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She returned my smile but didn’t say anything else. We’d shared our moment, and there honestly wasn’t anything left for either of us to say.
And even though I’d tried to sound confident that the person behind the poisonings would be caught, I was less certain than I’d ever been. Whoever it was seemed to be staying two steps ahead of the rest of us. The way things were looking now?
Yeah, they really might just get away with it.
Chapter 18
Janessa
Iwas still feeling conflicted when I got back home. I needed to talk about what I’d found out from Nora, but I also needed… well, I just needed Cade and Boone.
Instead of going into the house after I parked my car, I walked across the yard to the bunkhouse, hoping I’d find them there. I had almost reached the door when I saw them pull up in Cade’s pickup.
“Hey, darlin'.” Cade grinned, leaning out the driver side window as he stopped the truck next to me. “You need a ride?”
“You know I do,” I said, laughing. “I don’t even care where you’re going as long as you take me with you.”
Boone opened the passenger door and stepped out, pulling me in for a quick kiss before helping me up into the seat. Within just a few seconds, I was right where I needed to be—right between my guys.
“Your hair looks really nice,” Boone said, reaching over to gently push a blonde strand back away from my forehead. “I love how it looks when the sun hits it just right. Just like this.”
“You could shave all that hair off and still be the sexiest woman I know,” Cade said, tossing me a wink as he drove around the back of the bunkhouse and into the pasture.
I laughed and shook my head. “Thanks, I think? For as long as it took me to grow my hair out, I think I’ll keep it long for a while.”
“We do have some electric clippers we can use if you ever change your mind,” Boone said. “We wouldn’t even charge.”
“Well,” Cade added, waggling his eyebrows. “Maybe we wouldn’t chargecash. But we could probably work something out in trade.”
“Oh my God.” I rolled my eyes. “You guys are too much. But God, you don’t even know… I really needed a good laugh.”
They both gave me an adorably identical worried look. It really was hard to worry about anything at all when I was with them, but my conversation with Nora was still weighing on my mind.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Boone asked, reaching over to place a hand on my leg. “Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”
“Did something happen at the salon?” Cade asked. “Did you have any trouble getting back? Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”
I laughed again and shook my head. “No ass-kicking needed today, but I appreciate the sentiment.” I sighed, then looked from Boone to Cade and back again. “It’s Nora. I ran into her at the salon.”
Both sets of eyebrows shot up at the same time. Cade shot me a sideways glance as we bounced over the rough terrain of the pasture. “I knew you were up to something at that salon… you should have taken us with you.”
“Well… I didn’t know forsureshe’d be there,” I said, which was mostly true. “But anyway, when I saw her, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask some questions about the poisoning.”
They both looked interested now. “And?” Boone prompted. “Did she say anything useful? Anything we can take back to the sheriff?”
I sighed. “That’s sort of the problem. I’m not sure if she’s behind it now that I’ve actually talked to her.” I thought back to the sight of her crying, of her whole body shaking as she sobbed. “I know it sounds crazy, but if you guys would have seen her… She was really torn up about her horse. I actually feltbadfor her.”
Just saying it all over again made me feel sad. And okay, maybe I felt worse for her horse than I did for Nora, but just knowing that the stallion had been an anniversary gift from her husband right before he passed away?
It was one of the most romantic and sad things I’d ever heard.
“So if it isn’t her…” Boone began.
“Then who is it?” Cade finished.
“That’s the question of the day, isn’t it?” I shrugged. “I wish I knew, but now I feel like we don’t haveanyleads.”
“And you seriously don’t think it could be Nora?” Boone asked.
