Who knew a man from her past...

would save her from an unpredictable future?

Just as innkeeper Madeline Nash is wrongly accused of a crime, former lover Julian Mercer unexpectedly shows up and lies to give her an alibi. As Julian’s deceit draws him into the dangers and mysteries of Madi’s troubled past, their romance rekindles. Nothing can keep him from protecting the woman he never forgot—not even bullets.

TYLER ANNE SNELL genuinely loves all genres of the written word. However, she’s realised that she loves books filled with sexual tension and mysteries a little more than the rest. Her stories have a good dose of both. Tyler lives in Alabama with her same-named husband and their mini “lions.” When she isn’t reading or writing, she’s playing video games and working on her blog, Almost There. To follow her shenanigans, visit tylerannesnell.com

Also by Tyler Anne Snell

Reining in Trouble

Small-Town Face-Off

The Deputy’s Witness

Forgotten Pieces

Loving Baby

The Deputy’s Baby

The Negotiation

Private Bodyguard

Full Force Fatherhood

Be on the Lookout: Bodyguard

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Credible Alibi

Tyler Anne Snell

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09412-2

CREDIBLE ALIBI

© 2019 Tyler Anne Snell

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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Note to Readers

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

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This book is for Lissanne J., Marci M. and the

Bat Signal crew.

Thank you for loving Madi and Julian and thank you

for the continued support, critique and constant hilarity.

This book is also for Madi Rice. I named a character

after you only to realize I never knew your real

first name.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

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

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Julian Mercer didn’t know this woman from Eve and yet he knew exactly three things about her the moment her baby blues swung his way.

One, she was hanging on to something that was heavy. As she made her way across the yard, following a path of mismatched stones embedded in the earth, there was an almost imperceptible drag to each step. Like there was an invisible weight on each shoulder that threw off a normal, happy gait. She was thinking of something and that something was difficult, whatever it was. Her polite, welcoming smile, which was required as the owner of the bed-and-breakfast, even had a tightness about it.

Two, someone or something had hurt her. Not just physically—though Julian clocked the small but noticeable scar that broke the smoothness of her skin above the left cheekbone. In addition to the subtle, weighted steps she took toward him, there was a hesitation. So small, yet he was as sure as his own scars lining his body that it was there. It was like she wanted to meet him but at the same time wanted nothing more than for him to leave. Halfway between fight and flight. It intrigued and perturbed Julian all at once.

And that third thing he knew about the golden-haired stranger making her way toward him?

She was beautiful.

Long braids thrown over each shoulder shone in the Tennessee sun and complemented a complexion formed by a life out in the elements instead of tucked in front of electronic screens. Crystal-blue irises took him in as his gaze dropped to the freckles dusting her cheeks. Those freckles, he had no doubt, probably made several other appearances across the skin of her arms and legs as well, but for now were hidden beneath a long-sleeved dress and a pair of black tights. It was a modest outfit, yet Julian didn’t miss the pleasant curves beneath the clinging fabric. She wore flats but only had to tilt her head up a fraction to see into his eyes as she came to a stop in front of him.

“Well, you sure are punctual, aren’t you, Mr. Mercer?” She held out her hand.

He shook it. “Is that a problem?”

“Absolutely not.” Her polite smile stayed just as polite. “It’s just not that common around here. Most guests end up stopping along the road to take pictures. One time a couple showed up an hour late because they spotted a black bear hanging out in a tree.” She glanced down at her watch. It was one of those smart watches made for exercise. The time popped up on the screen as she moved her wrist slightly. “You said you were going to be here at eleven on the dot and here you are.”

“You can thank my military training for that,” he said with a wry smile. “I don’t think I could be late for something if I wanted to.”

She laughed. Julian made sure not to trace the scar against her cheek with his eyes again.

“Well, either way, I’m happy you made it.” She angled her body and spread her arms wide toward the house. “I’m Madeline Nash, and this is the Hidden Hills Inn.”

The bed-and-breakfast was aptly named. Near the heart of the very small town of Overlook, Tennessee, the road to the inn wound its way through fields, forests and hills. Mountains crested in the distance. No sound of cars or city life broke through them or the land they were boxing in. Julian had gone from big-city Tennessee to small-town Tennessee to this rural beauty. The inn was in the center of it all yet felt a world away from everything else.

Julian appreciated the quiet, just as he did the privacy.

“Let’s get you all signed in and then we can start the tour,” Madeline continued. He followed her up to the long covered porch. She paused before opening the front door. “I’m sorry but it wasn’t clear on the phone, are you expecting to meet someone here or are you traveling alone?”

“It’s just me. I’m alone.”

Madeline kept smiling. Customer service was in her wheelhouse and it showed. She kept to small talk without it ever feeling like small talk. After Julian signed in, she took him on a tour of the wide two-story house with all the best efforts of a seasoned host. From the common rooms to the private suites to the small bar that made up the surprisingly comfortable lounge at the back of the house, Madeline Nash made every space interesting and somehow intimate.

When the tour concluded at the bottom of one of the two sets of stairs the house offered, his golden-haired tour guide fixed him with a grin.

“I’ll leave you to it,” she said, already taking a step back. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call the number on the card in your room. Breakfast and dinner are served every morning and night at seven. There’s a list of activities and sights you might consider during your stay in a packet on your bed.”

Julian had a flash of impulsive bravado. He almost asked the innkeeper if she ever considered accompanying guests to those sights and activities when a car door slammed outside. They both turned to the entryway window. A man with dark hair and a cowboy hat started up the walkway.

Madeline didn’t say it out loud but she wasn’t happy to see him. Her already-tense body tightened. Yet her smile stayed where it was.

“Again, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Julian tipped his head in acknowledgment as Madeline left through the front door, greeting the man. Instead of coming inside, they moved across the yard and disappeared from view. A part of Julian wanted to follow, to make sure she was okay, but then his senses came back.

He didn’t know Madeline and thinking he had to protect her was foolish. His mother would have scolded him for his presumptions that the innkeeper was some kind of hurt, damaged woman in need of saving. For cripes’ sake, he’d only just met her.

Julian knew from experience that there were more people walking the earth with scars than with smooth, untouched skin. That didn’t mean he had to try to save them all.

That didn’t mean they needed saving in the first place.

First impressions were tricky like that.

The first smile was easy.

It was everything after that got a little murky when trying to decipher them.

