Mandy worried, too, but Jed didn’t need her paranoia on top of his own. “Why would he do that when he could be hundreds of miles from here?”

Jed turned to Mandy. His jaw muscles tightened, and resolve replaced the surprise on his face. “I never liked the way he looked at you. I know you worked for him for a couple of years, but he didn’t treat you exactly like an employee. Are you sure you don’t want me to move in here, at least temporarily?”

Mandy shuddered, and fear clenched her belly as tightly as she gripped the mail. Jed didn’t know, did he? No, Jed would never be able to keep that knowledge to himself. He’d be furious, and she’d never hear the end of it.

She was tempted to let him stay. But Jed went overboard on everything that involved her. If she let him move in, he’d take over. And what if there were more notes? How would she keep them from him? She hugged the mail closer. “It’s been four months. If he were going to come after me, why wait that long?”

And why send a second note four months later? She’d kept her mouth shut. Was it a coincidence that Danny and the threat arrived on the same day?

Jed scratched his chin. “I don’t know. Crazy folks do crazy shit.”

“The inn is in the middle of town. Not the ideal location for a kidnapping,” Mandy reasoned, covering the doubt in her mind. Someone put the note in her mailbox. If not Nathan, then who? And why?

“Are you forgetting that a kidnapping took place right on your front lawn in December?”

Mandy patted the gun on her hip. “No one was expecting it then. I won’t let my guard down. I’ll be fine here. You have your dogs to take care of, Jed.”

“You don’t think I’d put you before my dogs?”

“I didn’t mean that.” An ache pulsed in Mandy’s temples.

“Never mind. I guess I’ll go take care of my dogs.” He brushed past her. “I’ll put the ladder in the garage on my way out.”

Mandy stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. The muscles under her fingers tensed. “I can get that later.”

Jed yanked his arm away and glared at her. “Mandy, I’m fine. Stop trying to protect me. I’ll never get back to normal if I don’t act normal.” He stomped down the steps and yelled over his shoulder, “I’m not your brother.”

Mandy didn’t miss the wince as he lifted the ladder under one arm. Which was all her fault. Everything was her fault. She couldn’t do anything right lately.

Jed whistled. Nothing. He opened the door and called, “Honey, come.”