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Chapter 1
Josie Carter pulled her silver Ford over to the side of the road and clambered out on stiff legs.Ed Sheerancrooned away in the background as she gazed awestruck at the amazing scenery surrounding her. Turning a full three sixty degrees, she sucked in a deep lungful of fresh mountain air. This was what she had driven eight hundred miles for. This was her new beginning, the start of her adult life.
She leant against the car and undid the cap on an unopened bottle of water. Chugging back at least half the bottle, she stood soaking up the silence. As she quietly sipped, she realized that it wasn’t actually silent. Through the mountain air the high peewee cry of a bird could be heard as it glided overhead. In the distance she heard the distinctive sound of moving water, a waterfall, perhaps. All around her the faint rustle of leaves shifted, moved by the soft mountain breeze that lifted her hair off her shoulders; tendrils swirled about her face and she swept them from her eyes. She’d had highlights put in a few days before, giving her own dull blonde hair a Nordic lift.
Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to drift for a few moments, the feeling therapeutic after living within the noise and bustle of San Diego. A couple of minutes passed before she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Slinging the half-drunk bottle onto the passenger seat, she stretched out her legs a few times as Max had taught her to do before jumping back into her car and setting off on the last leg of her journey.
As she swung the car out into what she assumed was a deserted highway, the sudden blast from a horn jolted her and she immediately slammed on the brakes. A large black SUV pulled in front of her, blocking her in.
“Shit!” She cursed, could this turn nasty? A tall, brown haired man stepped down from the driver’s side.
Josie wound down her car window but stayed inside the car. “Hey, sorry about that, the road appeared to be deserted. I guess I forgot to check my blind side, totally my fault!”
The man stood a couple of feet back from her window and listened without interrupting her apology. “No harm done, young lady, but you want to watch that bad habit, you could get yourself injured or worse one of these days. I suggest you turn that music down or, better still,off. You would concentrate better. Are you lost? Perhaps I can help; where’re you heading?”
He reminded her a bit of her grandfather, although this man was nowhere near as old as Liam O’Donnell.
“Thanks. I’m on my way to Corbin’s Bend, my grandparents live there. Do you know the town?”
The man nodded. “Sure do, I’m heading that way myself. Follow on behind and I’ll lead you there. Don’t forget to check your mirrors for that blind spot this time, young woman.”
Damn nerve of the man!She huffed crossly but nevertheless she turned off the music and carefully checked her mirror before pulling out onto the highway. It was extremely irritating to have the giant four by four blocking her view of the road ahead. The man drove his oversized vehicle creepily slow.
Eventually she spotted the domed shaped building, which she knew to be the medical center on her right; this was where her interview was taking place tomorrow. As they entered Spanking Loop, Josie grinned, remembering Max’s reaction when they had popped up here to visit her grandparents briefly last year. They had both done double takes when they saw the road name, and Max had reversed the car up to the sign, just so they could be sure they weren’t seeing things. Nope, it really did say ‘Spanking Loop.’ He’d taken a selfie of the two of them pointing at the road sign.
That was probably the moment they’d decided Corbin’s Bend was the place for them.
The SUV carried on past her grandparents’ turn off. The man waved to Josie as she turned left into the cul-de-sac where her grandparents’ spacious detached house stood. The houses along this stretch of road had a stunning view from behind them.
It was no different in design to its neighbors, other than a couple of unique touches added out front by her grandmother, Nicola O’Donnell. A horseshoe doorknocker fixed to the front door and a pair of fake ceramic hay bale planters sat either side of the doorstep, brimming with colorful plants. Josie had no sooner parked up on the wide driveway than the front door was flung wide open and her grandmother stepped out. Josie loved the way her grandma always acted as though they had just seen one another the day before instead of nearly a year back.
“Hey you.” Her grandmother greeted her with a warm kiss and a hug before drawing her inside the light and airy house.
Josie grinned as her grandfather came through from the back. He greeted her with a huge bear hug. She felt protected and loved by these two special people. She’d explained to Max during her visit last year how her grandparents had grounded her after her mother’s passing. Their kindness and support, invaluable at a time when she was grieving, had made her feel secure, which was just what she’d needed after her mother’s untimely death.
“Your dad’s keeping well, Josie?” Liam asked.
Josie pulled a face. “Yeah, he’s fine; the condo seems to suit him. You’ll never guess what, he’s met a lady golfing buddy!”
“Oh?” She saw her grandma’s gaze sharpen. “Nice. You like?”
Josie grinned. “We-ell, Dad likes her, and that’s the main thing, but she’s—”
“Not your mom. I understand.” Nicky smiled sympathetically at her. Her grandfather placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Coffee?” Nicky looked at each of them in turn, an eyebrow raised in question.
“Please!” they both chorused. Liam moved toward the door. Josie followed her grandmother.
“Josie, throw me your keys. I’ll fetch your bags.”
“Thanks, Grandpa.” Josie tossed him the key which he caught mid-air. He went out whistling.
Josie looked about her. Not much had changed since she’d been here last. Her grandparents had decorated the ultra-modern house using a ranch style theme. Pale butter-honey walls and wooden floors and a native woven rug achieved the aim of simplicity. The addition of a large bronze horse statue and the odd leafy pot plant put a modern slant on the traditional ranch home. Josie thought her grandmother’s use of old polished horseshoes as drink coasters was an ingenious touch.
Over the fireplace hung a huge picture of her grandmother’s twin sister, Claire. She sat astride a horse, eyes half closed in bliss as she tipped a canteen of water over her hot flushed face. Her head was tipped back, her hat and hair spilling over her shoulders. Each droplet of water held a tiny rainbow of colour caught by the photographer—Josie’s grandfather, Liam.
Claire, Josie knew from reading her grandmother Nicky’s diary, had been murdered way back in the 1960s. She was the sole reason why Nicky had travelled to the U.S.A. She’d met Liam on her father’s ranch in Arizona.
