Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,6

again.

Chapter 3

That evening, after Matthew vacuumed all of the broken glass, Jade was able to drive her car home. She had felt like a doofus just standing there while he worked, but he refused to let her do anything. He was exceedingly polite. He also had insisted on following her home, reasoning that he wanted to make sure that she got back safely and that nothing else was done to her car.

Jade was embarrassed by it all, but she chalked it up to Matthew being a consummate professional. Everything that he did was steady, unhurried and completed with a smile.

Really, it was Jade’s fault for saying that she thought someone had followed her during her hike. There was no basis for that – it was just her being paranoid. It could’ve been the wind or a squirrel or something.

But then Matthew had to take her seriously, despite the fact that she was probably overreacting. Brandon always said that she overreacted; she was trying to change that, but sometimes, her worrying still got the better of her.

Within two days, Jade was able to get her car window fixed and everything seemed to be back to normal. Better than normal, actually, because on Wednesday night, she had the first official meeting for her unofficial committee to make their case for the Colby land vote.

So far, the only people who agreed to be on the committee were her mom, Morgan, and Luke (who was forced to join by Morgan). It wasn’t many people, but they still had some power.

Her mom got the idea to host a fundraiser at the barn at Saltwater Cove. Morgan kept saying that she had lots of connections that would be useful – but hadn’t had a chance to elaborate yet. And Luke volunteered to make a video to promote their cause.

Jade worked from home during the day on Wednesday while Morgan and Luke went to the mainland to buy some photography supplies. About an hour before they were due to be back, Jade started making a large batch of chocolate chip cookies.

She’d already made a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake the night before; all she had to do was pull it out of the fridge when they got back. The cookies were an additional touch – there was a certain mood that she wanted to set for the committee, and chewy, warm cookies would be a huge help.

Just after she got the cookies into the oven, she thought that she heard a noise – like a door slamming, or maybe a window? She froze, fear snapping back as though it had never left her since Lime Kiln.

Her heart raced. What was she supposed to do? She took a deep breath and forced herself to think. It sounded like it came from down the hall or one of the bedrooms. Maybe something had fallen over in her room? Or maybe it was something outside, blown over by the wind?

She told herself to stop having an overactive imagination and go investigate; but as she took a step out of the kitchen, she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Her heart jumped – it was Matthew.

“Hello?” she whispered.

“Hey! How’re you doing? I just wanted to check in.”

Jade bit her lip. That was some uncanny timing. “Oh – that’s nice of you – I’m okay, everything’s fine. I was able to have my window fixed.”

“That was fast. Are you sure everything’s okay? You sound a little…stressed?”

Well shoot. Why didn’t she disguise her voice better? She couldn’t lie to him. “Well weirdly…I think my imagination is running wild because I thought I heard something in the house just now.”

“What? Really? You know what, I’m nearby – how about I stop over and check it out?”

“No, it’s really fine – it’s not a big deal. I think I’m just spooked from last weekend.”

“I insist, I’m already driving in your direction. Better safe than sorry, right?”

Jade took a frantic look around the kitchen – it was a mess! Not to mention, she was a mess! “Yeah, sure! I appreciate it. I’ll see you in a second – I just need to, uh, finish up some baking.”

“Oh – okay. I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay!”

No!

Jade wasn’t ready to see Matthew! Her hair was crazy, she was wearing sweatpants, and the kitchen was a disaster. She frantically threw some things into the dishwasher and the sink before wiping down the counters.

She ripped off her sweatpants and was about to run into her bedroom to change when she froze –