His room was in the far corner of the second-floor landing. It was a big difference from the hotel rooms he’d been frequenting and, if he was being honest, the apartment he’d been living in the last several years. The room was spacious and stretched much wider than he thought was possible. Not only was there a king-size bed, there was an adjoining sitting area and a desk and a three-piece bathroom. He was surprised and happy to note that the showerhead was high enough to allow him to stand up straight beneath it, a luxury his apartment had never afforded him. In his Special Forces unit he’d been known as the Lumberjack. It wasn’t that inventive of a nickname but it was apt. Julian was built tall, wide and muscled like his father before him. Most times it translated into unintentional intimidation. Other times it meant he had to hunch over in the shower.

Julian threw his bag down just as his phone started to ring.

The caller ID read Chance Montgomery.

“Mercer,” Julian greeted. He walked to one of the windows that ran along the room and looked through the blinds. He spotted Madeline at the table where she’d been sitting when he’d pulled up earlier. Her male companion stood across from her. Julian couldn’t get a read off of him.

“You know, we’ve been friends for a few years now,” Chance said in his Southern twang. “Answering with a ‘hello’ or even a ‘howdy’ instead of your last name would make our conversations a little more casual and a little less like I’ve just accidentally called my old high school math teacher and she’s still mad about the gum I put on her chair that one time.”

Julian chuckled.

“Old habits die hard,” he responded, actively loosening his shoulders by rolling them. “Brevity and precision have been my friends in the military for a while now.”

“Luckily for you, the private sector has a lot fewer friends.” He paused and then laughed. “Well, you know what I mean.”

“It means I need to say ‘howdy’ apparently.”

Chance laughed again.

“You can’t see it but I’m giving you a type of salute you also wouldn’t find in the military. It has to do something with a certain finger.”

They joked around for a few more minutes before Chance finally circled back to the reason for the call. Julian didn’t mind the chatter; in fact, it was one of the reasons he was headed to Chance’s workplace in Alabama. Chance, a cowboy by upbringing but, lately, a surprisingly skilled bodyguard, was one of the few civilian friends Julian had kept through his marine service over the last ten years. Julian not only liked him but was confident he could work alongside him, which was why he was interviewing at the private protection firm Chance’s uncle owned.

“I just wanted to make sure you were stopping to smell the roses in Overlook and not rushing here,” Chance said, losing his earlier humor. “The interview isn’t until next week and as long as I’ve known you, you haven’t had a vacation, one that actually counted. So I’ll reiterate one more time and then let it go. Enjoy yourself, go watch a sunset, sleep in, buy a lady a drink. You’ll thank me for that advice when you’re out in Germany away from all the Southern hospitality you’ve been hitting on your way here.”

Julian knew Chance was right. His last deployment before he officially left the military started the week after his interview. Then he would hopefully return to Alabama and finally, finally stay put for a while.

“I’ll make sure to smell the roses,” Julian promised. “I’m here for two days and then on to Nashville for the next three. I should be at your place after that.”

Chance must have thought this was acceptable. He ended the call without any more constructive criticism. Julian stayed at his spot by the window, admiring the curve of the mountain in the distance. Then his gaze dropped to the innkeeper.

Two days here and then he’d be one step closer to a new life.

* * *

“I’M NOT TRYING to destroy the family, Des.”

Madeline Nash watched as her brother tried to save face moments after showing his backside. He took his dark gray Stetson, pressed it against his thigh and blew out a sigh she recognized as frustration.

“I didn’t say that and you know it.”

Madi pulled out her long braids, tamed the waves with her fingers and then sectioned her hair again. She separated it into three parts. Ever since she was a little girl she did what her eldest brother, Declan, had dubbed “angry-braiding.” It wasn’t like she could correct him. The evidence throughout her thirty years of life was fairly damning. Every scowl or frown captured in photographs or home movies was accompanied by long braids down her back or across her shoulders.

Some people counted to ten to cool off; she made her hair more manageable.

“You didn’t have to say the words, Des. You gave me that look and then that tone. Don’t for a minute deny it, either. Even outside our triplet telepathy I know your moods.”

Desmond rolled his eyes. It was his trademark move for their disagreements.

“All I asked was if you had been to the ranch lately,” Des countered. “I didn’t suggest you were destroying anything, let alone our family.”

Madi tried not to let the guilt move into her gut again. Instead she channeled her irritation. Her hands went across her chest and her chin rose a fraction.

“And why would you ask that? You’ve never asked about me going to the ranch before.”

“Because up until three months ago, you lived on that ranch.”

If Desmond had been anyone else, Madi would have blushed at how childish she knew she sounded. But he was her brother. So she huffed and pretended there was nothing wrong with what she’d just said. She finished the braid over her left shoulder, then looked at anything but him.

“For your information, I had lunch with Ma and Nina a few weeks ago and it was lovely.”

Desmond gave her a pointed stare.

“And was that at the ranch or in town?”

It was Madi’s turn to roll her eyes. It didn’t matter that she was an adult who had opened and currently ran her own business; Desmond still found a way to make her feel like she was a child again. A child who was perpetually in need of a guide to help her through the life he thought she should be living. It was at all times frustrating; seldom was it touching. In those few instances, a voice deep inside Madi would remind her why Desmond was protective of her more than he was with her brothers.

Now wasn’t that time.

“You’re making it sound like I’ve abandoned my family,” she said. “As you said yourself, I’ve lived on that ranch for basically all of my life. I don’t have to set foot on the property every day, you know.”

Des rolled his eyes again. They were bright and ever-changing blue, just like hers and Caleb’s. Madi felt another jab of guilt looking into them. He’d been the first person she’d told about her dream of running a bed-and-breakfast and the first person who had encouraged her to follow that dream when the old Richman house had gone up for sale.

Even now, after her childishness, he kept to the high road.

“I’m not saying you are obligated to check in. You don’t have to go to the ranch at all, but you need to at least own up to the reason why you’re currently not making any appearances there.” His expression softened. “You’re avoiding Mom and you know it.”

Madi did know it but she didn’t dare admit it. Thankfully, she didn’t have to find a way to avoid the truth he was pointing out to her a moment longer. Like she knew his moods, she had to concede that he knew hers. Des took his cue to leave with grace. He walked around the table, gave her a kiss on the forehead and smiled. Then on went the Stetson.

“I really am proud of what you’ve done here, Madi. So are Mom and the others. Give them a chance to prove it to you.”

Madi watched him leave without another word.

