The Librarian’s
Secret Scandal

Jennifer Morey

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Tabla of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dear Reader

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Copyright

Dear Reader,

It was a true privilege to work with so many talented and friendly authors on THE COLTONS OF MONTANA. This was my first continuity. Not only was it fun, it was also a challenge. The corroborative effort was rewarding and showed me a new side to writing. I love to be pushed like that. Growth is an essential ingredient for me as a writer, because I am a firm believer that you should never stop learning and trying new things.

The Librarian’s Secret Scandal is special to me because it involves a wounded heroine who refuses to crumble. Bad things happen to us and still we have to move forward. Sometimes that isn’t easy. It’s hard to stay afloat on a raft of positive energy when that energy seems to have all but dried up. It takes strength to throw that negativity overboard and adjust your course, set your sights on happier times and never let the bad ones drag you under. Sure, there may be some rough spots along the way, but you’ll arrive at the end of your trip stronger than ever.

Lily Masterson faces adversity and never gives up.

What a worthy addition to THE COLTONS OF

MONTANA. I hope you’ll feel the same.

Jennie

To my homey. There is no other hero for me. Patience and Keyren for inviting me to participate in this romping continuity. Susan, for her never-ending brainstorming energy. My twin sister, Jackie, and the rest of my family for all their support. And as always, Mom, who got me going down this path.

Chapter 1

The smell of stale air and cleaning chemicals lingered as Lily Masterson left Montana State Prison. Sunlight made her blink a few times, bringing her out of a fog of hugely unsettling emotions. She couldn’t even begin to categorize them. Her nerves were a jumbled tangle of friction. Her stomach still churned. Her heart still beat heavily. A sob lodged in her throat. She hated that.

“Maybe you should wait a few minutes before you drive back to Honey Creek,” the victims’ officer said.

Lily didn’t know what a typical prison worker was supposed to look like, but this one resembled more of a schoolmarm with her short, curly brown hair, round glasses and short, plump frame. The woman had met her at the prison entrance when she’d first arrived and stayed close through the parole hearing.

“I’m fine.” It was a lie, but all she wanted was to get away from this place.

“Are you sure? Most victims don’t come to these hearings alone. We usually meet them somewhere in town and drive them here.”

Well, Lily wasn’t like most people, then. She refused to succumb to that kind of weakness. It made her helpless, and she wasn’t.

“Yes, I’m sure. Thanks for asking.”

The truth was she’d barely made it through the hearing. While one part of her struggled with the reminder of the trauma she’d suffered, the other was mad as hell. She’d thought she was over this by now. Facing Brandon Gates shouldn’t have been as hard as it had been. That’s the part that made her mad. Why was she crumbling after she’d worked so hard to be strong? She’d gone through extensive therapy and aggressive self-defense classes. She’d picked herself up and started a new life and damn it, no one was going to take that away from her. Not again.

But being that close to Brandon Gates for the first time in fifteen years had thrown her. Crushed her. Talking about how he’d violated her and its devastating effect on her while he stared across the room like a dead deer was even worse. He hadn’t looked at her, but his demeanor, his presence, still bothered her.

The victims’ officer kept pace beside her. Lily thought she’d walk her to the exit and then let her be on her way, but apparently the woman was going to escort her all the way to her truck. Lily didn’t want that. She’d talked to the woman before the hearing and they’d had a nice conversation, but it was time to leave.

“I can make it from here,” she told the woman with a forced smile.

“Sometimes seeing them after so long is more disturbing than you think, and that’s okay. It’s perfectly natural to feel that way.”

Lily was sure the officer had seen a lot of women break down after testifying at their rapist’s parole hearing, but she didn’t want to be one of them. “I’m fine, thanks.”

Lily walked with the officer a few more steps and then stopped. The officer stopped, too, and seemed to understand Lily’s growing impatience.

She handed her a business card. “All right, but if you need to talk to anyone, just give me a call. I can help you find someone good.”

Lily took the card even though she had no intention of using this. She’d already gone through therapy. She refused to depend on that again. She’d moved on. This was just a minor setback. Chances were he wouldn’t be released anyway. What board would do that after hearing her testimony?

“You’ll be notified of the board’s decision in about a week. Maybe less.”

Lily nodded with another forced smile and started walking again. “You take care now,” the woman called after her.

Lily kept walking, glancing back once to make sure she was finally rid of the woman. Seeing the officer heading back toward the prison settled her nerves a notch.

Reaching her Dodge Ram pickup truck, she kicked the front tire on her way to the driver’s door to vent some of her frustration. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to go to the parole hearing and hold her head high, show that dirty rat how strong she was. Climbing into the truck, she sat there for a minute, unable to shake her tension. She couldn’t let her daughter see her like this. Not on top of all the talk flying around Honey Creek. She’d expected some talk around town, but she hadn’t expected it to be as bad as it was. That was two things she’d underestimated.

Starting the engine, she wiped an escaped tear and backed out of the parking space. She drove toward the end of the row a little faster than she should have. Okay, a lot faster. She couldn’t wait to get away, to put the prison behind her and out of sight. The residual image of Brandon’s face lurked in her mind, the way he stayed focused on the parole board and ignored her. Would it have been better if he had acknowledged her?

Her stomach churned with nausea. Maybe once she returned to Honey Creek she’d recover.

A black SUV crossed in front of her. She didn’t see it coming and didn’t have time to avoid a collision. She slammed on her brakes, but her truck hit the SUV broadside. Her airbag exploded and her mind blanked for a second.

When she could think again, she saw that she’d sent the SUV head-on into a light pole. Its front end was crushed. So was the passenger side. Her truck didn’t appear to have sustained much damage and the engine was still running. Her heart hammered and the shock of the wreck intensified the tremble in her limbs.

A man stepped out of the driver’s side of the SUV. He was tall and muscular but lean. Lily opened her truck door and hopped out, steadying her wobbly legs as she approached the man.

“I am so sorry. Are you all right?” she said.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he stopped when she did, his eyes full of annoyance.

When he didn’t answer, she asked, “D-do you want me to … call for help?” She’d left her cell phone in the truck. She started to turn.

“No. Don’t do that. I’m okay.”

She faced him again. He’d lowered his hand and now his gaze took her in, a slow and observant once-over.

She stiffened a little. At least he wasn’t as annoyed anymore. “Your neck …”

“It’ll be sore for a few days but I’m all right.”

After studying her face a bit longer, he glanced back at his SUV and then walked to the front. There, he stood and surveyed the damage.

Lily was mortified. She wanted to crawl out of her skin and escape until this was over.

“I have insurance,” she said quickly.

He looked at her.

“I—I was … I guess I was … a little distracted,” she stammered.

“Places like this have that effect,” he said.

Was he kidding? She didn’t know what to say.

“It’s probably going to be totaled,” he said.

Great. She couldn’t remember what her deductable was. A thousand probably. And her rates would go up after this, too.

“That’s all right.” As if.

“I liked my SUV,” he said.

She hadn’t thought of it like that. “I’m sorry.” Could she disappear now?

The victims’ officer came running toward them. She must have barely made it into the building when she’d noticed the crash.

Here we go, Lily thought. Lord, she wanted to go home.

“Oh, my God … are you two okay?” The officer stopped, breathing rapidly from exertion.

“Yes, we’re fine,” Lily said. “Neither one of us is hurt, but I’ll call the police for an accident report and we’ll be on our way.” She tapped the toe of her shoe on the pavement and looked toward the road leading to the checkpoint.

The officer followed her look and then her gaze passed over the wreckage of the man’s truck. “One of you isn’t going anywhere without help. You’ll need a tow.”

