nodded. Eli then said, “Why don’t you keep an eye on things around here just until we know for sure.”
“You mean while he’s on duty, right?” Maggie asked. She swiveled her head back and forth between the two men. “I mean, I wouldn’t expect him to volunteer his time or anything.”
Surprisingly enough, the thought of volunteering to spend time with Maggie wasn’t a hardship. If only looking at her with the baby didn’t send shards of pain shooting through his heart.
“I don’t mind. I live just across the lake. If you need me, just call.” It was the least he could do, wasn’t it? After all, she’d probably saved him from taking a bullet when she’d pulled the ropes and downed the bank robber who had his gun pointed at Reese.
He pulled out his cell phone. “What’s your phone number?”
Maggie rattled it off. He punched it in his phone and soon heard hers ringing. He hung up and said, “Okay, now it’s on your phone. Put it on speed dial and use it if you need it.”
She bit her lip then said, “I don’t want to put you out.”
“You’re not putting me out, I promise.” But the faster he got away from here, the faster he could start figuring out how he was going to handle being around a baby on a regular basis. Because he already knew he wanted to get to know Maggie better.
Belle started squirming and Maggie stood with the infant on her hip. “Then if you don’t mind, I’ll take you up on the offer.” She shot a look at the door. “Because whether you believe it or not, I have a feeling this is only the beginning.”
Reese thought about what jailbird Pete had said and had a feeling she was absolutely right.
THREE
Maggie’s words echoed in her own ears long after the men left. She shivered, feeling scared and unsafe in the house for the first time since she’d moved in.
Knowing Reese was across the lake helped, but...
She fed Belle supper, played with her until her bedtime, then put her down.
In the quiet darkness, she now had time to think. To process everything that had happened over the course of the day.
As she thought, she checked the locks, tested the doors and peered through the blinds. She left every light outside burning.
Through a small copse of trees, she could see her nearest neighbor’s den light burning. Mrs. Adler. Fondness filled her. The woman reminded her very much of her own grandmother, who’d passed away about five years ago. Maggie missed her. Almost as much as she missed her mother.
She’d never known her father.
A fact that weighed heavy on her heart.
While Maggie had had her grandfather the early years of her life, she didn’t want Belle growing up with the emptiness of not having a father figure in her life.
With that thought, she slid into the recliner, noticing the lingering scent of Reese’s musky cologne. Drawing in a deep breath, Maggie felt a longing fill her.
And a loneliness.
She wanted someone in her life. Someone to share good times and bad. Someone to share Belle with.
But memories of her husband intruded, filling her with that familiar fear. What if she picked the wrong man again? What if there was something wrong with her judgment meter? She couldn’t live through another abusive marriage. And she had more than herself to think of now. She wouldn’t make decisions without first considering every consequence.
And why was she even thinking about this anyway?
Lord, we need to talk...
Her phone rang and she rose with a groan to answer it on the third ring. She frowned at the unfamiliar number displayed on her caller ID. “Hello?”
“Maggie, is that you?”
“Shannon?” Her sister-in-law. Her husband, Kent’s, only sibling. “How are you? How did you get this number?”
“I’m fine and tracking you down wasn’t easy, believe me. What are you doing? Hiding out?”
Guilt stabbed Maggie. She should at least have called Shannon and let her know that she and Belle were okay. “No, not hiding out, just living pretty simple. I’m sorry I haven’t called.”
“I’m sorry, too. How’s my Belle?”
Maggie smiled. One thing for sure, Shannon doted on her niece. “She’s fine. Sleeping right now, thank goodness.”
“I want to see her. To see you.”
Did Maggie want that? As much as Shannon loved Belle, she was also the sister of the man who’d liked to use Maggie as a punching bag. And Shannon had adored her brother, refusing to believe anything bad about him. “I...um...”