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“You, of course, silly.”
“It’s been over a decade, Mom,” I scoffed. “I doubt that. Plus, she left me, remember?”
Her eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t as simple as her merely leaving, and you know that, Caden.”
Again, I shrugged off her opinion. To me it was that simple. I’d loved her with my whole heart and it hadn’t been enough to make her stay. “Let’s not get into it,” I suggested.
“But, Cade, I—”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Charlotte head to the door with her order.
“Good luck with the writing today. Love you, Mom.” I gathered my trash and stood. “I have somewhere to be.” While I didn’t quite storm out, my exit had an unintended dramatic flair that embarrassed me.
Halfway to her car, I stopped her with a hand on her arm, flinching at the burst of electricity that shot through me at the contact. I swiftly pulled away. “Hey, Charlotte? Can we talk?”
Surprised eyes met mine as she turned. “Sure.”
I needed to get to the bottom of her lie about being followed before the crash. She knew the mountain roads, how to drive in the snow and be safe. If someone was in my town threatening the people who lived here, it was my duty to put a stop to it.
Especially if the one being threatened was Charlotte.
Frustrated, I shook off my last thought. Bottom line, it didn’t matter who was in danger, it was my job to keep everyone safe.
The problem was where to start. Asking her direct questions would only serve to make her suspicious. She had lied to me before, I was sure of it, and she was not the type of person to lie for no reason, or even at all. Whatever had compelled her to downplay what happened had to be serious.
The wind kicked up, blowing a loose curl over her eye. My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I wanted to brush that curl back in the worst way. Instead, I ran a hand through my own hair and looked away with a short sigh.
“For someone who just asked to speak to me, you’re not very talkative.” I didn’t have to look at her to see the expression she wore. I’d seen it many times before: a small grin tipped higher on one side, her head tilted, blue eyes sparkling with mirth as she teased me.
A glance down at her confirmed I was correct. I tensed as nostalgia smacked me in the back of the head. “I’m sorry. I—it’s good you came home, Charlotte. Everyone missed you. About the car accident—”
“Thanks. Uh, you know I’m renting a townhouse over on Pine Street?” She was fidgety, trying to deflect my question like she had anticipated what I would ask. Or maybe the caffeine had just hit her system and she was jittery because of that. It would take me a few more minutes to read her right, given I was about ten years or so out of practice.
“I know. My entire family told me. Guess you’re sticking around then?” I winked, knowing it used to get her flustered. I wanted her off balance so she would answer my questions.
Her cheeks turned pink. “That figures. And yeah, I’ll be around. I thought I should warn you.” She let out a surprised laugh. “Dang, there really are no secrets in this town.”
“News travels fast around here. Speaking of that—”
“I heard you’re a detective now, and maybe in line to take over for your dad, too?” The wind blew her wavy ponytail over her shoulder. I forced my eyes away.
I had always loved her soft hair, how it felt against my bare skin, running my hands into it as I kissed her—damn it, now I was the one who was off balance. Clearing my throat, I forced that line of thought out of my head and reminded myself I had a job to do.
“That’s the plan. So, Matt mentioned that you knew you were being followed, is that right?”
“Violet invited me to her monthly book club, to uh, talk about my books, maybe sign a few. Are you okay with that? I haven’t said yes. I wanted to check with you first.”
Cutting off a frustrated sigh I answered. “Yeah, that’s fine. You don’t have to check with me about anything. You’re entitled to be here living your life just as much as I am. Are you going to answer me?”
Her eyes shifted to the side, and she took a huge sip of her coffee. “Um, about what?”
“We need to talk about the accident.”
“No, we don’t. It was someone named Bethany Rhodes behind me. You know all about it, don’t you? And I’m sure you know what’s in the police report, right? I told Matt everything I saw.”
“Are you sure? Sometimes when people get shaken up, things get forgotten.” I searched her eyes for something—for what, exactly, I’m not sure. “It’s normal, Charlotte. I want to help. If anything is amiss or you’re in trouble somehow, I’m here for you. Did you suspect someone else was following you?”
“Cade, nobody else was there. Okay?”
“Okay, Charlotte.” I studied her face, still convinced she wasn’t telling me everything, but willing to drop the subject until I could find another approach. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ll see you around town.” Getting away from her was imperative. Leftover feelings wrapped inside of a new worry for her safety flooded my mind and clouded my judgement. I needed to be alone to sort through them, to make sure my feelings for her weren’t leading me astray.
“Bye, Cade.” Her voice trailed after me as I booked it to my car. I couldn’t get away fast enough.