“We probably need an accident report,” Lily repeated, knowing she sounded harried. “You know … for insurance. So as soon as we call….” She could drive home.

“We don’t need to call anyone to come out here,” the man said.

She stopped tapping her foot. “Really?”

“No one was hurt, and this is a private parking lot. All we need to do is stop by the sheriff’s office and fill out a form for insurance.”

“Oh. Okay. Good.” Then all they needed was a tow truck. How long would that take?

His eyes grew more curious and then he really looked at her. It made her nervous. As if she wasn’t nervous enough.

“Maybe I should get someone to drive you home,” the officer said to her. “You look a little shaken.”

“No. I can drive.”

“You were just in an accident.”

This lady was really starting to irritate her. Did she hound all the victims who came here? Lily didn’t respond, just looked toward the road again. Oh, to be on it, driving away from here, on her way home.

“Wait a minute,” the man said, which brought her head back around. “You look familiar.”

How could he possibly know her?

“Where are you from?” he asked.

She didn’t want to tell him.

“Wes Colton.” He stuck out his hand. “Honey Creek County sheriff.”

Momentarily stunned, she numbly took his hand. Colton. He was a Colton?

“You’re from Honey Creek?” she asked, her astonishment coming out in her tone.

He smiled. “Yeah. You’re Lily Masterson, right? You took over for Mary Walsh at the library.”

“That’s me,” Lily said, cringing inside. The resident bad girl. There was only one reason he recognized her. All the gossip. Honey Creek was rampant with it these days.

“You know each other?” the officer cut in.

“No,” Lily all but snapped.

“Not really,” Wes answered conversationally. “We both live in Honey Creek. It’s not far from here.”

“I know where that town is.” The officer smiled. “Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

Quite.

He nodded toward the prison. “Might be a bad sign that we’re both here.”

Lily was getting good at forcing humor. She laughed.

Great. Would he guess why she was here? If the victims’ officer didn’t give her away….

She glanced at the woman. Her eyes had widened but she remained quiet.

“What brings you here?” she asked Wes.

“I came here to see my brother.”

Of course. She remembered. Damien Colton was in prison for murder, except the man he had supposedly murdered had recently turned up—dead again. Damien was Wes Colton’s brother. Talk about his impending release was all over town. Lily looked more closely at him. He was handsome and young. She thought she remembered someone saying he was thirty-three, which was too young for her forty years.

“What about you?” he asked, and she wished she would have kept her mouth shut.

“Oh….” How was she going to answer that? No one from Honey Creek knew what had happened to her. “I was just … visiting a friend.”

The officer angled her head a little, a silent question in her eyes.

Lily ignored her, but she couldn’t ignore Wes. The amusement that had pulled a smile from his mouth faded.

Surely he’d heard all the rumors. Some weren’t rumors, either. Before she’d left Honey Creek, she’d done anything and everything to spite her holier-than-thou parents. That was so long ago, though, and so much had changed since then. She’d changed. Why was it so hard for everyone to see that?

“What kind of trouble did your friend get into to land himself here?” he asked.

She thought fast. “Robbery.”

The officer’s eyebrows lifted.

“Must be someone close to you if you’re willing to visit him here.”

“He’s just a … a … friend.”

The officer’s eyebrows lowered and her eyes turned sympathetic. She knew why Lily was lying.

Lily met her gaze and hoped she read the message not to say anything. When the officer remained a silent observer, she didn’t know if that was worse. Pity was for the vulnerable.

“You’ve been away from Honey Creek for a while,” Wes said, appearing oblivious to the exchange. “What brought you back?”

Another subject she didn’t particularly want to discuss. But he wasn’t pressing on her reason for being here so she wouldn’t complain. “My dad. His health isn’t so great right now. Stage two stomach cancer. He’s gone through the surgery, but he’s still in treatment and we don’t know how things will progress from here. I came back to help him. Without Mom around it’s hard for him to care for himself.”

He nodded and his blue eyes showed his admiration. They also showed self-assurance and intelligence that went along with his honorable reputation. She checked his left hand. No ring.

“That’s very kind of you to do that,” the officer said, sounding out of place in the conversation. Was that because she’d noticed Lily looking at Wes?

Checking for a ring. Oh, lord….

He had really nice hands. She’d heard he was a nice man, too. And a sheriff..

Something about that appealed to her.

She stopped herself short. Why was she thinking like this? She hadn’t been back in Honey Creek long, and was too caught up in the gossip going around about her to pay much attention to potential love interests. She didn’t want to get involved with anyone. So why had those thoughts even crossed her mind? Was she interested in Wes? He was attractive, but …

Lily tipped her head back and looked up at the big, blue sky. “At least the weather is nice.”

Wes looked up with her, but not for very long. He was studying her again.

“Sure is,” the officer said, drawing out the word sure suggestively.

And Lily snapped her head down to see the officer smiling.

The officer turned to Wes. “So, you’re a sheriff?”

“Yes. Honey Creek County.”

“Oh, well,” the officer beamed, “Lily’s in good hands then.”

Wes chuckled.

Lily loved the sound. “Should we call for a tow now?”

“Of course,” the officer cooed. “And then maybe you could let Sheriff Colton drive you back home in your truck, Lily,” the officer suggested, doing a bad job of pretending to be nonchalant. “He’ll be needing a rental car anyway.” Her smile was more genuine now, but held a tinge of slyness. Maybe she understood why Lily had lied and only wanted to make sure she made it home all right.

Not.

The officer had noticed their exchange and was now matchmaking. Was she like this with all the victims?

“Sure.” Anything to be gone from here as soon as humanly possible. She looked at Wes. “I can drive you back to Honey Creek.”

He dipped his head. “I’d appreciate that.”

After the tow truck had left with Wes’s SUV and the prison worker had gone back into the building, Wes got into Lily’s pickup. As she started the engine, he covertly looked at her. She had thick, long black hair and a pair of amazing blue eyes. Her breasts were just the right size and shape in the short-sleeved collared cotton shirt she wore, and she looked nice in the knee-length jean skirt.

She started driving. He hadn’t argued over who should drive. He thought he should, but he also had the impression she needed the control … or the sense of it. He faced forward. The truck was quiet and she stayed focused on the road.

It was strange thinking of her as the wild and uninhibited woman she’d been before she left town. She seemed like such a lady now. Professional. Friendly, if a little nervous. He wasn’t sure if it was the accident or the real reason she’d come to the prison. He knew she hadn’t been telling him the truth when she said she’d come to see someone. She got a scared look when she’d told him. And the way she’d said just a friend signaled a lie. Just a friend, yeah, right. Whoever she’d come to see, he wasn’t her friend. Besides, that whole exchange with the prison officer had been weird.

He’d gotten good at recognizing when someone wasn’t on the up-and-up. Too many times he’d trusted his first impressions only to learn it was all a facade, especially with women.

Now he was more than a little curious about what had brought Lily to the prison. He’d make a call in the morning. He knew people at the prison.

“Have you always lived in Honey Creek?” Lily asked.

Good. She felt like talking. “No, I moved away after high school and joined the navy.” He didn’t want to get into his SEAL training. It had been a youthful impulse, but as soon as he’d grown up enough he’d realized the daredevil employment wasn’t really all that impressive. It didn’t pay well, either. Neither did being a sheriff in a little town like Honey Creek, but he liked the sense of community and being close to his family—however dramatic they could be at times.

“How did you go from the service to law enforcement?” she asked.

“After I was with the navy, I went through training and worked as a peace officer for a while. Worked my way up the ranks and then ran for sheriff here.”

“You’ve been back some time then?”

“A few years.”

She nodded conversationally.

He was glad she didn’t ask more about his background with the navy. “You have a daughter, don’t you?” he asked just in case, redirecting the topic.