In the small town of Overlook, Tennessee, there were no hotels or motels. If you wanted a place to lay your head, then you’d have to leave town limits to get it. The Hidden Hills Inn was Overlook’s quick and easy option for tourists who’d rather not bust their budgets by trying to rent one of the few cabins deeper in the forest and near the mountains. Or at the Wild Iris Retreat.

There was that flare of guilt again.

Her family owned the retreat. One Madi had left to open her own version of a hotel.

They’re different, she reminded herself. The retreat was for guests seeking an authentic experience of living on a ranch and staying on the land. Hidden Hills was just a cozy, less expensive place to spend a night or two. I’m not stealing anyone from Mom! They have more business than I do!

Someone cleared their throat behind her. Madi jumped clear out of her seat.

“Whoa there!” Julian had his hands out as if he could steady her despite the distance between them. “Sorry! I thought you heard me.”

Madi put her palm against her chest and gave him an embarrassed smile.

“No worries. I was just stuck in my own head.” She motioned to the road that Des had just driven away on. “My brother has a habit of making me think too hard.”

Julian took the joke with a good laugh and what almost looked like a dose of relief. Though maybe that was a touch of wishful thinking on Madi’s part. There was no denying Julian Mercer was a handsome man. His hair was as black as night and cropped close, neat. His eyes were dark, too, but held a softness to them as they moved to hers. While he was a tall, obviously muscled man, the sharp angles of his nose and jaw were an elegant kind of ruggedness. Madi placed his age around her own and noted on reflex that his ring finger was very much bare.

“Family has a funny way of doing that, don’t they?”

Madi nodded. Heat surprised her by moving up to her cheeks beneath the man’s dark gaze. It inspired an offer she didn’t have time to think about before saying.

“Would you like to join me, Mr. Mercer?” She waved to the table behind her; the lemonade pitcher on its surface had more than enough for two more glasses left in it. “Unless you would prefer to be alone, which is absolutely fine.”

The man’s smile only stretched.

“You can call me Julian,” he said, moving around her to the other chair. Its dainty size made him look even more rugged and muscled. Still, there was a softness to his eyes. One that, despite herself, intrigued Madi.

“And you can call me Madi. Madeline was my grandmother.”

Julian nodded and watched politely as she flipped a cup right side up from the serving tray and filled it. He chuckled before taking a drink.

“What’s so funny?”

“My friend just told me I need to learn how to enjoy myself more. One thing he suggested?” He tipped his glass toward her. “Buy a lady a drink. I was wondering if this counts?”

The heat in her face started to travel south, propelled by the glint in his eye. Madi knew it was probably just her imagination and yet...

“I wouldn’t say that it doesn’t.”

Julian’s eyebrow arched but his smile stayed.

“I can work with that.”

They lapsed into a pleasant conversation. It stretched into a walk along one of the trails. Then that became dinner. A proper drink came after.

Madi was too wrapped up in the unexpected great time to notice that the figure out in the woods that night wasn’t just a shadow between the trees. It was a man.

Watching.

Waiting.

Chapter Two

Six months later, Madi was standing on the back porch, trying really hard to convince herself that she wasn’t thinking about Julian Mercer. There wasn’t time, and even if there were, she had already gone down that particular road so much that her tires were absolutely bare. Her metaphorical tires. Her real tires were in fine condition and attached to the van she hadn’t wanted, but needed, to buy.

She replaced the mental image of smiling Julian Mercer with one of her behind the wheel, gunning in the direction of Loraine Wilson. She knew it wasn’t polite, but it made her smile to imagine wiping the smug look off that wealthy woman’s face.

Madi knew a murderous rampage was taking her irritation too far, but she could blame it on her hormones.

Being pregnant, in the Tennessee summer heat no less, had stretched her patience and politeness thin.

“How are you doing it?”

Jenna Diggins—Hidden Hills’ chef, bartender and occasional cleaner—nodded toward the stone pathway that led from the backyard and forked between the rental cabin and a small nature trail. Loraine, one of three guests currently booked at Hidden Hills, was pacing across it, immersed in her phone conversation.

“How am I doing what?” Madi asked, feigning innocence. Jenna wasn’t just the only other employee—she had been Madi’s friend for a decade.

Jenna giggled. She bumped her shoulder against Madi’s.

“How are you destroying Mrs. Pearls and Coiffed Hair?”

Madi swatted at the woman but didn’t deny anything.

“Destroying seems like such a harsh word. What I’m doing is simply giving her a love bump with my new mom van.” She paused, then grinned. “Over and over again.”

Jenna laughed and handed her a bottle of water from her backpack. Madi took it, grateful.

Summer in Tennessee was just about Madi’s favorite time. Every tree and flower was teeming with life; every stream, creek and river was asking for companionship; and the skies stayed a shade of blue that had a way of making Madi appreciate life all the way down in her bones.

Or at least that had been her feeling about the sunny season before she’d been pregnant.

Now the sun made her already-hot body hotter, the trees and flowers stood by as the mosquitoes and bugs dive-bombed her every chance they got, and the blue of the sky was a reminder that she wasn’t the same woman she had been the year before. Just like she wouldn’t be the same woman next year, either.

The water was the only part of summer that Madi remained fond of, which was why she was getting ready to show the guests to the creek in the nearby forest that stretched across the property line. Madi had grown up taking advantage of the creeks and ponds and rivers to cool off. Not even Loraine’s passive-aggressive comments could derail her plans to enjoy herself today.

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Heat instantly flooded Madi’s cheeks. Ray Cutler, the guest staying in the rental cabin, gave them a humoring look.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “After listening to her go on and on about how she had to let her dog nanny go because she was positive he was watching her Netflix, I can appreciate your frustration.”

Jenna laughed but Madi still felt shame at being caught bad-mouthing a guest. After her whirlwind romance earlier that year she’d made a vow to never stray into unprofessional territory again. She should have known better. Yet there she was prattling on about how she’d like to run over someone less than two yards away.

“It’s the hormones making me cranky,” she said, knowing it was a lame excuse. “That and the heat, and I can’t stop babbling nonsense.” Jenna snorted. Madi pushed on. “Are you ready to go, Ray?”

Ray was what Madi’s mother, Dorothy, would call a middle man. He wasn’t short but he wasn’t tall. There was no myriad of muscles filling out his clothes but he wasn’t bone thin, either. He had one of those faces that seemed to be universally familiar, pleasant to look at but not knee-buckling handsome. His hair was a dirty blond, cut short and wavy, and for the last two days he’d been sporting a pair of glasses across his dark eyes. His personality so far had fallen in the middle, too. Polite and quiet but vocal when you hit the right topic. Madi liked the man because—unlike Loraine and her husband, Nathan—his love for the outdoors and Overlook seemed genuine. He cracked a broad smile.

