Her Christmas Detective - Laura Ann Page 0,26

herself.

She headed straight for the doors, and sure enough, a padlock hung between the two swinging doors. Bella tugged on it, but it was firm and secure, just as it should be. She huffed and put her hands on her hips, tapping her foot rapidly. “There’s got to be a clue here.”

Search as she might, Bella couldn’t find any way that a thief would be able to get into the garden shed. It seemed nearly impenetrable, save the small window, which was too high for her to get a good look at.

She pursed her lips and looked around. The glass was clearly unbroken, but maybe someone could shimmy through if they were tall enough? Which Bella was definitely not. Finally she found a stack of wood, which had been used for the fireplaces before gas had been installed a few years back.

Grabbing the largest piece she could find, Bella drug it over and turned it on its end. Inching her pencil skirt up her thighs slightly, she stepped onto the log, teetering slightly in her high heels. “Whoa.” She pressed a hand to the side of the shed to keep herself steady, then turned her body toward the window.

It took raising up on tiptoe in order for her to see through the window, but the interior was dark and the window dusty, making her efforts worth little.

Using the side of her hand, Bella rubbed at the glass, hoping to make it a little clearer, but there was too much dirt on the inside as well. Huffing, she leaned in, pressing her face to the pane and focusing on anything she could actually see. The outline of the lawnmower was easy to pick out, but the rest was mostly in shadow. “Somehow I’m gonna have to wrangle up the key to this place—”

“What the he—?”

“Ahhh!” Bella screamed, tottering in her heels. It wasn’t that far to the ground, she knew, but in her heels and skirt, she was afraid she would twist an ankle or something.

“Of all the idiotic...” Henry’s voice trailed off as he plucked her off the log before she could fall and planted her safely on the ground.

Bella put her hand to her chest, taking in large gulps of air and thanking her lucky stars for strong men. “Holy cow. That was close.” After getting her breath back, she turned to Henry and scowled. “What do you mean, coming up and scaring me like that!”

Henry jerked back. “What do I mean? Why am I the one in trouble here? I think the problem was the fact that you were peering into a window while standing on a log in a skirt and heels! What were you thinking?” He folded his arms over his broad chest. Bella had to keep her eyes from straying to the thick muscles he was using to intimidate her.

It was not in her nature to be cowed, especially when she’d done nothing wrong. She brushed down her skirt, which had risen even higher in the debacle, and sniffed. “I was doing some detective work, if you must know. I don’t see how what I’m wearing has anything to do with it.”

“It does when it could send you to the hospital,” he growled back. “And I thought we were supposed to do this together. Why are you sleuthing around without me?”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Are you telling me I can’t even walk around my own family property without you by my side?”

“If you’re looking for evidence, then yes.”

Bella ground her teeth. “That kind of attitude right there is exactly why I haven’t been able to break into this business,” she spit out. “It’s men like you who think that women have no place doing anything remotely dangerous, and I’m sick of it!” She stomped her foot, which only made her heel sink into the dirt rather than give the satisfying crack she was hoping for.

Henry pointed a finger at her. “I have no problem with women being in my workforce,” he argued. “And you should know that by the fact that I’ve let you help out on this little investigation. Where I have an issue is untrained people going off without any thought in their heads except for some delusion of grandeur at solving a case, and getting themselves hurt or in trouble, because they think they’re some kind of Nancy Drew or part of the Scooby Doo gang.”

Bella didn’t know when she’d ever been so mad. Henry had basically just called her an idiot.