The smile that formed on her profile was warm and lovely. The sight revved his interest. When he’d first seen her get out of her truck, he’d almost forgotten all about the wreck. She was tall, which he liked since he was six-two, and slender and she had smooth skin.

“Yes,” she answered. “May. She’s fourteen going on thirty. Or so she thinks.”

Wes smiled in return. “Sounds normal. I put my parents through hell at that age, too.”

“She’s adorable until she opens her mouth. And boys don’t have those hormones affecting their emotions.”

He chuckled. “It’s different, but I think the torment is the same.”

Now she chuckled. He liked the sound. It was soft and genuine.

“How long has it been since you left Honey Creek?” he asked.

“Fifteen years.”

That sparked his interest. “You were around when Mark Walsh was supposedly murdered.”

“Yes. I remember that.”

Some of the gossips said she’d slept with him, too. He saw her lips tighten and she adjusted her grip on the steering wheel, almost as if she were preparing herself for questions; or maybe she wondered if he thought what most others thought and didn’t like it.

“When was the last time you saw him?” he asked, watching her.

She gave him a warning glance. “Are you wondering if I knew where he went instead of dying like everybody thought?”

“I’ll try anything if I think it might help me find his killer.”

“The last time I saw him was at the post office with his wife, about a month before he died … or everyone thought he did.”

“He never contacted you after that?”

“No.” Her voice sounded sharper. She knew why he’d asked that question. The rumors. Could she blame him? He had no way of knowing unless he asked.

Before he could explain that, she added in the same sharp tone, “And just for the record, I didn’t sleep with him.”

He almost smiled at her defensiveness. He’d bet his badge that she was telling the truth. When some people lied, their defensiveness gave them away. But Lily’s was driven more by vulnerability. He wondered if she knew that about herself. that she protected her vulnerability with defensiveness.

The way his interest kept intensifying the longer he spent with her made him check himself. He believed her about Walsh, but how much of the other rumors were true? There were a lot. He didn’t want to involve himself with a Jezebel. But if the talk was exaggerated.

“Is it true you danced naked in front of the market on your twenty-fifth birthday?” he asked, making sure he sounded teasing.

She gave him two quick looks as she drove, without smiling. “Trying to find out if all the gossip is true?”

“What if I was?” He was serious now, because he really wanted her to tell him.

“I’d want to know why.”

“I think you know the answer to that.” He looked at her suggestively. He wasn’t asking in the capacity of sheriff.

She concentrated on driving. He waited for her to reply, but she didn’t. Maybe she didn’t like it that he’d asked. Maybe she wondered if he was like many others in Honey Creek, buying all the talk. He never took rumors to heart, but right now he wanted the truth.

“Aren’t you going to answer my question?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, you danced naked in front of the market?”

“And I went sailing for two weeks with a man I met in Vegas. Two of his friends went with us. I jumped from airplanes. I went on a safari in Africa and survived a hurricane in Barbados. I raced dirt bikes. I got in fights with other women. I even tried mud-wrestling.” She stopped talking and he found himself absorbing everything she said. She’d left a couple of things out. “Oh, and I drank a lot of whiskey, smoked pot and broke up a couple of marriages.”

Wes knew that one of the women whose husband she’d taken was still angry and not at all happy she was back in town. “The quilting group had a lot of fun with the sailing thing,” he said. And the rumors were X-rated.

Lily rolled her eyes. “I heard about that group.”

“Quilting’s just their excuse.”

He liked how that made her smile. But she didn’t say any more.

“Not going to comment on the sailing thing, huh?”

“What do you want me to say? It’s all true. Is that what you want to know? Is that why you’re asking me all these questions? Yes, I went sailing with three men.”

He stared at her. The rumors hadn’t been kind. She’d gone sailing with three men and had sex with all of them. More than once.

She looked over at him, her expression matter-of-fact. She wasn’t denying anything, nor did she appear ashamed. But he was pretty sure that was a cover-up. She wasn’t proud of her early adulthood.

“How did the quilting group find out about that?” he asked.

“I was friends with your sister Maisie back then.” She sent him a challenging look.

His older sister could get a little overbearing sometimes. “She does love a good tabloid tale.”

“She tried to turn me into one.”

“Sorry, but she didn’t have to try very hard.”

“I’ve changed since then,” she said, sobering.

“I’m starting to see that,” he said, making sure she saw he meant it.

Soft satisfaction made her eyes glow warmly and she resumed her concentration on driving.

“Why did you do it?” he asked.

“What? Behave that way?”

“Yes.” He didn’t want to hear any more about her sailing trip.

“You didn’t grow up in my household.”

Her father was a minister and her mother didn’t work. “Too strict?”

“Strict. Judgmental. Relentless. Yeah. Nothing I did was good enough. So I thought it’d be neat if I showed them what bad really was.”

He heard the regret in the form of sarcasm in her tone. “You wish you hadn’t done the things you’ve done?”

“Not everything. The safari was a great experience. So was rock-climbing and jumping from planes and even sailing, except for the company I had.”

Her hands adjusted on the wheel again, and now she seemed to be getting upset. He didn’t want to upset her, especially since he was enjoying this, and her. He didn’t question her further.

Looking ahead, he noticed they were almost at the outskirts of town.

“Will you just drop me off at the sheriff’s office? I have a Jeep I use for work there. I can drive that until I take care of my SUV.”

“Sure.” A few minutes later, she pulled to a stop in front of his small office, a redbrick building with white trim and a sign that said Honey Creek County Sheriff.

“It’ll be interesting explaining this to my deputies,” he said, more to keep her from leaving before he could ask her out on a date.

“If any rumors start that I had a tryst in Deer Lodge, I’ll know where it started.” She smiled, but he could tell she didn’t want that to happen.

“No deputy of mine would do that, and I certainly wouldn’t. I’ll just stick with the truth … I met this beautiful woman at Montana State Prison….”

She started laughing. Once again, the sound reached into him, this time strumming a stronger infatuation.

“Yeah, that would stir up a few questions.” She grew somber as she said it.

“Nobody needs to know we met there. I’ll just tell them you totaled my SUV.”

He loved the flirtatious glint in her eyes. “And you can tell them I wrecked you for any other woman.”

“You might have.”

Her eyes blinked in response, an indication of the flurry of thoughts, and, he hoped, some warming emotions his reply had set off.

“Do you have any plans Friday night?” he asked.

Her smile came and went on her face, as if the idea first tantalized her and then made her shy away. “You’re asking me out on a date?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“No … well, yes … I mean, you’re the sheriff.”

“Amazing, isn’t it? Me, sheriff of Honey Creek County.”

“I don’t mean that. It’s just … you’re … And I’m …”

“I’m a man and you’re a woman. Are you trying to tell me you’re …” He lifted his eyebrows and let his expression finish his meaning, even though he was teasing.

“No!”

“Then go out with me. Dinner. Friday night. I’ll pick you up or we can meet somewhere. Whatever you’re most comfortable with.”

She stared at him. And then turned and looked through the windshield.

“Come on. It’ll be fun. I can already tell,” he coaxed.

“I don’t know …”

“I promise I’ll behave.”

Finally she looked at him.

“Friday night. Seven o’clock,” he said.

Again, she seemed to waver between accepting and not. “I don’t think now is a good time. With all the talk around town.”

“All the more reason to go out with me. It’s like you said, I’m the sheriff. It’ll be good for people to see you with me.”

“Or bad for you to be seen with me,” she countered.

“I don’t care what people say. It’s the truth that matters.”

Her eyes grew soft with warming affection. Just what he wanted to see. He grinned. But she was going to turn him down. He could tell.

“Think about it,” he said.