“Two lovely ladies taking little ole me out to the creek on a hot summer day? This day would only get better if I could go back and tell my fifth-grade self about it.”

Madi and Jenna laughed and soon they were off across the stone path. Loraine ended her call but didn’t seem interested in focusing on her husband. Instead she breezed past him and matched Madi’s pace when the stones ended and the dirt trail began.

“Sorry about that,” she started, waving her smartphone around. “You’d think our gardener would know what we want by now. Do I like succulents? Yes. Do I want them in my bedroom? No. Roses are the only flower I’ll allow in there, and only on special occasions. You’d think after working for us for over a year he’d know better.” She let out a long, dramatic sigh. “But I suppose it isn’t his fault. His daughter is trying to become some kind of interior designer. She’s been trying to use me for practice. Stick with what you know, little girl. I’m not running some kind of weird work charity.”

Loraine gave Madi a look that clearly said she was waiting to be agreed with. Madi begrudgingly flexed her customer service muscles.

“Working relationships are hard to navigate sometimes. I used to work with my family before I opened Hidden Hills. It definitely can be tricky.”

Loraine nodded emphatically. Her hair, a teased-out red that matched her shade of lipstick and her purse, barely moved at the motion. A look of disgust flitted across her impeccably made-up face.

“My Nathan is a wonderful man in the boardroom but I barely can stand him at the house sometimes. I can’t imagine working alongside him, either. He’s been talking about retiring early and staying at home and that just makes my skin crawl.” Loraine let out a laugh. It wasn’t a good one. From Madi’s experience with the socialite during the past two days, she knew what was coming next. “Maybe I should do what you did. Buy a funny little house out in the middle of nowhere to keep myself busy. How fun would that be?”

Madi couldn’t blame the pregnancy hormones on the rage that kicked up in her chest. Luckily, she didn’t have the time to regret anything she might have said. Loraine prattled on without a care in the world.

And right onto the worst subject she could have prattled about.

“Though I suppose you won’t be doing this for much longer. Once that baby of yours is here you won’t have time to be a single mother and run your little inn.” Madi must have made a face. Loraine adopted a look of concern. Madi doubted it was real. “Oh, honey, just remember, there’s no shame in raising a kid all on your own. Whoever the father is, I’m sure you had nothing to do with him abandoning you. Try not to beat yourself up about it, okay? It isn’t healthy for you or the baby.”

Every part of Madi tensed. Her shoulders, her jaw, her fists. Her heart. Good customer service and good manners became just words in her head. Loraine Wilson continued to smile. There was a pointedness to it. An edge. Sharper than she’d expect from the wife of a rich businessman from Portland.

Loraine was intentionally trying to rile her up.

Why?

Was she that bored? Was she that unhappy in her own life that she had to tear down others?

“Hey, Madi! Could I steal you for a second? I have a question about tonight’s dinner.”

Bless her heart, Jenna appeared at Madi’s other elbow like a guardian angel. She gave her a squeeze that brought Madi out of her angry haze and back to reality.

“Sure, let’s talk.” Madi pointed a small nod and an even smaller smile at Loraine. “Just keep following the path. If you’ll excuse me a moment.” The woman seemed put out that the conversation was ending and let her husband, Nathan, who had been trailing behind them deep in his business call, walk alongside her.

Madi and Jenna waited until there were a few feet between them and started walking again.

“That was uncalled-for,” Jenna said in a harsh whisper. “Want me to go get the van?”

Madi didn’t mean what she said next but her heart was hurting. And she was sure that Loraine had done that on purpose.

“Forget the van. I’d like results faster than that.”

Jenna’s expression softened. She put her arm around her friend. They walked the rest of the way to the creek without saying a word.

The pain in Madi’s chest only grew once she dipped her feet into the cool, crisp water.

Madi felt no joy in it.

And that was Loraine’s fault, too.

* * *

THE DAY CRAWLED into night. After showing the guests the creek, Madi busied herself with chores around the inn. For the first time since opening Hidden Hills, she skipped dinner with the guests. Not that it was required of her or even asked, yet she had thought it was a nice touch. Tonight she couldn’t stomach sitting there and pretending everything was all right.

It wasn’t.

Even before Loraine showed up.

It had been almost five months since Madi had found out she was pregnant. In that time a lot of things had gone right and wrong. The inn had hit its stride for a few months and made Madi money rather than just breaking even. She threw herself into work and welcomed the distraction that kept her thoughts away from the fact that Julian Mercer was nowhere to be found.

The number he’d given her was disconnected. The emails she’d sent bounced back. His social media existed but wasn’t active. They’d spent two amazing, surprising and magical days together that had turned into a week. One blissful week she had never imagined would be as great as it had been. Yet the moment Julian’s SUV had disappeared down the road on his way out, it was like the man had vanished completely.

Since then the burn of anger and embarrassment had cooled. The drive to be the best parent she could be had taken its place. Along with what she had thought was acceptance. Never seeing the father of her unborn child again was a harsh reality, sure, but what had she really expected? What they’d had was, to her, once-in-a-lifetime hot, but once in a lifetime nonetheless. Julian had been a ship passing in the night. A momentary escape.

Though that had been her decision, hadn’t it?

Could she be mad at him for being radio silent after she’d been the one who said their week together was all they should have?

Madi ran her hand over her naked belly. The water from the bath had never been that warm. Now it was cold. She was only fooling herself. Almost every single time she felt her stomach she thought about Julian. Where was the mountain of a man who had rocked her world? She felt an emptiness that let Madi know she hadn’t accepted anything. At least, not with any enthusiasm.

The music that had been playing from her phone lowered. A rhythmic sequence of beeps filled the bathroom as a call came through. Jenna’s name scrolled along the screen. Madi wasn’t about to ignore her friend, even if she’d asked not to be disturbed.

Madi sloshed water out of the tub and with wet fingers answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Sorry to mess up your quiet night,” Jenna said, diving in. “But, uh, I have Nathan here with me right now and—” There was a rustling sound as she must have moved away from the man. She lowered her voice as she continued. “He wants to know if you and Loraine are done talking.”

