Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest 1)

“I get it. Family’s never easy,” she said, thinking of her own parents. “Speaking of family, my mother asked me to come to dinner tonight.”

Sam blinked in surprise. He knew she was basically estranged from her family, or as much as she could be, living in the same small town.

“Did you say yes?” Sam asked.

She shook her head. “No, I said what I always say. Get rid of your extra baggage, and I’ll be there in a heartbeat. I’ve even offered to help her do it. I’d take her to Havensbridge myself and help her get set up,” she said of the women’s shelter where she volunteered.

“What’d she say to that?” Sam asked.

“The usual. She ignored the comment and talked about something else.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“And sadly I’m used to it.”

She rose to her feet. “I’ll let you get some rest. I have some errands to run.”

“Thanks. And thanks again for letting me stay here. I’ll be gone by the end of the weekend. The doc said by Monday I can do more for myself.”

“I don’t mind the company,” she said, with a smile.

“Hey, make sure you keep m

e in the loop on the investigation. Because my brother probably won’t, and I know you’re going to need a sounding board in dealing with him.”

She forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me; I can handle him. And don’t go talking about me behind my back again, either. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I didn’t need you squeezing a semi-apology out of your brother.” Mindful that Sam was recuperating with stitches, Cara didn’t lay into him the way she normally would have. Besides, she knew he’d meant well.

Sam didn’t even wince at being caught. “Is that all he managed? A semi-apology?” he asked in disgust.

“Mind your own business,” Cara reminded him.

“I’m sorry you have to work closely with him now.” Sam’s frown showed all the disgust he felt at being laid up.

“Like I told you, I can handle your brother.” And she could.

As long as she figured out how to decipher the man’s moods and the reasons behind them.

Their last time together, he’d been an open book, as eager to flirt and sleep with her as she’d been to do the same with him. But since his return, reading his usually somber mood was never easy. Cara was never sure if his disposition was related to being around her, being coerced into returning to town for an undetermined period of time, his job, his father’s illness, or what.

Given that they’d be working together now, she’d have to figure it out because she couldn’t work in a dark vacuum with a brooding man. Not when so much was at stake, including her sanity, considering she could not ignore him.

Three

Later that day, Cara pulled into Havensbridge, a women’s shelter located twenty minutes from Serendipity, situated on an unpaved street almost hidden by trees. The house was immense, with a multitude of bedrooms, and had been left to Belinda Vanderbilt, a distant cousin of the Vanderbilts, many times removed. Belinda, now forty-two, had the good luck to have been born into money and the bad luck to have chosen the wrong man. After nearly losing her life at his hand, she’d run from her New York City luxury apartment and settled into the estate left to her by her great-aunt. After she’d been forced to shoot her ex-husband before he beat her to death, she decided no other woman should have to suffer the way she had.

Belinda turned her estate into a haven for abused women, and often their children, providing them with safe shelter and helping them get strong enough to survive on their own. She’d even gotten a degree in psychology so she could, along with trusted friends in the profession, provide counseling and care without alerting outsiders. The shelter had been in business for ten years.

Cara had been volunteering for the last two, her reasons for helping out here the same as the reasons she became a cop. She wanted the chance to make a difference in people’s lives. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to tell her she was overcompensating for not being able to change her mother’s life. But Cara loved both her job and her work at Havensbridge and the women she met there.

Cara parked and headed for the front door, where she was greeted by Jane Baker, a corrections officer, who also volunteered here in her spare time. Cara’s duties alternated between spending time with the women she’d referred or met here and guard duty, as Jane was doing tonight. Cara preferred one-on-one time with the women but was happy to stand in when they were short on security. Tonight she planned a short visit before meeting Alexa and her work friends at Joe’s for drinks.

She paused to talk to Jane for a few minutes, then headed for the kitchen. Inside the large, homey-looking room, Cara found the person she’d come to see. Daniella was by herself preparing dinner.

“Hi,” Cara said, not wanting to startle her.

“Hi!” The younger woman’s sky-blue eyes lit up as she met Cara’s gaze. “You came!”

“I said I would.” Cara hopped up onto a stool near where Daniella was chopping peppers. “Where is everyone?” Cara knew the house had a few other women living there too.