She smiled a little and nodded. “I will.”

“Think hard.” He smiled.

She laughed, as soft as the look in her eyes. Damn, he liked her.

He opened the truck door and stepped out, turning to face her. “At least I know where to find you.” The library.

“Don’t you dare.” But her lovely smile proved she was kidding.

“See you soon, Lily Masterson.”

The last thing he heard before closing the door was another warm laugh. Feeling good, he headed for the office with a little extra verve in his step.

When he reached the door, he looked back. She hadn’t pulled into the street yet. She was still watching him with a soft smile. And that told him all he needed to know.

Chapter 2

“One of the boys at school asked me if I was as good as my mother.”

Damn. Would it ever stop?

Lily looked across the truck at her fourteen-year-old daughter. Her blue eyes and black hair mirrored her own. May was only five-four for now, but she’d probably grow another four inches to match her height, too.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing. I walked away.”

“Good girl. What comes out of people’s mouths isn’t important unless it’s true.” Realizing that’s what Wes had told her, she shook off thoughts of him. “It’s your actions that mean more. You show them who you are. You don’t crumble.”

“You’re always saying that,” May retorted.

“Arguing and getting into fights isn’t the way to handle this.”

“But it’s true, what they’re saying about you.”

“Some of it used to be true. It isn’t anymore. They’ll see that eventually, as long as we don’t let them beat us down.”

“I don’t know why you wanted to come back to this stupid town. It sucks here.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Everyone thinks you’re a slut.”

“Well, I’m not. And I told you to watch your mouth.”

“They call me a slut, too.”

Lily gave up. “You aren’t a slut.”

“I don’t have any friends because of you!”

That broke her heart in two. “You have Peri.” She was a cute little redhead that May said was an outcast like her.

“Peri is a dolt.”

Pulling to a stop in front of the school, Lily watched May’s face go grim with dread.

“Hold your head high and do well in your classes. You’ll meet some friends who won’t judge you the way the others do.” When May didn’t move to get out of the truck, Lily said, “Go on. You’re better than this, May.”

May turned her head and looked at her. “I don’t like it here.”

“We aren’t moving. We just got here.”

With a heavy sigh, May opened the door and hopped out.

“I love you,” Lily said.

May looked at her and didn’t say anything before slamming the truck door. Lily watched her until she disappeared inside the school building, and then drove away.

That was the hardest part about all the talk in town. She hated what it was doing to May. But they’d get through it. The talk wouldn’t go on forever.

She headed for Main Street. Bonnie Gene Kelley had called this morning and Lily had agreed to meet her. Parking, she got out and started walking down the street. Bonnie Gene had an uncanny ability to pry out whatever was bugging her. It had been a week since the hearing and still Lily was having trouble dealing with seeing Brandon in person.

Walking down Main Street, Lily was vaguely aware of people turning their heads to look at her. She passed the Corner Bar and jaywalked across the street toward the West Ridge Hotel. Next door was the Honey-B Café, where she’d agreed to meet Bonnie Gene. For once they weren’t meeting at Kelley’s Cookhouse, the restaurant Bonnie Gene and her husband ran.

Bonnie Gene was one of two people in town Lily trusted enough to call friends. She had stuck by her through everything over all these years, starting out as more of a mother figure, but as Lily grew older, their friendship had grown. She was the only person who knew about Brandon.

Lily wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. As soon as Bonnie Gene discovered she’d testified at Brandon’s hearing, she’d picked up on how badly it was affecting her. And Bonnie Gene didn’t take no for an answer once she made her mind up about something. So, whether Lily liked it or not, which this morning she didn’t, she had to meet her friend for breakfast before heading to the library for work.

The thought of eating breakfast soured her stomach. She’d just die if the parole board decided to release Brandon after the agony of her testimony. He hadn’t done a very convincing job pleading his case. As far as she was concerned, he’d been cold and deliberate, stating that he’d received treatment while incarcerated and he was reformed and ready for society. He’d even had a plan. Move back to his hometown in North Carolina and work for his dad’s remodeling company.

Ready for society. More like ready to hunt down more women in society. He’d just come out of a fifteen-year drought. Surely he was eager to assuage his evil cravings. She hoped the parole board hadn’t been fooled.

Pushing open the door to the café, Lily looked around for Bonnie Gene and spotted her at a table, waving a hand, her dark brown hair brushing her shoulders. For a sixty-four-year-old, she still looked good. Lily went toward her, dreading having to talk about Brandon. She sat across the table, seeing Bonnie Gene’s light brown eyes soften with sympathy. Sometimes sympathy was worse than anything else. She wished people would just treat her like a normal woman.

“I’m all right,” she almost snapped.

“Don’t get all defensive with me,” Bonnie Gene said. “I know what this is doing to you.”

Lily felt her shoulders sag and she leaned back in the chair. A waitress stopped by the table.

“Nothing for me,” Lily said.

“Two Western skillets,” Bonnie Gene told the waitress. “And some good strong coffee.”

“I’m not hungry.” Especially for Honey-B’s ham-and-cheese-laden Western skillet.

“You have to eat.” Then to the waitress, “Two skillets.”

The waitress glanced once at Lily, then scribbled the order and left. Lily wondered if that look was because of the rumors rather than Bonnie Gene’s bulldozing.

“You’ve been doing so well up until now,” Bonnie Gene said.

“I’m fine.”

“There you go again, all defensive. It’s okay to be upset about this, you know. Anybody would be.”

“I’m over it.”

“You’re strong and you’ve done well with your life. You never let it get you down, but seeing him in person like that…”

She’d overcome the trauma of her rape, but now it felt as if she were going through it all over again. Reliving it.

“What was it like seeing him again?”

Lily angled her head with a do-you-have-to-ask look. Bonnie Gene was trying to get her to talk.

“I mean, how was he toward you?”

“Actually, he never looked at me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he seemed uncomfortable that I was there.”

“Really?”

She nodded.

“What if he was?”

“He was acting.” For the sake of the board.

“I’ve heard some criminals get that way at their parole hearings.”

“That’s a crock.” She’d never believe Brandon was miraculously cured. Anyone who could do what he’d done to her and have no remorse couldn’t possibly be normal, even after spending so long in prison. Especially after that.

Bonnie Gene looked at her for a while. She didn’t have to say anything. She was still worried about Lily. “When do you find out what the parole board decides?”

“Any day now.”

“No wonder you’re such a mess. Not knowing must be killing you.”

It was, but she’d get through it. She would.

“You sure you’re going to be all right?”

“Yes.” She wouldn’t have it any other way. “Promise.”

Bonnie Gene smiled. “You might have been a wild child before you left this place, but you were always strong. Not too many women could recover to the extent you have.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. Survival is a pretty good motivator.” It had been for her.

The waitress reappeared with coffee and another long look at Lily. Lily ignored her until she left, lifting the cup and taking a tentative sip. It went down all right. That was a good sign.

“Somebody told Maisie Colton that you dropped Wes off at the county sheriff’s building last week.”

Lily looked at Bonnie Gene. Great. Just what she needed.

“She asked him why,” Bonnie Gene said.

Remembering what he’d said, she wondered if he’d stayed true to his word. She hadn’t seen him around town since that day, despite all his charm in asking her out. But maybe he wasn’t on a timetable. He was a man, after all. And it had only been a week.

“What did he say?” she asked.

“That you ran into him outside of town.”

She couldn’t help smiling. That wasn’t exactly a lie. Montana State Prison was outside of town.

“That’s what I thought,” Bonnie Gene said, and Lily knew her smile had given her away. “Spill it, girlfriend.”

“There’s nothing to spill. I wasn’t paying attention and I ran into him and wrecked his SUV so I drove him to work.”