Madi gave her reflection in the mirror over the sink a dubious look before grabbing her towel to dry off.

“Come again?”

“Right? That’s what I was thinking when he asked but he said that you called Loraine an hour ago and asked her to come up to your room. He tried calling her to come to dinner but the phone went straight to voice mail. He didn’t want to come up there because he didn’t know the rules.”

Madi felt her eyebrows fly high.

“Why would I do any of that? I wanted to not be disturbed because of Loraine. She was two seconds out from getting popped in the face.”

“Nathan seems adamant.”

Madi sighed.

“Tell him to go ahead and call Loraine again. She was probably just tying up the phone line with her gardener complaining about life.”

Jenna repeated the suggestion while Madi bent down awkwardly. She felt around for the drain plug and shouldered the phone. When a song started blaring from the next room she nearly dropped both.

“What in the world?”

“What?” Jenna asked, voice still low.

Madi pulled the drain plug up and placed it on the counter. She shook her hand off and looked at the door separating her from the small living area. A weird knot started to tighten in Madi’s stomach. She slipped into her robe.

“What’s going on, Madi?”

“I think Loraine might really be in my living room,” she whispered. “A phone is going off.”

Jenna said something, but for the life of her, Madi couldn’t pay attention to what it was. Her focus narrowed to pinpoint precision. She opened the door, ready to confront the woman who was still managing to ruin her day, but found it empty. Or, at least, no one was around.

A cell phone continued to play music from the coffee table. It wasn’t the only thing out of place. A shotgun sat next to it. Madi’s blood ran cold.

“That’s Dad’s.”

“What’s going on, Madi?”

Madi felt like she was falling down some wild rabbit hole. She knew that shotgun. Her father’s initials were carved into the grip. Right next to her grandfather’s. It was supposed to be at the ranch.

Not on her coffee table with a phone that wasn’t hers.

The phone finally stopped ringing. Madi touched the gun, running her finger over her dad’s initials to make sure it was real.

“I’m coming up,” Jenna said, no longer trying to be discreet.

Madi heard the concern, knew she should say something, but another detail caught her attention.

Her bedroom door was closed.

With steps that felt like wading through water, Madi went to the door and swung it wide.

“Oh my God.”

She saw the pearls around the woman’s neck first. The dark red, tight-fitted dress second. The Louboutin pumps third.

Finally, as though her eyes had been reluctant, Madi saw the woman’s red hair. It flowed around a disfigured face covered in blood.

She was dead.

And if Madi were a betting woman, she’d wager that the gun lying on her coffee table had been used to murder Loraine Wilson.

Chapter Three

“And you think this is a good idea?”

Chance Montgomery gave him a look filled with skepticism.

“I never said it was a good idea,” Julian admitted. “I just said it was an idea.”

They were standing on the side of the road, their cars parked in front of the town of Overlook welcome sign. It was as quaint as Julian remembered. Worn but filled with charm. Two small spotlights lit up the hand-painted letters. It sent a warm glow bouncing off the hood of his truck.

It probably would have been better to come back during the day but the pull of seeing the Overlook innkeeper had tugged Julian right off the road to his new life.

Chance took his cowboy hat off. He’d been finishing up a personal matter in North Tennessee and had met up with Julian to caravan on the way back to Alabama. He sucked on the toothpick between his lips. He’d gotten it from the diner where they’d eaten an hour ago. In another hour they were supposed to be stopping at a hotel. The next day, Tuesday, they’d be in Alabama at the security firm. Next Monday would be Julian’s first official day as a private bodyguard.

His first official day in his new life.

Yet there they were.

“Well, I can’t really tell you not to do it,” Chance said. “Just that you might want to think it over a little. I can’t say my track record with women has been outstanding but even I’d be a bit worried about rolling into town unannounced. You haven’t talked since you left. That’s a lot of time between then and now. A lot could have changed.”

Julian knew better than anyone how different life could be from one moment to the next. He knew how just one second could irrevocably change everything. He also knew that dropping in after all this time could be construed as too much.

“Listen, I’m not going to go there and stand outside in the rain with a stereo over my head and hearts in my eyes,” Julian deadpanned. “I’m just going to see if there’s an opening at the inn for the night and, if there is, see if she wants to grab a quick meal to catch up. Last we talked she was worried about the inn doing well and I was on the way to a job interview.” He shrugged. “Nothing more or less than a conversation or two. Then I’m back on the road tomorrow. No harm, no foul.”

“And if she doesn’t want you there?”

Julian shrugged again, though he had to admit he didn’t like the thought.

“Then I’m back on the road tonight.”

Chance nodded, conceding to the logic. Plus, he was right, there wasn’t much he could do to stop Julian from taking the detour.

“Well, here’s to hoping she’s not married and keeping your time together a secret from her husband,” Chance teased. He clapped Julian on the shoulder and went back to his truck. Before he got in he paused and grinned. “And if she’s happy to see you, well, then I guess I’ll see you Monday morning.”

Julian watched his friend take off down the road before he got back into his own truck. There he sat and stared at the sign for a moment. It had been over half a year since Julian had seen Madi Nash. For all he knew she could absolutely be married. She could have sold the inn. She could have moved.

She could be happy to see him.

She could wish he hadn’t shown up at all.

Julian scrubbed a hand down his face and exhaled. He’d been deployed six times in his career, three of those in combat zones. He’d set boots down in the dusty heat of Iraq. He’d navigated the islands of Japan with little more than a partially busted radio. He’d even, to the chagrin of their spec-ops commander, fought his way through a bar brawl in Germany. And yet here he was, in small-town Tennessee, actually nervous that a golden-haired, freckled-skinned bed-and-breakfast owner was going to put him in his place.

How the mighty had fallen.

Not that he’d counted himself as mighty.

Julian finally turned the engine over and got back onto the road. He marveled at the fact that he remembered the town as well as he did. The streetlamps across the main strip cast light on the same businesses he remembered, just as the moonlight shone across the houses and landscapes he’d passed before. Not much had changed. He knew plenty of people, including those he’d served with, who would have been bored by the lack of change. Julian welcomed the familiarity. It was everything he was hoping to have for himself when he finally got settled in his new job. Roots. Ones that grounded him. Ones that centered him.

A life that would start after the detour.

The GPS on his phone remained off as the houses turned to fields, the fields turned to trees, and the trees started to open up to the inn’s property, which he’d recalled countless times in the last half year. Despite all of his resolve, he was starting to feel something like nerves when the drive curved, indicating the inn was almost in sight. In his mind Julian had already pulled into one of the spots, gotten out of the car with calmness and determination and bounded up the stairs with a smile on his face.

