Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(30)

I choked on a chuckle, picking up my icing bag. “I’m making apology cookies.”

Owen quickly dried his hands and climbed onto the stool for a better vantage point. “Boy boobies. Birds. Balloons. A house…” A ridiculous smile spread across Owen’s face. “Is that a poop emoji cookie?”

“Maybe…” This was probably teaching my kid awful things. Like potty humor. Oh well.

“Bro, I gotta have some poop emoji cookies for camp.”

“Brooooo,” I said, drilling a finger into his side. “I’ll save you one, but the rest belong to someone else.”

“You gotta apologize to someone’s boobies?” he inquired.

A laugh bubbled out of me. “Kinda.”

Owen studied the cookies, not missing a trick. “You gotta apologize to Mr. Dex’s boobies?”

“I guess I do.” And now, I owed the apology twice over, since I’d doused him with a water balloon.

As if Owen had summoned my hot, grumpy neighbor, headlights swept across the front of our cabin, settling in front of Cabin Three. A tumble of nerves rolled through me, snippets of today’s earlier conversation at the Compass meeting echoing in my head.

For the fifty-millionth time, I thought about googling Dex, finding out what Holly had been talking about when it came to his past and father. But it seemed unfair. I wouldn’t want someone glancing at single moments of my past and deciding who I was because of them.

And I wasn’t sure Dex’s arrest record mattered. If he’d worked for the FBI, he couldn’t be that much of a risk. And I needed someone who could wade into the gray for me—needed someone who wasn’t afraid of the shadows.

“You missed a spot,” Owen informed me, breaking into my swirling thoughts.

I tapped a finger on his nose. “Thank you, my sous chef.”

“I’d rather be your taste-tester.”

Grabbing the white icing, I deposited some onto a spoon. “For your troubles.”

“Finally.”

“You helped for like two seconds,” I argued.

Owen grinned. “I got high rates ’cause I’m a genius.”

I chuckled and began plating the cookies on one of the older platters the cabin had been stocked with. “You are pretty dang smart.”

Yeti let out a bark as I finished up.

“No frosting for you, my girl. But you can have a cookie, too.” I reached for the jar on the counter. Turning to face her, I made a series of hand gestures.

She instantly sat and then balanced on her hind legs, crossing her front paws.

I made the release command and tossed her the cookie. “Such a good girl.”

A few lights went on in the cabin next door, and I swallowed hard. Now or never.

Washing my hands, I glanced at Owen. “I’m going to run next door to give Mr. Dex the cookies. I’ll lock the door after me. Don’t answer for anyone but me. Yeti will stay with you.”

Owen frowned. “I wanna go over to Mr. Dex’s.”

“Maybe next time.”

He studied me for a long moment. “Adult talk?”

I wrapped an arm around my kid. “Yup. We gotta talk about the real boring stuff like taxes and turnips.”

Owen’s face screwed up. “Gross.”

I laughed. “Just trying to save you pain and suffering, kiddo.” I snatched the plate and my keys. “Be back soon. I have my phone.”

Owen had one of those kids’ phones that could only call out to approved numbers and 911. He’d had it since Nova disappeared. I wanted to be able to get ahold of him at any time.

“Gonna play my Switch,” he grumbled, heading for the couch.

I gave Yeti another hand signal, along with a command in French, calling for a loose guard. She wouldn’t attack anyone who came into the house unless provoked, but she also wouldn’t let anyone get close to Owen.

“Don’t set anything on fire,” I called as I headed out.

“You never want me to have any fun!” Owen shouted back.

I laughed as I locked up and headed for Cabin Three. Each step wound my nerves tighter and tighter, as if they were a rope and I were being slowly strangled.

I slowed as I reached the bottom porch step and stared up at the cabin. Maybe this was dumb. Monumentally stupid. The last thing I needed was to get in trouble for some sort of illegal computer move.

But then I pictured Nova—the way she was the day she disappeared. Her cheeks flushed pink from our hike and her eyes a stormy gray. The way they lit up when she teased. So full of life. An infinite future in front of her.

She’d have done anything for me. And I’d do the same for her.

I climbed the stairs, and the door opened before I reached the top. But not before I noticed the camera tucked into the eaves of the overhang. There wasn’t one of those at my house, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Dex had installed it.

He leaned against the doorjamb, making his dark-gray tee pull taut against his chest. “Yes, Hellion?”

One corner of my mouth kicked up at the new nickname. “Stalking me through the windows?”

Dex’s gaze flicked up to the eaves. “I have a motion detector. Lets me know when there are intruders on my property.”

I let out a soft huff of breath and held up the platter. “Do intruders bring cookies?”