Her friend’s mouth dropped open. “What? You got in a wreck? What happened?”

“I wasn’t going fast, only about twenty miles an hour.” Which was pretty fast in a parking lot.

“What happened?” Bonnie Gene repeated.

Lily didn’t want to tell her too much. What if it got around town?

“Come on. It’s me.” Bonnie Gene pointed at herself and looked injured. “You ran into our hunky sheriff and you didn’t even tell me.”

“It was no big deal.”

“Did he ask you out?”

“Bonnie Gene …”

“Oh, this is getting good. Where were you when you ran into him?”

Lily cocked her head, not wanting to talk about this. She’d much rather lie and get on with her day. But it was so hard lying to Bonnie Gene, her one true friend through everything.

The waitress returned with their food and left.

“Where?” Bonnie Gene demanded, scooping up a forkfull of eggs.

“Outside of town.” She pushed her eggs around on the plate.

“Wes just said that to protect you.” Lily watched Bonnie Gene’s eyes and knew she was starting to figure things out.

“When did you run into him?” she asked.

“A few days ago.”

“What day?” Bonnie ate more eggs, chewing and looking at her expectantly.

Darn it! “A week ago.” She hesitated. “Today.”

Bonnie Gene swallowed as her puzzle came together. “A week ago today? Was it the day of the parole hearing? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Wes driving his SUV since….”

“Oh, all right. It was the parking lot of the prison, okay? He doesn’t know why I was there, though, so don’t be spreading any rumors. I don’t want anyone to know.”

She set her fork down. “Honey, have I ever failed you yet?”

Lily relaxed. “No. I’m sorry.”

“You’re just a little rattled right now. I understand.”

Before Lily could respond, a woman appeared next to their table. Her pear-shaped body was stuffed into peach-colored stretch pants and a dark purple T-shirt that clung to rolls of fat. Shoulder-length red hair framed angry pale green eyes adorned by too much makeup.

“You have a lot of nerve,” she said to Lily.

Lily tried to place the woman but didn’t recognize her. She looked at Bonnie Gene, who shrugged her shoulders.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t remember me,” the woman said.

Oh, no. Another piece of her past was about to rear its ugly head.

“Karen. Andy Hathaway is my husband?” The woman said it like a question.

Then memory came rushing back. A brief affair packed with lots of naked writhing at a downtown hotel. Andy Hathaway had been hung like a Hoover hose.

And, my oh, my, was she uncomfortable now. “Karen, I …” What could she possibly say? Sorry for humping your husband? But it was so long ago..

“Save it. You think anybody is glad to see you back? I don’t know why you bothered.”

“It’s been a long time,” she said, knowing it was feeble.

Sure enough, that only managed to anger Karen more. “It would be better if you left town. I never wanted to have to lay eyes on you again after what you did.”

“I can understand how you feel, but—”

Karen leaned over and pointed her finger in front of Lily’s face. “You don’t know the first thing about how I feel.”

Lily moved her head back as Karen jabbed her finger too close.

“You didn’t give a rat’s ass how I felt back then and you don’t give a rat’s ass now. I want you gone from here.”

Lily wanted to tell her she was being ridiculous after so much time had passed.

“Lily’s not the same as she was before she left,” Bonnie Gene said.

“You stay out of this. It’s none of your business.”

“Karen … I don’t know how to say this but … I’m sorry. I really am.”

Karen’s mouth tightened until her lips turned white. She picked up a glass of water from the table and tossed it toward Lily’s head. Water splashed and ran down her hair and face. She wiped her eyes and looked up at Karen.

“I want you gone, you hear me?” Karen hissed, and then turned her back and marched out of the restaurant.

Still numb, Lily noticed the entire café had gone silent and everyone was staring at her.

“Does she really think she can make you leave town?” Bonnie Gene asked. “Seeing you must have really riled her.”

Dabbing her face with a napkin, Lily didn’t know what to say to that. She felt bad and yet … there wasn’t a thing she could do. People started whispering around them.

“You ready to go?” Bonnie Gene asked.

“Yeah. Now would be good.”

Bonnie Gene put down enough cash to cover their check and stood. Taking the napkin with her, Lily followed her outside, wiping the front of her shirt.

“Good thing it’s just water,” Bonnie Gene said.

“Yeah, it could have been a gun.”

She exchanged a look with Bonnie Gene.

Lily pushed the library door open and dug in her purse for her ringing cell phone. The strap slipped down her arm, causing her to adjust her hands like a juggler. She found the phone.

“Lily Masterson?” a woman queried.

“Yes.” She slung her purse strap back over her shoulder. It slipped back down to her elbow, nearly yanking the phone away from her ear.

Some days nothing ever went right.

“This is Karla Harrison from Montana State Prison?” the caller said, her inflection rising at the end.

The mention of the prison stopped Lily’s breath and a tiny shock wave made her stomach turn and her heart jump into faster beats. She stopped walking.

“Yes?” She remembered the woman. The victims’ officer who’d walked her to the parking lot.

“Is now a good time to talk?” Karla asked in an overly gentle tone, as if she had to walk on eggshells in order to talk to a poor, helplessly traumatized woman.

Lily hated being treated like that. She started walking again.

“Of course.” This was turning out to be a real crapper of a day. She kicked her office door open. It bounced against the stopper and swung back toward her, tapping her arm and knocking her purse off her shoulder again.

“The parole board has reached a decision in Brandon Gates’s hearing.”

Now consumed with apprehension, Lily walked to her desk and sat down, letting her purse slip to the floor beside her chair. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but they’ve decided to release him. You’ll be getting a letter in the mail.”

“You’re releasing him?” How could they?

“It was the board’s decision.”

Apprehension morphed into outrage. “What did they base it on?” Prison overpopulation?

“He went through treatment while he was incarcerated and according to the board, has a valid plan for reentering society.”

“Plan?” she all but shouted. Valid plan? It was maddening. “What plan? A rapist tells you he’s moving to North Carolina and that’s enough for you to set him free?”

“The board is very careful when they make decisions like this, Lily. Please try and understand that. They wouldn’t have released him if they didn’t think he’d do his best to stay rehabilitated.”

“I don’t believe for one minute that he’s rehabilitated.” A hundred images assailed her, all of them from the endless hours she’d spent in that cabin. Tears burned her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Masterson. I know this is hard for you. If you’d like I can give you the name of a good counselor near your home town.”

“I don’t need a counselor,” Lily snapped. “Stop talking to me like that.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Masterson, I—”

“When?” Lily swallowed the lump of hurt in her throat.

“Excuse me?”

“When will he be released?”

“Next week. Friday. It’s all in the letter.”

Lily never hung up on anyone, but today she did. She ended the call and held the phone in her palm, staring down at it, shaking, lost in a maelstrom of old pain and a deep sense of injustice.

She wiped a tear that had slipped from her eye.

There was no punishment that would change what she’d endured, both during her assault and after. The month that followed it had been the worst, with no one to turn to and nowhere to go that felt like home. No wonder she’d tried to obliterate the experience with a one-night stand. It wouldn’t have been her first.

Having sex with a stranger had been a mistake, an attempt to somehow minimize what had happened to her. Instead, that last wild night—like so many she’d had before her rape—had done the opposite. It had made her feel dirty and cheap and had thrown her into a severe state of depression.

Hearing a sound, she looked up to see Emily, her assistant, standing in the doorway. She blinked her eyes clear.

“You okay?” her assistant asked with a worried frown.

“Yes. Fine.” Lily held up the phone. “Just a personal call.”

Emily didn’t look convinced. “We got a couple of boxes of books from a donor yesterday.”

“Good. Let’s get going on sorting them.” She could use the distraction right now. Putting her phone down, she stood and moved around the desk.

