I laugh. “Not so much a kid anymore.”
“You’re all kids to me, girl.” He reaches over to pat my hand. “He treats you nice?”
“Better than I probably deserve.”
“Good.” He nods once and takes the book from me. “Get to work.”
“I’ll see you next Monday.” I kiss his cheek and hug him hard before leaving his room and heading home.
When I pull my phone from my purse, I see I’ve missed two calls and have three texts.
The first call is the pool guy; the second is Ty, as are all the texts.
Ty: Just got to your house.
Ty: Your front door was standing wide-open. Where are you?
Ty: Lauren, answer me.
Shit! I dial Ty’s number as I pull out of the hospital parking lot toward home. I don’t live far, just on the other side of town.
“Where are you?” His voice is hard and panicked.
“I just left the hospital.”
“What?! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Ty. It wasn’t for me. I go there every week to see a friend of the family.”
“Are you on your way back?”
“Yes, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Drive safely.”
He hangs up and I toss my phone on the seat. Why was my door wide-open? I know I set the alarm.
When I pull into my driveway, Ty is waiting on the porch, his hands in his pockets, looking as delicious as ever in his white button-down with the sleeves rolled up. I just saw him a few hours ago and I want to jump him again.
“What’s going on?”
“When I pulled up, your front door was standing wide-open and you weren’t here.” His eyes are blazing, making me stop short.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Hell yes, I’m mad at you. Why didn’t you set your alarm?”
“I swear I did.” I frown as I think back. “I was preoccupied with the story and with getting over to see Mr. Darcy.”
I march past him and into the house.
“I think we should call the cops.”
I glance around and sag in relief when I see that nothing has been touched. “Ty, it’s been windy today. It probably just blew the door open.”
“We don’t know that.”
“No one has been here.”
“How do you know?” He’s exasperated with me now.
“Because I can feel it! Nothing has been touched.”
“You can feel it?”
“Yes.” I shrug and continue back to the kitchen. “I probably forgot to set the alarm and the wind blew the door open.”
“I’d feel better if someone came out to check the house out.”
“Ty.” I take his hand in mine and kiss his palm before nuzzling it with my cheek. “I love how worried you are, but I’m quite sure this was just a mistake on my part. I’m sorry that I scared you. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
He exhales deeply and pulls me against him, holding me tightly. “I was scared.”
“I’m sorry.” I hold on tight. “I’ll be more careful.”
He tips my chin up to look him in the eye. “If something happened to you, it would kill me, Lauren.”
“Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
“Oh, hi, Lo.” Michael the pool guy saunters in through the mudroom, startling both of us.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ty demands.
“Ty, this is Michael, the person who maintains my pool.” I pull away from Ty and prop my hands on my hips. “I thought you were coming tomorrow?”
“Didn’t you get my message? I had time today, so I came by. I got the glass out of the pool and you’re ready to go. It’s all clean. I did cover it, though, until you get that glass replaced so it doesn’t get leaves and crap in it.”
“How did you get in?” I ask.
“The front door was open. I’ve cleaned the pool when you were gone before. I just assumed you left the door open for me, so I called to let you know I was here.” He frowns and looks between an angry Ty and me. “Was I not supposed to?”
“I swear I locked the door,” I murmur. “It’s okay, Michael, but in the future, if I’m not home, I’d rather you didn’t come in.”
“No problem.” He holds his hands up like he’s surrendering. “I didn’t mean to scare you. My fault.”
“Was the door standing wide-open when you got here, or was it just unlocked?” Ty asks.
“It was unlocked.”
“Did you close it behind you when you carried your supplies through?” Ty crosses his arms over his chest and looks every inch like the lawyer he is.
“I thought so, but I could be wrong. Hey, I didn’t mean to scare anyone. I’m sorry, Lo.”
“It’s okay.” I offer him a smile. “Thanks for cleaning up the pool.”
“It was a bitch.” He shakes his head and lifts his toolbox from the floor, then looks Ty up and down before turning his smile to me. “He’s hot.”
“I know.”
“The hot ones are always straight,” Michael grumbles, and walks to the front door. “Call me if you need me!”
“You’re hot.” I grin as I turn to Ty, but he’s not amused.
“He comes and goes as he pleases?”
“He’s come to service the pool when I’ve been gone before, yes.” I scowl and cross my own arms, mirroring Ty’s stance. “What’s your problem?”