“There’s someone in the cottage,” I panted. Based on the way her eyes widened, I looked as shaken as I felt. “The door is open. We need to call the police.”

“No, we don’t.” Her expression gentled. “It’s Liam. I’m sorry, I should have thought to warn you. It didn’t occur to me how much having someone in the cottage might concern you.”

“Liam?” I straightened because for some reason, I’d hunched in on myself during my retreat from the cottage. In a subconscious attempt to be small and unnoticeable, perhaps. “Why would he be here?”

“Because he’s upgrading the security system for me.”

“Huh.” It made sense that Grace might want a better security system considering what had happened on her property, but I felt a twinge of guilt. She probably wouldn’t have had to go through this for any other tenant. “Why Liam, though? Surely Nate would be better suited to that.” Not to mention better qualified.

“Liam was available.” Grace’s expression was cagey, making me wonder if she was telling the truth. Was it possible that Liam had decided to do this of his own volition and she was covering for him? He’d always been protective, and this was exactly the sort of thing he would have done for me when we were together. But we weren’t dating now. Far from it. So why would he bother? Unless he still cared.

I smiled at that thought. God, I hoped he still cared. Even a little. I could work with that.

“Do you mind walking out with me?” I asked Grace. “Just to make sure it’s him.”

“Sure.”

We retraced my earlier steps. When we got to the cottage’s entrance, I knocked loudly and called out, “Hello?”

There was a flurry of noise, then Liam appeared, a tool belt slung low on his hips and something electronic in his hand.

He flushed beneath my scrutiny. “Hi.”

“Hi. What are you doing?”

He glanced at Grace as if to ascertain what she might have already said. “The security system here has needed work for ages. I’ve been meaning to get to it, but it keeps slipping to the backburner. Now seemed like a good time.”

His eyes kept flicking downward as he spoke. He was lying. And it amazed me how pleased I was about that. He was doing this for me. To keep me safe.

“Thank you,” I said.

He lifted one shoulder and didn’t say anything.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Grace said, making a quick exit. I couldn’t blame her. The tension between Liam and me was thick. In her shoes, I’d want to escape too.

“Have you had lunch?” I asked, still in shock that he was here, in my cottage, protecting me.