Brandon Gates was going to be released. It didn’t seem real. It was so unfair.

“They’re all romance novels. I don’t think we have enough room for all of them.”

Lily forced a smile. “We won’t keep them all. Just the ones in good condition.” She passed Emily and headed out into the main library.

Karla’s news hung inside her like low, dreary fog. It was what she’d been dreading since the hearing. Her worst fear had come true. Would he really go to North Carolina? Or would he risk going back to prison to come and find her? That would be very stupid, unless he thought he could get away with it. Lily had to smother a shiver with the thought of him finding her. And she hated that, her reaction, what he was still capable of doing to her.

Did he know she’d lived in Honey Creek back then? She’d never told him that night, but maybe he found out later. Did he know she’d moved back?

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Emily asked.

Lily had forgotten her assistant had followed her. “Yeah.” She bent to pick up a few books from the first box and turned to place them on a table in alphabetical order by author name.

“Who were you just talking to?”

She sent a look over at Emily, letting her know she was prying too much.

“Sorry,” Emily said.

The sound of someone behind them made Lily turn. So did Emily.

Wes Colton stood on the other side of the boxes, holding a book in his hand. The sight of him stole her breath and shards of excitement chased her bleakness away.

“Looks like you got some new inventory.” His voice was masculine and as appealing as she remembered. Maybe more so.

What was he doing here? Her insurance company was handling the transaction with his SUV. Of course, he had another reason, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to face that.

“Wes.” She hoped she didn’t sound as school girlish as she thought.

Emily glanced from her back to Wes.

He held up the book, the picture of a bare-chested man looking down at the soulful face of a brunette. “Interesting cover art.”

Lily snatched the book from his hand and dropped it back into the box he’d taken it from. “It’s popular fiction.”

He didn’t say anything, just grinned his amusement and something else. Was he flirting with her?

“Uh … I’ll go help at the checkout counter,” Emily said, smiling secretively as she wandered off.

Uncomfortable with the way Emily left them alone and the realization that she’d picked up on Wes’s flirting, too, Lily had to force herself to look at him.

“How are you?” she asked.

“Good. You?” Was he nervous, too, or was this small talk a way for him to get a conversation going?

“Good,” she played along.

He smiled wider. “I came by to see you.”

His announcement dispelled the awkwardness. Gladness expanded and bloomed in her chest.

“I bought a new vehicle in Bozeman yesterday,” he added.

“Oh, that’s good. I hope you like it as much as your last SUV.”

“More so. Cost me a little more than I expected, but it’s worth it.” His gaze floated over her face. “It’s good to see you again.”

Another charge of excitement tickled her. She smiled and saw how he noticed. “It’s good to see you, too.”

Losing herself as she met his smiling eyes, feeling his attraction match her own, it took her a moment to realize how they were behaving. She glanced around. Emily was busy with someone at the checkout counter. There was no one standing near them. No one had noticed them ogling each other.

Reality came down a little harder. Did she really want to encourage Wes? Aside from the folly of him getting involved with what everyone considered the town floozy, she would be no good for any man right now.

The news of her rapist’s release had robbed her of her strength. She was vulnerable again. The same struggle she’d overcome so many years ago was returning. Would she be able to go home and not feel as though she had to lock every door and window and double-check them periodically? She hated that kind of weakness, the power Brandon Gates still had over her. Would she ever be free of that part of her life? It was disheartening.

No. She refused to succumb to irrational fears. He was moving back to North Carolina. That was far away from here, and he’d be foolish to try and make contact with her again. He had to know she’d expose him if he did.

“Don’t worry, our secret is still safe,” Wes said.

He’d given her a brief distraction from her troubles, but they weren’t going to magically go away. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

“Would you rather we go back to the prison?”

He was trying be funny, but he had no way of knowing how upsetting the reference was for her. She looked down at the floor.

Wes was quiet for a few beats. “So … how do you like the library?”

Back to safe topics. He had a way of easing her into those and keeping her enchanted.

She glanced around at the dark wood shelves and Emily helping someone else now at the checkout counter. Something about this place made her feel good. It soothed her. Maybe it was her love of books. They’d installed new computers a few months ago. Some of the floor had been carpeted and some refinished with new hardwood. New lighting had been installed, too. It was cozy. Fresh. Clean and bright. “I like it.” She looked back at him. “I like the work, too.”

“How long have you been doing this line of work? I never got a chance to ask you that when you drove me to my office.”

“I went to college after I left Honey Creek. It’s been about ten years now.” He was doing a good job of taking her mind off that phone call, drawing her out of darkness and into the light of his purpose in coming to see her. The Sheriff of Honey Creek County was interested in her.

“It suits you.”

Did it? She took in his chest in his sheriff uniform, his height, and even though he was flirting, he had a commanding presence.

“Being sheriff suits you.” She couldn’t believe she’d said it. “I mean—”

“I know what you mean,” he cut her off. “And I like that.”

Oh, boy…

“Why did you leave the navy?” she asked, more to divert the conversation.

“I wanted to come home.”

“You planned on running for sheriff?”

“Not at first.”

“What did you do in the navy, anyway?” How had he gone from that to law enforcement?

He hesitated and the glint of infatuation left his eyes. She wondered if this was a sore subject.

“I joined the SEALs.”

Her brow rose. She couldn’t help it. “Wow. You passed that training?”

Was he studying her? He seemed as though he was suspicious of her. Did he wonder why she’d asked? Why did it matter?

“I worked with a team for a while,” he finally answered, “but I didn’t like the travel.”

“And the danger?” Did he like that?

“That didn’t bother me so much. I was careful.”

Careful? “You sound so confident.”

“You have to be.”

“Is being sheriff of this little town enough of a stimulus for you?”

“I was young when I joined the SEALs. I don’t need adrenaline rushes to stay interested anymore. So, yes, I like what I do now. And there’s a lot to be said about dodging fewer bullets.”

“You’ve dodged bullets in Honey Creek?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

And he’d dodged them as a SEAL. “Didn’t you like being a SEAL?” He was sure acting strange about it.

“I liked it. I just wanted to come home,” he answered curtly.

She decided not to question him further on that. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it.

“When is your brother going to be released?” she asked instead.

A woman looked at them as she passed. Lily wondered if she’d heard what she’d asked.

Wes didn’t appear to notice, in fact, his tension eased. “I should have the court order in the next week or two.”

“That’s great.”

She could only imagine what it would be like to watch your brother spend so much time in prison for something he didn’t do. There would have to be some kind of effect on Damien. It had to have changed him somehow. Hardened him. Would he be dangerous?

She didn’t want to find out. Instead of continuing to question Wes, she steered clear of the more detailed questions she was dying to ask.

“You must have been pretty young when he was convicted.”

“Eighteen.”

“Is that why you joined the SEALs?” Did he want to learn how to fight? To kill? Had he planned to go after whoever was responsible for wrongly convicting his brother?

He took a moment to answer and she inwardly kicked herself for asking. She hadn’t meant to bring that up again.

“It might have had something to do with it. I never stopped believing Damien was innocent. I didn’t know what to do. Maybe I joined the SEALs because it gave me a sense of control, whereas with Damien’s situation, I’ve never had control.”

“Even though you wanted it.”

“Yes.”

“I think everyone does the things they do in life for a reason, whether they know it or not.”

“You became a librarian for a particular reason?”

“I love to read.”

“Is that the only reason?”

She had to stop herself from fidgeting. She’d admitted to no one what had led her down this path. “It’s what pointed me in that direction.”

“When did you start reading a lot?”

“It wasn’t until later, after … after I left.” Now she was getting really uncomfortable.

“It was probably a good thing you did leave.”

