Over coffee, they quickly outlined their cover story. They’d met online on Freshwater Expeditions, a fishing forum that put avid freshwater fishermen together with fishing guides all over the country. Hitting it off immediately, they’d formed a friendship that became something more, and Hannah had combined her planned fishing trip to Wyoming with the chance to finally meet Riley face-to-face.
“One thing led to another, and…”
“And now we’re sleeping together.” Hannah’s forehead wrinkled as she finally realized the full implications of offering the guest room to Jack. She pushed away her unfinished cup of coffee and rubbed her tired eyes. “Mama’s right. My temper always gets me in trouble.”
“I’ve got a sleeping roll I can put on the floor.”
She shook her head. “It’s your bed. I’ll take the roll.”
“I’ve slept outdoors on the hard, cold ground before, plenty of times. Snugged up next to the wood stove will be a luxury.” He carried their cups to the sink. “So we’re set? Is our cover story close enough to the truth for you to handle?”
“I think so. But we should make a pact-we share whatever we tell Jack separately. There’s a lot of room to mess up.”
The rattle of the back door cut off any response he might have made. He grabbed his gun from the counter.
Jack entered the kitchen, his dark hair windblown and his cheeks bright with exercise. Riley relaxed, tucking the gun in the waistband of his jeans.
Jack’s earlier glum mood was gone, replaced by a mischievous light in his dark eyes. “I took Jazz out for a run. He cut loose-you haven’t been riding him much recently?”
“Not as much as I should,” Riley admitted.
Hannah almost asked how many horses he had, then wondered if that was something they’d have discussed online. She slanted a quick look at Riley and found him looking a bit unnerved.
“Do you ride?” Jack asked Hannah.
“Yeah, though not as much as I’d like. In fact, we’ve been thinking of buying some horses and offering trail rides in the spring and fall up Gossamer Mountain.”
“Gossamer Mountain?”
“It’s in Alabama,” Riley interjected. “Hannah’s family has a fishing camp up there. That’s how we met.”
“You met at a fishing camp in Alabama?” Jack looked at Riley with a confused expression. “When did you go to Alabama?”
“No, we met online. On a fishing forum,” Riley said.
“You go online?” Jack’s eyes widened further.
“Not a lot,” Riley said defensively, as if his brother-in-law had accused him of being a nerd.
Hannah stifled a grin. “It’s a forum called Freshwater Expeditions.” She checked out the forum from time to time herself to keep up with what avid anglers were talking about. It was good for business. “We hit it off right away.”
“And when Hannah made plans to visit some friends here in Wyoming, we decided to finally meet in person.”
“And here we are.” Hannah hoped her smile didn’t look as brittle as it felt. Playacting wasn’t one of her talents. It was nerve-racking, wondering if Jack Drummond was buying the load of bull she and Riley were selling.
Not to mention the way her rattled brain kept returning to the realization that she and Riley Patterson would be sharing a bedroom come nightfall.
“SHE SEEMS NICE.”
Riley looked up from the case folder he was reading to find his brother-in-law’s dark-eyed gaze on him. He set the folder on the coffee table. “I know this has been a kick in the teeth for you, Jack. I’m sorry we sprang it on you like that.”
Jack pushed the rocking chair closer and propped his socked feet up on the coffee table. “Three years is a long time to be alone. I get that.”
Pain settled over Riley, down to the bone. “I haven’t stopped loving Em. I never will.”
“But we both know she wouldn’t want you to live the rest of your life alone,” Jack said solemnly.
Lying to Jack about his fake relationship with Hannah was worse than Riley had anticipated. Each fib felt like a bitter betrayal of Emily and the love they’d shared. His skin prickled, as if the truth was trying to seep through his pores and shout itself to the world.
He wasn’t over Emily! He hadn’t moved on.
He never would.
“You look a little beat, Riley. You were up all night with Hannah at the hospital, weren’t you?”
“Yeah,” he answered, relieved to finally say something that was true. “It was an eventful night.”
“Where’d she have her wreck?”
“Just outside of Whitmore-on the road toward Jackson.”
“Isn’t that way past here?”
Hell. “Yeah. She wanted to drive into Jackson to do some shopping.” Women liked to shop, right? Emily always had.
“How’d the wreck happen?”
Riley tamped down his irritation. Jack’s question wasn’t unreasonable, and if he and Hannah weren’t lying through their teeth, it wouldn’t even matter. “Nobody’s quite sure-Hannah doesn’t remember much of what happened around the time of the wreck. The police think she might have been run off the road.”
“Hit and run?”
“Something like that.”
Jack cocked his head. “I’m surprised you’re not out there hunting down the jerk who did it.”
“There aren’t any leads. And I’m more interested in taking care of Hannah.” That was true, at least. His voice rang with conviction.
Jack smiled, although Riley still detected a hint of sadness in his eyes. “I like her, I think. I mean, what I’ve seen of her. She seems very down to earth. Emily would approve.”
Pain sliced through Riley’s chest at Jack’s words. He took a couple of shallow breaths and looked away.
“I’m sorry if the way I acted this morning made you feel bad or anything.” Jack leaned forward, laying his hand on Riley’s arm. “You were a good husband to Emily. You deserve to be happy again.”
Riley managed a smile, but inside, an ache had settled in the center of his chest. He pushed to his feet. “I’m going to check on Hannah. Make yourself at home.”
Jack responded with a silent nod, his expression bemused.
Riley headed down the hallway to his bedroom, opening the door quietly. Hannah lay curled on her side beneath a plaid woolen blanket, her back to him. Walking softly so as not to wake her, he settled into the armchair by the window and watched her sleep. Early-afternoon light filtered through the curtains, bathing her face with shimmering rose color. She looked weary and battered, her face a roadmap of scrapes and bruises. But beneath the imperfections was beauty that even his shuttered soul couldn’t miss.
He wondered if Jack was right. Would Emily have liked Hannah Cooper? If this charade were the truth instead of a necessary lie, would Emily approve?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
THE AFTERNOON HAD WANED while she slept, cool blue shadows of twilight encroaching on the bedroom where she lay. She heard the sound of footfalls, boots on the hardwood floor. Riley, perhaps, coming to wake her for dinner.
She was warm and comfortable. She didn’t want to move. Perhaps if she pretended she was still asleep-
As she started to close her eyes, something shimmered in the low light. She made out a curve of silver, complex shapes and shadows.
A silver belt buckle.
The breath left her lungs in a shaking hiss. She tried to stir, to escape the cottony cage of twilight slumber, but she was paralyzed. The bootfalls came closer, and she heard him breathing. Slow, steady and deadly.
She opened her mouth and tried to scream. Only a hoarse croak emerged. Her vision narrowed to the silver belt