However, what really happened when the road straightened and the inn came into view was drastically different.

Blue and red lights were strobing from the tops of two parked deputy cruisers. One had two uniforms standing next to it. They were talking to a man Julian recognized from pictures in Madi’s room as one of her triplet brothers. A truck was pulled up on the grass next to him, and in the far corner of the lot was something that made Julian even more uneasy.

It was a coroner’s van.

Julian coasted to a stop far enough away from the closest cruiser so everyone could still drive around him. By the time he cut his engine, one of the deputies was on his way over. The other seemed to be in deep conversation with Desmond Nash. Neither of them looked his way.

“Howdy there,” the deputy greeted. His voice was tight. As was his body language. “How can I help you?”

Julian wished he were a people person, but he knew better. Sure, he prided himself on being a good friend, but putting strangers at ease had never been in his wheelhouse. He didn’t have the patience, especially now.

“I’m here about a room,” he stated without any preamble. “What’s going on?”

The deputy looked like a man who very much did not like what was going on. His jaw hardened.

“There’s been an incident that we’re investigating.” He cast a look back at the inn. Jenna, Madi’s friend and employee, shut the front door behind her with enough vigor to draw the attention of everyone outside. She didn’t look sorry for the force. Though when she swept her gaze across her onlookers as she stepped off the porch, she stopped with obvious surprise at Julian.

Neither had a chance to explain.

The door behind Jenna opened. A dark-skinned woman with a badge swinging against her chest came out. Her face was impassive, frown set so deep that Julian tensed even more than he thought was possible.

That was when he saw Madi.

In the distance between them the glow of moonlight mixed with the whirls of blue and red. It was unsettling.

But what put fire in Julian’s gut the most?

Madi’s hands were handcuffed in front of her.

A uniform led her out, hand against her back. Her eyes stayed on the porch as she walked to the steps.

“What’s going on?” Julian asked, his voice becoming an octave too low. The deputy tensed in return. His hand moved near the butt of his service weapon. Julian made sure not to move another inch, but couldn’t stop himself from yelling when she was waiting for her escort to open the back of the closest cruiser. “Madi?”

For a moment Julian was worried she hadn’t heard him. But then she turned, first her face and then her entire body. From the side Julian noticed something he hadn’t seen when she’d first walked through the front door.

Her stomach.

Her pregnant stomach.

Part of Julian’s mind went into overdrive; the other, cool-under-pressure part gave him the patience to stay still.

Madi’s eyes widened in surprise, just as Jenna’s had.

“I didn’t do it,” she yelled. “I swear!”

Then, in a movement that was neither harsh nor easy to watch, Madi was ushered into the back seat. When the door closed behind her, all Julian could do was stare.

* * *

GRANDMA MADELINE NASH had always said a person was never given more than they could handle in life. She’d said it when their house was destroyed in a flood, when the ranch fell on hard times, after her husband passed away, when the triplets were abducted and right through the aftermath of the attack, leading up to her only son’s death.

Madi put her head in her hands. She had a hard time believing she could handle everything like her namesake had. She’d been at the Wildman County Sheriff’s Department for almost five hours. In that time she’d been handcuffed to a metal table in the interrogation room before being uncuffed and brought a rolling office chair because it had more padding. During those five hours she’d only spoken to three people.

The first had been Detective Santiago, her brother’s partner. Jazz was a family friend but treated Madi with short, clipped questions. Where had Madi been in the hours leading up to dinner? Why had she called Loraine? If she hadn’t done it, then why did the call log on her phone say she had? Where did she get the shotgun?

How badly had she hated the woman?

Madi had gone over her afternoon and night several times before Jazz excused herself. Her brother Caleb never came in.

Declan, the sheriff and Madi’s eldest brother, eventually did and explained why.

“Caleb can’t work this case because he can’t get his emotions in check,” Declan had said. He hadn’t sat down across from her. His body was riddled with tension, his face pulled down in a frown. Madi didn’t need any triplet connection to know he was trying his best to keep his own emotions in check. “Him working this case is a big-time conflict of interest. Jazz will take over as well as a detective from the local PD in Kilwin down the road.”

“She’s teaming up with the police department?” Madi had been stunned at the news. The two only ever worked together on emergencies like high-speed chases that crossed the town limits or manhunts that spanned the county. Now they were doing the same with her?

It made her already-knotted stomach quake.

Declan had sighed.

“It was at Mayor Harding’s suggestion, and honestly, it took all I had to convince him to keep us on the case. You have two brothers on the force. Our family history doesn’t help. This is only going to rock the boat on public perception of us.”

“Family history? Do you mean the abduction?” she had nearly shrieked. “We were eight! How is that our fault?”

“I’m not blaming any of you for that, and you know that. I meant what happened with Caleb last year. I think the mayor would like the Nashes out of the spotlight for a while. Even though you know as well as I do that the town has never really let go of what happened when you were kids.”

Madi did know that Overlook was incapable of forgetting one of its biggest unsolved mysteries. It wasn’t every day that three children were attacked, abducted and held for three days before escaping on their own...and that, to this day, no one had ever been able to ID the man responsible. Never mind understanding his motive.

As far as what had happened with Caleb, talk had gotten out of hand quickly but had died down.

Or so Madi had thought.

“The mayor thinks it’s best for you, the department and the town if we’re extra careful with how we move forward,” he continued, as if his words were scripted.

“And that means what exactly?”

Declan let out another long sigh. This time Madi saw the defeat in it.

“That means that my chief deputy will run point on this case while I handle the rest of the department and try to keep this in-house as much as I can. Past that, Caleb and I will have nothing to do with this case. We can’t afford anyone blaming us for favoritism or being impartial.”

Madi felt the tears spring to her eyes before they ever fell down her cheeks. She was angry. She was scared. Caleb being taken off the case made sense. Declan stepping away hadn’t crossed her mind as a possibility.

Pain twisted his expression. His face softened.

“I know you didn’t do it, Madi,” he said, voice low. “But the evidence against you is pretty damning. I can’t dismiss it, even though I know you’re innocent. Hell, I think everyone in this department knows it, too. We just have to do our jobs and do them carefully, or we could end up hurting your cause instead of helping it.” He reached out and touched her hand. “Jazz is great at her job. So are the rest of my people.”