She just looked at him. If only he knew.

“I mean so you could find something to do with your life.”

Did he mean other than being a wild woman?

“Without the pressure of …” He seemed at a loss for words.

“I should really get back to work.”

He looked at her a moment. “Scared you away again, huh?”

“No, it’s not that.” What a lie that was. Brandon’s release was hurtling her back in time. How could she have a normal relationship with any man if every reminder made her feel vulnerable?

“Then have dinner with me. Tonight. What time do you get off?”

“Oh … that’s sweet, but … it’s just not a good time.”

“You’re shooting me down again.” He said it playfully.

“I’m afraid so.” She couldn’t help laughing. “Besides, did you know I’m forty?”

“Wow, your life is over.”

She shook her head. “You’re only thirty-three.”

“Word gets around. You’re old enough to be my sister.”

“Stop that.” But she laughed.

He grinned and she got the distinct impression that he wasn’t about to give up on her. There was something appealing about that. There was something appealing about a man who wasn’t afraid of rejection. It showed boundless ambition and self-confidence. A humble ego.

There was a time in her life when she would have jumped headfirst into a relationship with a younger man, but things had changed.

He backed away. “I’ll be back.”

“People are going to talk,” she said.

Emily had finished with the person at the counter and now watched them.

“Let them.” He backed up some more.

She wasn’t so sure, but his teasing was infectious. “Easy for you to say.”

He took another step back. “It’ll give them something else to talk about besides you.”

“Oh, yeah? How do you figure that?”

“I just got a bug in me to start reading more.”

Meaning he’d be stopping by the library more often. Her first reaction was to tell him no, but the delight he’d made her feel stopped her. She didn’t try to sway him.

Wes left the library wondering if he’d misread the back-and-forth emotions from Lily. Sometimes she flirted with him and at other moments she withdrew. Was it their age difference? He wasn’t that much younger than her. And she had good skin. Hell, he’d probably look older than her when he was forty.

He’d been trying to contact the victims’ officer ever since the morning after Lily had plowed into his truck. She’d seemed to know Lily so he’d called a friend he’d made over the years Damien had been incarcerated and asked for her contact information. The minute he learned she was a victims’ officer, he’d gotten more interested in finding out the real reason Lily had gone to the prison. But the officer had gone on a weeklong vacation the day after Lily had wrecked his SUV. He’d planned to wait to go to the library until after he spoke with her, but the truth was, he couldn’t stay away any longer. What if Lily started thinking he wasn’t interested?

He just hoped she wasn’t messed up with an inmate at Montana State Prison. She said she’d changed but …

It’d been a week. He’d call the victims’ officer again.

He drove to the west side of town and pulled to a stop in front of the Honey Creek County Sheriff’s office. Getting out, he walked into the building, passing the front counter and heading to his office directly behind that, and sat behind his desk. He leaned back and let himself stare at nothing for a while, thinking about Lily. Maybe he should start to worry about how much he was beginning to like her.

The legal pad on his desk caught his eye. It was full of scribbled notes about Mark Walsh’s murder case. He’d jotted them down earlier. Some were centered around the money-laundering angle the FBI was investigating, others were on the note found on the body of the man who murdered Jake Pierson’s partner. Jake was the first FBI agent assigned to the money-laundering investigation and Jim Willis had been his partner. Since this whole thing started, Wes had gotten to know both of them. Jim had been a good friend to both him and Jake. He shouldn’t have died like that, shot by a hit man who was after Jake for information the investigation had uncovered.

The note found on Jake’s partner’s body hadn’t been signed, but it was on a special kind of stationary that had bothered Wes ever since he’d seen it. The stationary was expensive. Not just anyone would use it. He’d been all over town tracking down possible sources. One lead had taken him to the Colton ranch, where he’d found some in his dad’s office. Was that significant? Probably not. The stationary could have been ordered from an office-supply catalog. Anyone could have ordered some. It would be tough narrowing down a suspect that way. And of course, there were no prints on the paper other than those belonging to the hit man.

A knock on the open door brought his head up. Deputy Ryan King stood there. He was a six-foot lean-framed man with fine, light brown hair whose light green eyes kept the women coming around, but he never strayed from his wife.

“Come in,” Wes said.

Ryan closed the door and moved closer to Wes’s desk. “Sorry to bother you, Sheriff. I’m not one to give gossip much thought, but my wife told me something I thought you’d want to hear.”

Leaning back in his chair, Wes waited.

“She goes to that quilting group that meets in town. You know the one?”

“Yes. What about it?”

“Well, Terri said there was talk about you and that Masterson woman spending time together. Someone saw her drop you off here at the office and said you looked like you were getting along really well.”

How long before it got around he’d just left the library? Wes chuckled. Didn’t those women have anything better to do than talk about people?

“Some people take offense to you getting messed up with someone like her,” Ryan said. “You’re the law in this town. If people don’t respect you….”

“It’s been fifteen years since Lily left this town.”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s your integrity in question.”

“She isn’t the same person. She’s grown-up now. People will see that after a while.”

“But if you continue to see her …”

Now he was beginning to get annoyed. “It’s just talk.”

“People are wondering where you were with her, where you could have met her.”

“It doesn’t matter how or where I met her.” He looked pointedly up at his deputy. “I could have met her anywhere in town before that.”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business. It’s just … your reputation.”

“I’ll worry about my own reputation, but thanks for letting me know.”

“Come time for reelection …”

Wes looked up from the pile of papers on his desk and lifted his brow.

Ryan frowned, but relented.

When his deputy had left, Wes couldn’t focus on the mound of work he had to do. Maybe he should pay more attention to what the town was saying. What if something got around that would hurt Lily? What harm would it be to use Ryan as a way of monitoring the gossip? He didn’t care what was being said, but Lily did. And that was reason enough for him.

He picked up his phone and dialed Ryan’s extension.

Chapter 3

“You’ve got one of the best pair of blue eyes I’ve ever seen.” Levi Garrison came into step beside her. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

May Masterson rolled those blue eyes that were so like her mother’s and didn’t slow down on her way to her next class. Levi easily kept up with her. He was tall and had a long stride.

“I’m serious. I meant to tell you that the other day.”

“When you were making fun of my mother?” Jerk.

“Yeah, well, about that …”

“Say anything smart and I’ll knock your front teeth out,” she said without looking at him. He was one of the most popular boys in eleventh grade. He was a football player and active on committees. He was smart, too, but not as smart as her. May knew her GPA was higher than this yokel’s.

“I’ve been meaning to apologize for that. You took it all wrong anyway.”

“How else am I supposed to take it when someone asks me if I’m as good as my mother?”

“That wasn’t me. I didn’t say that.”

“No, you said I was prettier.”

“You are.”

She sent him a glare.

“You took it wrong. I wasn’t after you that way.”

“You said I had a nicer tail.”

“I was just havin’ fun. Who cares if your mom was easy when she was in high school? That was a long time ago.”

May stopped and curled her hand into a fist. She raised it and brought it back for good momentum.

Levi caught it as she began to swing. Her fist fit into his hand.

His green eyes flared with something hot. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“What do you care?”

He made the mistake of letting his gaze fall to her chest before meeting her eyes again.

She pushed him with her free hand. “Leave me alone, you jerk!”

“Hey.” He let go of her fist. “I’m trying to be friends here.”

“I don’t want any friends.” Not here anyway. She missed her friends in Sacramento. No one called her a slut there.

She pivoted and marched down the hall again, dodging other students, bumping someone’s shoulder. A girl narrowed her eyes at her as they passed each other. May flipped her off.

Levi took hold of her wrist and pulled her to the side of the hall, twirling her smoothly. Her back came against a locker, but not hard at all. Levi was agile in the way he handled her. She didn’t want to like that about him.

