I uttered something that sounded like I’m sorry. At least, I think I did. My head was still stuck on what she’d said earlier, that the emergency Steven had responded to at the farm that day was the simple fact that he thought I was there buying sod with someone else. “And you think the reason he fired you had something to do with me?”
She nodded. “He’s still in love with you. I knew it back in October, when he ordered the security system and he made you his safe word.”
I schooled the recognition from my face. “His safe word?”
“When you accidentally trip the alarm,” she explained, “it’s the word you’re supposed to tell the monitoring company to let them know everything is okay. Steven’s safe word was Finlay. I suspect maybe in the back of his mind, he just figured you’d always be there in case things with Theresa didn’t work out. I think that’s why he got so freaked out about Nick.”
Because I was his safety net whenever he tripped, and he was afraid if I was seeing someone else, I wouldn’t be there to catch him anymore. All this time he’d been gloating about how I needed him—to pay my bills and fix my garage and babysit our kids—when maybe it had really been the other way around.
I rested my elbows on my knees, until our shoulders were almost touching. “You know that Steven and I are over, right? His horrible behavior has never been about you or me. Or even Theresa,” I said quietly. “It’s about his own insecurities. That’s all.”
“I know,” she said. “My mom told me the same thing, that our breakup didn’t have anything to do with me and I should just let him go. But that doesn’t make it any easier. I just keep thinking maybe he’ll change his mind.” Her eyes lifted to mine. “Is that stupid?”
It was hard not to look at her and see Delia, all her misplaced hope and optimism. I didn’t want to hurt Bree’s feelings, but lying to her didn’t seem right. “Maybe not stupid. But definitely not smart.” She dropped her head and picked at the frays in her rope. “Can I ask you something?”
Her nod was slight, wary.
“You said Steven ordered the security system in October. Was that because of everything that happened with Theresa and Feliks Zhirov?”
“No. It was before all of that. He ordered it because of the phone calls.”
“Phone calls?”
“Someone was harassing him, calling him all the time. It went on for months. By the fall, it had gotten really bad. Steven was a little freaked out about it.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know. The calls always came to his cell phone. Whenever they did, Steven closed his door. There was a lot of shouting, and Steven would get angry and hang up.”
“Do you know what the caller wanted?”
“Steven said it was some crazy person who thought Steven owed her something.”
Her. “So it was a woman?”
“I think so. I mean … I overheard Steven call her a selfish bitch once.” Her brows pulled together. “You don’t think he was involved with someone else, do you?”
“Not that I know of,” I said thoughtfully. I wouldn’t put it past Steven, but until I knew for sure Bree was incapable of harming him, I didn’t want to give her any more ammunition to try. “But Steven mentioned he was having some financial problems at the farm. Do you know of anyone who might have had a gripe with him—a client or a supplier? Someone he owed money to?”
“No.” She gave a firm shake of her head. “Steven was good about paying his bills. His clients and suppliers all loved him.”
“Can you think of anyone who might have had a reason to be angry with him?”
“If you mean someone who could have been angry enough to start the fire, then no; I can’t think of anyone.”
“The fire?” Bree had said she hadn’t had any contact with Steven since he’d laid her off. So how did she know about the fire? Had the police been here already?
She pushed to her feet and wiped straw dust from her thighs. Taking my bucket as I stood, she stacked it with the others. “You didn’t hear? Someone set fire to the sales trailer at Steven’s farm last night. My older brother’s a volunteer at the fire department. He got the call after midnight. He said there wasn’t much left standing by the time they put it out.” Bree must have mistaken my silence for surprise. Her cheeks reddened. “When you came by, I just figured you knew. I thought maybe that’s why you were here.”