Madi wiped at her cheeks. She nodded.

“I understand.”

He smiled but then let go of her hand. Then his face went stony.

“Are you sure there’s no one who could corroborate your side of the story, though?”

Madi shook her head. She brought her hand down to her stomach.

“It was only the two of us.”

Declan left soon after. Another hour went by. Madi’s thoughts went between everything that had happened and the other surprise she’d gotten that night.

Julian Mercer.

In the flesh.

This might be too much for me to handle, Grandma, she thought ruefully.

The third person to visit her finally was Caleb. He moved into the room like they were teens again and sneaking out of the house to go to the barn loft to meet their friends. He hurried to her side and crouched down next to her. There was an undeniable excitement in his movements that she didn’t understand.

“Why did you lie to us, Madi?” he asked in a rush. “Pride be damned, you’re looking at murder charges!”

Madi felt her eyes widen. Did Caleb really think she killed Loraine?

“What are you—”

“You should have told us about your alibi the moment we showed up on scene!” Madi didn’t know what he was talking about. She said as much. Caleb looked exasperated. “I know you didn’t want to get him in trouble with his boss, but my God, Madi, this is serious.”

“His boss?”

“Julian Mercer. Your alibi.” He thumbed back to the door. “He just wrote his official statement about you two being together. I mean, yeah, I have some personal questions I’d like to ask—for instance, who the heck is this guy—but right now he could be that creep you dated in college and I’d be happy as punch.”

Madi didn’t have time to correct her brother before the door opened and in walked Declan and a man who must have been the lawyer.

They expressed the same sentiment.

Madi should have come clean about being with Julian during the afternoon and leading up to the discovery of Loraine’s body, instead of trying to cover for him so he didn’t get into any trouble with his boss. No one’s job was worth the risk of her being suspected of murder.

Now they couldn’t charge her. Which meant they couldn’t hold her there any longer.

The air in the interrogation room became lighter. Her brothers’ shoulders were no longer sagging. There was new life behind every word and movement. The entire mood had changed.

It made Madi realize how dire her situation had been before Julian’s lie.

And that was what it was—a lie.

Yet with one hand resting on her pregnant belly, Madi realized it was a lie she wouldn’t correct.

Not until Loraine’s real murderer was caught.

Chapter Four

“So I’ve been downgraded to lead suspect instead of a shoo-in for murder.”

Madi was as beautiful as Julian remembered but undoubtedly tired. Her eyes were red and swollen. She rubbed her hands together, fretting with nervous energy. They stood outside the Wildman County Sheriff’s Department. A hint of the sunrise colored the distance. The air was cool and seemed to add to her discomfort.

Julian wanted to reach out and take all of the concern and worry away, but truth be told, he was out on his own limb of uncertainty.

He’d just lied to the authorities. In a big way, too.

“They’re going to find the real person who did this,” he said, hands shoved into his pockets to curb the urge to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Now that they aren’t focused on you they can do that.”

Madi shot a nervous look toward the front doors. They were standing next to the sheriff’s truck in the parking lot. Declan and Caleb were still inside. This time with the husband of the murdered woman. He’d been out-of-his-mind angry and had to be kept in a separate part of the building.

I don’t care if she’s pregnant! She killed my wife! She killed my Loraine! She needs to pay!

The man had been so certain of Madi’s guilt, so incensed by it, that he had spit as he’d yelled. His fervor had solidified Julian’s urge to help Madi.

He knew without a doubt that Madi was innocent. He’d felt it in his bones the moment she’d yelled out to him that she didn’t do it. He’d jumped into his SUV and flown to the station, ready to watch as the rest of the department believed her, too.

Yet it didn’t happen.

Or at least, the evidence forced their hands.

The looks across the local deputies’ faces changed as the hours wore on. Julian stayed in the lobby with the flimsy reasoning of being a friend of Madi’s. He waited to be questioned but no one ever came for him. In all the uproar he’d seemingly melted away into the scenery. He’d only had the chance to talk to Jenna to get the quick and short story of what had happened before she’d had to leave. The sheriff and Caleb could be seen, angry and whispering. The entire department’s mood went from determined to find the alternate story to souring. Then on edge. When Julian had seen the lawyer come in through the lobby, wearing a suit and an expression that meant he was in for a rough ride, the need to help Madi had punched through Julian’s gut until he was standing in front of her brother and lying through his teeth.

Now he was standing in front of Madi and telling the same lie.

“I sneaked in an hour before Jenna called you, parking my vehicle off the road and hiding in the trees so no one knew I was there. That’s why you didn’t want to eat dinner with the guests, which is unlike you,” he spelled out. “I was with you in the bathroom when Jenna called. You found the body, but I was next to you. Realizing the cops were going to be involved, I went out the window and made it to my car. Then I pretended to come in for the first time so no one would suspect I’d been there at all.”

Madi’s eyes were wide and blue. Oh so blue.

“And the reason I didn’t want to be caught up in an investigation was because I was worried that it would get me fired before I ever started my job next week.” Julian shrugged. “Not a noble story, but everyone in there knows you didn’t do it so it made sense to them.”

The innkeeper ran a hand over her belly. Her pregnant belly. Julian wanted to ask how far along she was but getting their story straight here, now, was the most important thing they could talk about. As she’d already said, it was a lie that had made the difference between murderer and lead suspect.

“Why?” she finally asked. “You... Well, you don’t know me. This could absolutely get you fired and jail time.” She lowered her voice and took a step closer. Julian could reach out and touch that baby bump between them if he were so inclined. “Why take that risk? Why lie?”

Julian gave her the honest truth.

“You said you didn’t do it and I believe you.”

A look he couldn’t interpret crossed the innkeeper’s expression. Then it transformed back into exhaustion.

“And am I to guess what we were doing together in secret last night?”

Julian felt the heat of their earlier intimate memories burn through him. Just as they had been throughout the last several months. Like lighter fluid thrown into a low flame. Hot, alarming and just a dangerous taste of what else could happen.

“The same thing we did last time I was here,” he answered. “Apparently, Caleb had no idea you and I had been romantic then. I had to tell him otherwise to give credence to my story now.”

Again, Julian wanted to search her expression to find the reason why she’d ended things, why she’d kept him a secret then and the time after he’d left, but he had to focus. Not that he could have gleaned the truth from the woman standing so close to him. Her expression was as guarded as her brothers’ had been when they’d brought her in. Maybe it was a Nash family trait.

