Page 59 of Indigo Ridge (The Edens 1)

That knee-jerk thought hit so fast and hard that I flinched.

The doubts were Winslow’s doing. She’d put them in my brain, and now, whenever the topic of Lily came up, any previous assumptions had been tossed in the trash.

Was there more to her death? What if she hadn’t committed suicide?

Winn had been searching for a boyfriend or hookup during our stops at the bars. Maybe Lily had slept with someone recently. Maybe that guy had done something to mess with her head. Or maybe she hadn’t been alone on Indigo Ridge.

Maybe there was more.

“Was Lily dating anyone?” I asked.

“Not that I know of. Whenever I saw her at the bar, she was usually with other girls.”

Probably the same girls Winn had rattled off to John at Big Sam’s. Local girls. And knowing Mateo, he wouldn’t have paid them much attention.

My little brother took after me in that regard too. He wasn’t interested in a relationship and tourists wouldn’t be there to harass him for more come morning.

It was advice I’d given him.

Advice I wasn’t following myself.

“Heard you’re hooked up with Covie’s granddaughter. Winslow.” Mateo grinned. “I got a speeding ticket last week. Think you could get her to fix it for me?”

This idea that Winn and I would be able to keep our tryst under wraps had disintegrated like wet toilet paper. “It’s not like that.”

“Fuck buddies?”

That term grated on me and my hands tightened on the steering wheel. It was the right term but it was like nails scraping chalkboard in my ear. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Bumped into Emily Nelsen at Old Mill last night. She asked where you were. I told her you were probably at home and then she made some comment about how you could also be at Winslow Covington’s place.”

“Goddamn Emily.” I shook my head.

She was the reason I’d avoided Winslow’s place the past two days. Apparently, that had been pointless.

On Wednesday, I’d gone into Eden Coffee to grab one of Lyla’s sandwiches for lunch. She’d been talking to Emily, making nice. Lyla always made nice. Maybe because she was smarter than me. She kept her friends close and her enemies in the folds of her green apron.

Emily had never been mean to Lyla and they’d graduated at the same time. For a while, I’d thought they might have been friends but I hadn’t paid much attention. Then I’d screwed up and fucked Emily one night a

year ago, and ever since, all she’d done was linger around Lyla.

My sister was smart. She knew why Emily was kissing her ass.

I’d made the mistake of sitting at their table to visit with my sister. It had been . . . informative. Not only had Emily gossiped about every person in the coffee shop, but she’d also commented that she’d seen my truck at Winslow’s house three nights in a row.

I knew better. Damn it, I knew better. How could I have been so stupid as to forget that Emily lived in that neighborhood? Of course she’d recognize my pickup. The last thing I needed was to have rumors spreading around Quincy. It was the last thing Winn needed too.

So I’d stayed away.

It was the smartest decision. For both of us.

Winn was fighting enough battles at the moment. At the station. With the community—no thanks to Emily’s article. She didn’t need to wage war with the gossip mill too.

“She’s a good cop,” I told Mateo. “I think she was the right choice.”

For all the shit I’d given Winn for being an outsider, she fit here. She took the job seriously and had decent connections. Though I wasn’t thrilled about her friendship with Frank Nigel.

That asshole could go fuck himself. He’d had a problem with my family for no reason my whole life. He’d buy a latte from Lyla’s coffee shop, flirt with her until she was uncomfortable, then leave a shitty review on Yelp. He’d swing by Knox’s restaurant at The Eloise and tell everyone who’d listen that the food was mediocre.