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stomach, Addie looked around. “I couldn’t eat if I tried. I hope I don’t get sick.”
    “Me, too.” Chloe made a disgusted face. “That would be gross.” She finished the candy and lit up a cigarette.
    “Would you take that outside, please?” Addie snapped.
    “What the hell difference does it make?” Chloe barked back. “This place is toast. A cigarette butt or two isn’t going to make it worse.” She flicked her ashes into a pile of trash.
    Addie watched in horror, thinking her head might explode. She strode out to the porch and grabbed the railing to steady herself. If she’d been standing on a bridge right then, her first impulse would have been to jump.
    She tried to put herself in Chloe’s place for a moment. The other woman didn’t have every penny she ever had to her name invested in this ramshackle dump. No one could possibly feel as awful as she did. It was her burden to bear.
    Two vehicles pulled into the driveway, one beside the other. A black SUV with police lights on top was first, but the driver of the little blue Mazda exited before the officer. Melissa didn’t even close her car door, just sprinted to the front porch in a full-out run.
    “Addie!” Her voice was breathy. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine,” Addie replied bitterly. “It’s my house that needs life-support.”
    Mel peeked inside the open front door. “Oh, my God! Oh, no!”
    Addie watched her with surprise. What was she so upset about? Maybe watching the place had been her responsibility. Tia had never said so, but perhaps she’d left Mel in charge of the inn.
    “Afternoon, ma’am.” A young, dark-haired officer, dressed in a uniform shirt and jeans, stepped onto the porch.
    Mel looked back over her shoulder. “Addie, this is Roy Jenkins, one of our deputies.
    Roy, look at this!”
    He tipped his hat to Addie and walked past, stopping in the doorway next to Mel.
    “Holy shit.” He blushed a faint shade of pink. “Excuse me, ma’am. This is bad.”
    Addie moved behind them. “It gets worse. The kitchen is trashed. Dishes are broken, the appliances are ruined. There’s not a piece of furniture that’s usable.” She looked in to where Chloe sat on the single chair, puffing on her smoke. “Well, except that chair.”

    “Damn.” Roy brushed past Mel and went inside. He surveyed the damage with Mel just a few steps behind him.
    Addie couldn’t bear to go upstairs again. She waited in the front room, looking out the open door.
    “Obviously the work of vandals,” Roy announced when they came back downstairs.
    “Probably some kids from Sheridan. We have a couple of teenagers around here that might be talked into going along with this shit. One of them must have mentioned the place was empty, and the others took it from there.”
    “Vernie Adams,” Mel announced, shaking with indignation. “He’s a no-good little twerp. He’s banned from the store because Naomi’s caught him shoplifting three times. Not that he knows how to read, mind you. The little Neanderthal probably just looks at the pictures.”
    Addie gazed at her. “You really think he might be involved in this?”
    “I wouldn’t put it past him. He drag races his car up and down Main Street when he knows there’s no law around.”
    “Now, just hang on.” Roy held up his hands. “We’ll talk to Vernie and a whole lot of other people. But you leave that to us.”
    “It just makes me so—so—angry!” Mel’s voice exploded, tears streaming down her face. “This beautiful place in shambles. It’s not right. It’s not fair! Addie shouldn’t have to deal with this her first day in town.” She spun around to face the wall, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
    Addie stared at her. She didn’t think much could surprise her anymore, after the things she’d been through in her life. The vandalising of the inn had shocked the hell out of her. Yet, Melissa—the sexy, dark-haired woman she’d never expected to