Perfect Night (Mason Creek #4) - Terri E. Laine Page 0,32

said the title like it tasted bad. “If you don’t mind.”

I shook my head. Before he left, he turned back, and I waited for the next barb to leave his sharp-edged tongue. “I may not like your fiancé,” he snapped. “But your father would be disappointed over how you’re carrying on with the new chief deputy sheriff while you’re engaged.”

Gaping didn’t quite describe how I had to pick my jaw off the floor after he left. I thought too late to call out and tell him Aiden and I were just friends. The moment had passed, and the line between Jack and I was drawn.

However, what took my complete attention was the fact that I hadn’t thought about Dad’s will. I’d gotten through the funeral and requested Aiden’s help investigating my father’s death. However, it had never dawned on me that Dad might have left the bar to Jack to buy or to outright give it to him. I had made my intention of leaving Mason Creek for good one day clear to Dad. So, Jack could be right.

The will wasn’t here in the office from what I could see. Unless it had been, and Jack had gotten his hands on it. I would have to go home to check if it wasn’t there before making any more assumptions.

I grabbed the deposit bag and my purse. I closed the office door and didn’t bother to check in with Jack. He’d made it clear I didn’t need to babysit him, and I hadn’t found any reasons so far to dispute that.

I drove over to Brandford Bank to make the deposit. On the way inside, everyone I passed seemed to glance at me, then at the sheriff’s station next door as if waiting to see if that was my destination. I groaned, remembering Aiden’s jaw tightening when I told him about Hattie and Hazel seeing me in his shirt.

Had he been getting the same grief and scrutiny I had even though he hadn’t admitted it? Likely, and I felt awful. Last thing he needed would be labeled as a fiancée stealer even though no one in town would be loyal to Evan. I sighed and entered the bank. I hoped I didn’t get asked a dozen questions about my relationship status while I was there.

Lucky me, I was the only one inside. The teller was young, barely out of high school. Based on her face, I was sure I knew her parents though I didn’t bring it up. She seemed more interested in getting me out so she could go back to whatever she was doing on her phone.

I might have stopped by to see Aiden to smooth things over. But distance was probably better for both of us. Me seeing him now would only add to the speculation surrounding us.

At home, I went straight to Dad’s office downstairs, the room we’d converted into a bedroom for Evan’s stay. It was still a bedroom. I hadn’t done anything to the room since kicking him out. The sheets were still tangled. I left it. Dad had moved some boxes upstairs into the spare bedroom to make room for Evan’s stuff while he was in town.

Everything was boxed up, and I didn’t think he’d have his will there. I left that room and went into his bedroom. I stopped in the doorway. The room faintly smelled of him and my eyes misted. God, I missed him. I forced myself forward and opened his closet. His clothes hung there in anticipation of being worn. I’d have to decide what to do with them, but not now.

I crouched to find his home safe sitting on the floor. I didn’t have to guess at the code. It was my mother’s birthday. Though that was an easily hacked number, dad wouldn’t change it.

Inside, his gun sat on top. I pulled it out and set it to the side with the barrel facing away from me. I’d been taught at a young age all about gun safety. Then, I pulled out four stacks of bills. Dad believed in being prepared. In the event we had to leave in a hurry because of weather or any other natural disaster, he’d want to have access to cash. Underneath was a letter with my name on it.

I rocked back as a wave of pain clenched my chest. With unsteady fingers I worked open the seal as tears poured from my eyes.

Emmabean, it began. I choked out a sob and had to close