“And why did you show up? Outside the fiction you’ve been spinning about our romantic encounter.”

Julian tried to smile, tried to downplay the eagerness he’d hidden from Chance when he’d decided to visit Hidden Hills. This time he lowered his voice.

“I just wanted to say hi before I went on to my new life.”

Madi was quick to comment. She wasn’t smiling.

“And now you’re my alibi in a murder investigation where I’m the lead suspect. If that’s not good—or bad—timing, I don’t know what is.”

Silence stretched between them for a few moments. Madi looked down at her hands on her stomach. Her expression was knotted in thought. When she met his eyes again there was a fire behind them. However, before she could speak, the door to the department swung open.

Caleb took the stairs down two at a time. When he got to them, he clapped Julian on the back and smiled for all he was worth.

“While I’m not exactly happy you waited so long to do it, I’m sure as hell glad you came forward,” he said, reiterating what he’d told Julian earlier. He gave his sister an equally enthusiastic smile. “I’m just glad we can all go home now.”

Madi didn’t share in his exuberance.

“My home is a crime scene,” she pointed out.

Caleb nodded, deflating slightly.

“Good thing that’s not the only home you have here.”

Madi looked like she wanted to say something else but Caleb wasn’t having it. The earlier stress had lifted. Now he was reveling in the lightness. Julian had been there before. He became reacquainted with the feeling at the end of every deployment.

Caleb motioned to his truck and addressed Julian directly.

“Why don’t you two follow me?” he said, already digging out his keys. “Mom and Nina have some beds made up and some breakfast going, depending on how you’re feeling.”

Julian’s eyebrow rose high.

“And where exactly are we going?”

The detective gave them both a grand smile.

“The Nash Family Ranch! Where else?”

* * *

THE SUNLIGHT MET them and followed them across town and right up to and through the entrance to the Nash Family Ranch. The last time she’d talked to Julian, Madi had been avoiding the ranch and her mother out of guilt.

Things hadn’t gotten much better. When she’d announced her pregnancy her mother had been happy, but also angry.

It had created a rift between them, one Madi’s brothers had tried to repair, but they found no easy way to soften either woman. Because even though her situation wasn’t ideal, Madi wouldn’t allow any negativity. No matter if it was a passive-aggressive comment or a wayward glance that held an edge.

Now, though, as the fields passed by on either side of Julian’s SUV and the ranch at the end of Winding Road became closer, Madi wanted to avoid her mother for an entirely new reason. Dorothy Nash had been through the wringer in the past three decades. She’d faced and dealt in heartache like she’d been cursed with bad luck. She’d seen needless violence and pain much more than any one person should have to bear.

And here Madi was, adding another heartache alongside the father of her child, who’d just committed a crime to keep her from being charged as a murderer.

Madi pressed her forehead against the cool of the window. It sounded like the plot to a movie where Harrison Ford would eventually be jumping out of an airplane or from one skyscraper rooftop to another to save the day.

“So, this is the famous family ranch?”

Julian’s eyes had been swiveling as he’d driven through the front gate that ended Winding Road. He was observant, that much Madi knew of the man. She had appreciated this skill during their week together. He’d noticed the shifts in her mood and thoughts with ease. He understood her.

Yet maybe that hadn’t been something special between them. Maybe that was just who Julian was. An observant man who had come into town, flashed his smile and then disappeared.

Then again, she’d been the one who said leaving was okay.

So what that Julian hadn’t reached out? He hadn’t picked up a phone, hadn’t sent an email, and the mailbox had remained free of any letter bearing his name.

That was what she had said she wanted, right?

Never to see him again?

Yet here he was.

It, along with everything else, filled Madi’s head like rising water. There wasn’t time to sort out what didn’t make sense. All she could hope to do was survive it. To keep swimming. To escape the flood.

So she held her tongue back from asking why Julian had gone silent and why he was back. Instead, she tried to answer him like she would a guest. Forced jubilance and pride. Polite but not overly expressive. A good middle ground.

“Yes, this is it. The Nash Family Ranch. Home to several generations of Nashes throughout the many years it’s been here.” She motioned to a road that forked off the straightaway. “That leads to the Wild Iris Retreat, the stables, several trails and Caleb and Nina’s new house.” She hesitated before detailing the rest of the ranch’s geography. The customer service lilt to her speech drained away. She couldn’t hide the weight of what had happened pressing her next words down. “You know, I don’t know if Mom has anyone staying at the retreat right now. If so, this could really hurt business. Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

Julian shook his head. For a moment she thought he was going to reach out to her, but he kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel.

“I don’t know your family but I have a feeling, just by what I’ve seen in the last few hours, that there’s nowhere else they’d rather you be.” This time his gaze swept over to her.

And then down to her stomach.

Madi ran her hand over it, as if she could shield herself from his questions. For months she had tried to tell him the very same thing she was trying not to bring up right now.

What if he reacted poorly? What if he decided to recant his statement? Madi now knew how bad things had looked for her with Loraine’s murder. What if she was actually convicted?

She’d lose her daughter.

From there Madi’s thoughts of the future spiraled. Fear and uncertainty pricked at her eyes, blurring her vision. She didn’t realize they were at the main house until Julian cut the engine.

“Madi.” His voice had gone low, a sound that normally put the fire of longing beneath her skin. This time, however, it wasn’t the sound of lust she heard. It was severity. Like a moth to a flame, she met his stare. She was unable to look away as he continued. “There is nothing you can tell me that would make me take back the alibi. Okay?”

Madi shouldn’t have been surprised that once again, Julian Mercer had read her like a book. He had a knack for that sort of thing. She nodded. He kept on.

“There’s no ring on your finger. You’re not married or engaged,” he continued. “Are you seeing someone?”

“No.”

Julian nodded, more to himself than the conversation.

Caleb’s truck door slammed shut near them. The porch light flipped on, bathing the SUV’s cab in an eerie glow. Julian wasn’t done yet, but Madi wanted to finish what she’d been trying to do for months.

Because as ridiculous as it was, Madi realized she trusted that Julian would keep his word. That even if he didn’t like the news, he wouldn’t betray her.

At least, she really hoped he wouldn’t.

“Julian,” she said, cutting him off just before he could say anything more, “she’s yours.”

Madi might have trusted the man, but in that moment, it was startlingly clear to her that she didn’t have his gift of observation. She couldn’t read his book. Not a single word.

Julian was a mystery to her.

And Madi was afraid he always would be.

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