Romance Rules for Werewolves (Charming Cove, #3)(73)

I shook my head. “There’s nothing to repay. I would have done it, no matter what.”

“Well, we’re just so grateful you brought him back to us.”

Suddenly, I couldn’t bear it anymore. It was just too painful. Rafe was going to leave, just like my parents had. Just like Tommy had, although he’d done it in a very different way. And even though Rafe was leaving me for something much more real and wholesome—and I genuinely wanted him to be happy—it still hurt like hell.

I needed to leave first.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I looked down to read the text. It was just Emma, checking in to see how we were doing. But an idea formed.

I made my face crease, and it wasn’t necessary to fake disappointment. That was right under the surface. “Oh, no. I need to get back to Charming Cove.” I’d see Rafe when he came back to pack up his things, and it would be good for him to have this time alone with his family. Mostly, I just needed some time to be sad in private. I couldn’t ruin this special time with my selfish moping. “There’s a work thing I need to deal with. Will you please tell Rafe I’ll see him when he comes back to pack up the boathouse?”

“Sure, darling. Can I give you a ride to the train station?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Do you want to say goodbye to Rafe?” She gestured out the window.

“No, they look busy. And anyway, I don’t want to miss the next train.” I scrolled through the ticket website on my phone. “It looks like it leaves soon.”

“Of course, let’s get going.”

It took me only five minutes to grab my things out of the room upstairs, and I was in Kay’s car a moment later. Within fifteen minutes, I was on the next train out of town. I spent the ride back in a daze, so out of it that it was a lucky thing I managed to make my connections.

I love him.

There was no other explanation for how I felt. It was like an asteroid had just hit my life. This was way worse than when Tommy had cheated on me.

Emma picked me up at the train station, her face creased in concern as I climbed into her car.

“Okay, why am I picking you up here?” she asked. “I know for a fact you left town with Rafe in his car, and you should be coming back the same way.”

I tilted my head against the seat and closed my eyes. “His family is wonderful. The nicest people I’ve ever met.”

“That’s a good thing!”

“He’s moving home. He even talked about which house to buy with his mother.”

“Oh.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m sorry.” She squeezed my thigh. “Let’s get you home and open a bottle of wine, shall we?”

“Yeah.” It was hard to muster any enthusiasm, but I loved her for trying.

“Do you want to come back to my place, maybe? I can get Alaric to go stay with his grandmother so we can have a girls’ night.” Alaric was her fiancé…and the Duke of Blackthorn.

“No, I want to see my place. It’s my home. Half the reason I’m staying.” I reached for her hand and squeezed. “Besides you and our friends and the coven, of course. I’ve got a life here.” I’d never even dreamed of something like what I’d had with Rafe—it was too good to be true and too good to last.

“It’s going to be amazing,” Emma said. “Let’s go to yours and have a girls’ night there. I’ve got a boot full of goodies we need to eat and drink. I picked them up, just in case.”

“You’re the best.”

She grinned and pulled away from the train station, heading toward Charming Cove.

We pulled up to Lavender House thirty minutes later, and I frowned. Lights blazed throughout the house, their golden glow lighting up the night. “I don’t think the lights were on when I left. It was a bright afternoon.”

“They weren’t,” Emma said. “We made sure of it when we left.”

“Could the solicitor be here early?” Even as I said it, I knew it absolutely wasn’t true. He was the sort of man to make an appointment and stick to it. “Something’s wrong.”

“Come on.” Emma got out of the car, her face set in a scowl.

I followed, stalking toward the house. I didn’t know what was going on, but I had a bad feeling. Poa joined us near the door, worry on her face.

Something bad is in there. She stuck close to my side, a little bodyguard.

When I opened the front door, I gasped. Paint was splattered all over the gleaming wooden floor, and the beautiful side table was smashed. The flowers that my friends had brought me were scattered on the ground among shards of sparkling glass.

I ran into the next room, finding a scene of similar damage. The window overlooking the side garden was smashed, and the fireplace mantel had been torn away from the wall. The couch was torn up, and great gouges marred the freshly painted walls.

I raced to the secret spot in the wall where the enchanted crystal was hidden. If the intruder had taken it or destroyed it…

The idea of the house losing its personality—its life—made me cold with fear.

Thankfully, I found it untouched, the wall not even marred. But the rest of the ground floor was ruined, every room the victim of horrible destruction. I didn’t even realize I was crying until Emma grabbed my arm and whispered. “Shh. Do you hear something?”