He put his hand on the locker above and beside her head and leaned closer. “I said I was sorry.”

Her breath got stuck in her throat.

He leaned back and offered his hand. She looked down at it and back up at his cute face.

“What do you want?”

“Your friendship.”

“That sounds like a line.” Except he seemed sincere. Wouldn’t it be great if one of the most popular boys in school liked her? “What do you really want?”

“To take you out. But that can wait. I’ll settle for being friends for now.”

“And once we’re friends? Then what? You try to get into my panties?”

“No. I’m not after you like that, I told you.”

“I don’t believe you.” But she wanted to.

“Just start by taking my hand. If all you can offer is hello in the halls, that’s fine by me.”

She eyed his hand again. What harm would it be to accept his apology? She could be reasonable. It felt good to have someone on her side for a change.

But what if he wasn’t? What if he was just playing her? What if this was some kind of joke?

“Come on. I won’t do anything drastic. I promise.”

Deciding to give him a chance, she gave him her hand. He grinned as he shook her hand.

“You’re gonna be late to class,” he said, still smiling as he strolled down the emptying hall.

She watched until he disappeared into a classroom and then started to turn to head for hers.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

May stopped and saw Sherilynn McTeague and one of her friends standing nearby. Sherilynn had long, blond hair and light brown eyes. She was a pretty girl in a prissy sort of way, and, like Levi, one of the most popular kids in school. But not so bright academically.

She was also Levi’s girlfriend.

“Last I checked this was a public school,” May said. She wasn’t afraid of this prom queen.

“You stay away from Levi.”

“Yeah,” chimed in her friend, a slightly chunky, short-haired girl with big cheeks. “Go find your own boyfriend.”

“Levi isn’t my boyfriend. We were just talking. Not that it’s any of your business.” May turned to walk to her classroom.

“Careful how you talk to me, ho,” Sherilynn called to her back.

Anger fired up in May like wind over a brush fire. Ho? Slowly, she pivoted, tensing as she moved closer to the two.

“If you’re looking to get laid, do it with somebody else,” the girl continued. “There are plenty of other boys who’d love to oblige you.”

“Yeah,” her chubby friend said. “Like mother like daughter. Isn’t that what they say about people like you?”

Stopping, May’s temper flared hotter. She was sick of holding her head high and not reacting to these unwarranted barbs like her mom always told her to do. She’d hold her head high all right. After she kicked both of these girly-girls’ behinds.

Fisting her hand, she slugged the chubby girl right on the mouth. The girl’s head jerked to the side and she stumbled backward, nearly losing her balance. See if she talked nasty ever again.

Sherilynn shoved May against one shoulder. May had to take a step back, but now she turned her attention to this girl. She swung her fist again, catching the side of her head. Then she hit lower, aiming for the soft part of her stomach. Sherilynn grunted and pulled May’s hair. May yelled and slapped her hard across her cheek. Sherilynn stumbled and bumped into the chubby girl, tripping over her feet and falling. May stepped over her, meaning to straddle her and keep hitting, but the chubby girl pulled her by the arm. May yanked free and backhanded the girl on her nose. The girl retreated with a screech and held her bleeding nose.

Sherilynn was starting to sit up and climb to her feet. May lifted her foot and planted it against her chest, shoving her back to the floor. Then she straddled her and started slugging. See if she smiled pretty for any guy for a while….

The chubby girl pulled her off just as May spotted a teacher charging toward them.

“All right, in the principal’s office. Now!” the teacher yelled. “All three of you!”

Sherilynn got to her feet, holding her side with one hand and her face with the other. “She started it!”

“Yeah, she hit me first,” the chubby girl said.

“Is that true?” the teacher asked.

“Yeah. They were calling me names! I’m not a whore!”

“You’re just like your slutty mother,” Sherilynn said.

May lunged for her again.

The teacher stepped in her way, though, so all May could do was glare at the girl around her shoulder. “Wait ‘til after school. I’ll finish you off.”

“May Masterson.” The teacher grabbed both her shoulders. “You will stop this right now!”

“Make them stop. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Fighting isn’t the answer.”

“Her mom fought all the time,” the chubby girl said snidely.

“How would you know, you weren’t here,” May retorted.

“No, but my mom was. She told me everything.”

“My mom isn’t like that anymore. You need to mind your own damn business.”

“May, you don’t swear in this school.”

She zeroed in on the teacher’s gaze. “Tell them to back off then.”

“Why don’t you tell the principal to do that.” Moving one of her hands to May’s elbow, she held tight and walked her down the hall, saying over her shoulder, “You girls are coming, too. Follow me.”

Three days after seeing Lily, Wes walked into the West End Café in Deer Lodge, Montana. He’d searched for Karla Harrison, the victims’ officer who’d come out of the prison after Lily had wrecked his SUV and had finally gotten hold of her. Once he told her who he was, she’d agreed to meet him here. She remembered him, but more importantly, she remembered Lily. He could tell she genuinely cared about her and was sure that was the only reason she was meeting him.

A few other tables were filled and talking joined the sound of dishes clanking and workers busy in the kitchen. The wood tables and chairs were scratched with age and the blue linoleum floor needed updating, and he was sure some women liked the lacy white valances above the front windows but he thought they could go with the floor.

The entry door opened and Karla walked into the small café. When he’d called her he’d asked if she’d meet him here rather than the prison. He didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing, least of all Lily.

When she saw him, recognition showed on her face and she headed for his table.

“Sheriff Colton?” she asked.

He stood and took her hand in a shake. “Thanks for meeting me.”

She sat down. “I have to admit, you have me curious. You didn’t really say why you wanted to talk about Lily.”

He sat across from her. “She’s grown important to me since the accident.”

Karla smiled softly. “I could tell there was something going on there.” Then she sobered. “She seemed like such a strong woman when I first met her. I thought she’d do all right going to that parole hearing all by herself, but I could tell it was hard on her afterward.”

There it was, the missing piece. “What parole hearing?”

“Oh … I thought you knew.” Her expression turned worried. The waitress came and he ordered coffee. So did Karla, but in an absentminded way.

“Lily told me she went to the prison to see a friend,” he reminded her when the waitress left.

“Oh,” Karla hedged. “Yes, I remember.”

“I could tell that wasn’t the truth.”

“I see.” She poured sugar into her coffee and stirred. “I thought she’d have told you by now.”

“She hasn’t. I think it’s too difficult for her. I was hoping you could tell me the real reason she was there.”

Stopping her spoon, Karla stared at him, her hesitance etched over her expression. “I’m not sure how much I should tell you. What if she doesn’t want me to?”

“Like I said, she’s grown important to me. I want to help if I can.”

Slowly Karla’s expression smoothed. “That’s very kind of you, Sheriff.”

“If you aren’t comfortable talking to me, you can give me the name of the inmate case manager.”

He watched her process that. He was a sheriff. He had his ways of finding out what he needed with or without her help. Now that he knew Lily had gone to a parole hearing, and what day, he wouldn’t have much trouble tracking down the case manager.

“No, no need for that. Lily’s one of those special victims to me. A real fighter when all’s said and done. I care about what happens to her, and I would love to know that she’s happy. You want to know why she was there that day? She testified at Brandon Gates’s parole hearing. She was the only victim who had the nerve to come forward out of all those women who testified at his trial.”

Wes didn’t like where this was heading. Out of all those women …

“Who is Brandon Gates? What was he in for?” he asked, fearing he already knew.

“Sexual assault.”

“He raped her?” He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, as wary as Lily was around him, and as reluctant as she was to go out with him. Being with men had to be hard for her. Trusting them even harder.

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