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His kiss was like magic tumbling through her body, bringing her back in time when the world was full of excitement and possibilities, when her future was wide open and Chase would always be by her side. His hands cupped her cheeks as the kiss deepened. His lips moved over hers. For a moment, the warmth and familiarity of it made her ache, alerting her to a deep well of loneliness and longing inside her. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. But no, this was wrong. She wasn’t eighteen anymore, and she didn’t live in a happily-ever-after world.
The sad truth was, these last eight years there had been no other men in her life that she connected with as she had with him. She’d loved him so much. That kind of love doesn’t disappear, it gets buried under layers of doubt, fear, and mistrust.
Could she trust him again?
Probably not, but oh, Lord, how she wanted to. If she admitted it to herself, she wanted to step back into that girl’s shoes. The girl who no longer existed. The reality of the situation was that he didn’t come home to rekindle what they had. He wouldn’t even be there now if they weren’t forced to work together. He had put her in his rearview eight years ago and never looked back. She couldn’t forget that. This wasn’t about them, or even her. It was about Aiden.
He would never come back to Granite Falls, or to her.
She took a quick step back, breaking the kiss. She touched her lips and for a long moment, couldn’t look at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“We shouldn’t have.” She gave him a soft smile. “We need to focus on the case. Keep things…professional.”
“Of course. It won’t happen again.”
10
Chase saidthe words but didn’t feel them. He couldn’t believe he had kissed Jacquie. He crossed that line and now there was no coming back. No turning off the longing and the regrets that were washing over him. He thought he’d put her out of his mind for good and moved on. But he hadn’t. Not really. There’d been no one else all these years, no one serious. No one he would let close.
Now he knew why.
She was withdrawing from him. He could see it written on her face, the crossing of the arms, and the way she held herself. She was a long way from trusting him again.
“I should get back to the house,” she said and turned to walk that way.
He fell into step beside her, wanting to say something, anything to alleviate the awkwardness building between them, but was at a loss.
“How’s your mom doing?” She asked. “Last night was the first time I’ve seen her in years.”
“I don’t think she’s doing well, but she won’t admit it. Her house is falling apart, and she looks like she’s fallen on hard times. Do you know a good real estate agent in town? I would like to buy my mom something newer to live in, maybe something close to the hospital or her church.”
“Yes, Clay’s brother, Matt Spencer. I’ll send you his information.”
“Thanks. How is Clay?”
“Good. Though his sister died in a car accident last summer and he’s been raising his niece. Josh thinks her death might have something to do with whoever is running drugs in town.”
“What?” He remembered Clay’s younger sister.
“Yeah, believe it or not, she was run off the road.”
He stopped and looked at her. “That’s an eerie coincidence.”
“Yep.”
“She’d been helping Clay with a cabin he was renovating and stashed a bag of meth in the attic. Too much for personal use.”
“Do you think she was involved?” he asked.
“I didn’t know her, and I wasn’t here then so I can’t say, but Josh thinks she might have been seeing someone who was involved. Her kid was in the car with her. A sweet little girl.”
“Wow, I’m so sorry.”
“Last month, we arrested the McDonald boys for cooking meth. They tried to kill Josh and Jared.”
“You’re kidding?” He gaped at her for a long moment, then shook his head. “I guess Granite Falls isn’t the same sleepy small town I left.”
