distance, in case he’s hurt worse than he thinks.”
Neither A.J. nor Nick argued with her rationalization, which she didn’t quite know how to interpret.
“I’ll have your stuff sent over,” A.J. said to Nick.
Nick thanked him and returned to the couch, and Rose followed her brother out through the back. The night air was frigid, but A.J. didn’t seem to notice as he paused on the steps. “Having Nick Martini here is maybe half a notch better in my mind than you being here alone.”
“He’s not going to hurt me, A.J.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. What if Feehan’s right and Cutshaw’s death and Martini’s arrival in Vermont aren’t a coincidence?”
“We don’t even know for sure if Derek was murdered—”
“Yeah, right,” her brother said skeptically. “Why would Cutshaw have cared about Nick being in Vermont?”
“I don’t know that Robert was telling the truth, or what Derek was thinking.”
“Who else knew Nick was on his way to Vermont?”
“Sean did.” Rose shivered in the cold night air. “Do you suspect him?”
“I don’t suspect anyone. I’m asking questions.” A.J.’s gaze narrowed on her. “So are you.”
“Nick’s asking the same questions,” Rose said.
“Yeah. I know. Call me if you need anything.”
She crossed her arms on her chest to stay warm. “This all will end, A.J. We can’t beat ourselves up because we didn’t figure out about Lowell Whittaker and his killers sooner. They wanted us to believe that Pop’s death was an accident.”
“Elijah knew it wasn’t.”
“In his gut, but it didn’t do any good until he had more to go on. He wasn’t here when it happened. He could put fresh eyes on the situation. He was almost killed the same week Pop died. He was tuned in, maybe.”
A.J. looked out at Cameron Mountain rising behind her house, silhouetted against the night sky. “I’ve never wanted to live anywhere but here. I want my kids to grow up in Black Falls. I want them and Lauren to be happy and feel safe.”
“They will, A.J. Black Falls hasn’t changed.”
Her brother turned back to her. “Have you, Rose?”
She hesitated, then said, “It’s been a rough year.”
“You can talk to us, Rose. Sean, Elijah, me,” A.J. said. “Any one of us or all of us together. You know that, right?”
“Always.”
“You know it, but you don’t think you need to talk to anyone.” He let out a heavy breath. “Keep me posted. Be careful.”
“I’m sorry about this, A.J.”
“It’s not your fault.”
She didn’t respond, but she couldn’t help wondering if somehow it
Suddenly aching with the cold, Rose quickly ducked back through the mudroom to the kitchen.
Nick was at the sink, rinsing a bloodstained dish towel. “If the blood doesn’t come out, I’ll buy you a new towel.”
“I don’t care about that,” she said, kicking off her boots.
He grinned back at her. “Mountain woman Rose.”
“I can still take you to the E.R.”
“Nah. I’m fine.” He left the towel in the sink. “I’m glad you weren’t the one who surprised him.”
“Me, too, unless he just wanted to talk to me.”
“Yeah. Talk. He grabbed you this morning, pinned you against a tree and shoved you in the snow.”
“He could have done worse, or tried. I’d have defended myself. I know the woods up here better than he does.”
Nick shook his head. “Not buying it.”
She came closer to him and took a look at his injury, noticing the dark stubble of beard on his jaw, two small scars, his tanned skin. She tried to focus on where he’d made contact with the shovel. “It’s a pretty good scrape,” she said, “but there’s not much swelling. Damn, Nick. You really were lucky.”
“Good,” he amended with a wink. “I was good. I landed a solid kick—”
“It wasn’t hard enough,” she said, amused. “He still was able to run.”
Nick put a palm to his heart in mock hurt. “Cut to the quick.”
Rose laughed and pulled open the refrigerator door. “Can I get you anything? Something to drink? I have orange, grapefruit, tomato, pomegranate juice.”
“So you weren’t kidding about pomegranate juice in your martini. You like that stuff?”
“Yes, especially in a martini.”
“Ha-ha. I’ll just stick with water. I should call Sean back and fill him in.”
“I’ll call him.”
She shut the refrigerator and went into her small back office. She’d arranged her desk to take advantage of the view of a giant, old sugar maple in her side yard. Ranger wandered in and sat at her feet, as if he were mystified as to why Nick hadn’t left yet. She dialed Sean from her landline. Of her three brothers, he was closest in age to her but had left for Southern California ten years ago. She’d been out there more than a dozen times and understood its appeal. Her father never had, but he’d always kept Sean close in his heart and hadn’t treated him any differently from his other children.
Not until last month, when she’d watched him fall in love with Hannah, who’d never lived anywhere but Black Falls, had Rose realized that he’d come to feel as if he stood apart from their family and his hometown. But he didn’t stand apart and never had. She, Elijah and A.J. knew that, even if Sean didn’t.
Elijah had left Vermont at nineteen, but for different reasons. He’d spent long months in war zones, risking his life. He’d butted heads with his father forever, but on some level they’d understood each other. Elijah had always wanted to come home to Black Falls. He’d never felt alienated from his family or his hometown.
Of course, Rose thought, she and her brothers had never discussed any of this among themselves.
Sean picked up immediately, clearly relieved as she updated him. “If Nick just got hit on the head, all’s well. He’s got a hard head.” But her brother’s gallows humor didn’t last. “Do you have any idea what Feehan would want with you?”
“No, I don’t,” she said, aware of Nick leaning against the doorjamb.
“Does Feehan know about whatever went on between you and Cutshaw?” Sean asked her.
She took a sharp breath. “Sean—”
“Elijah and I guessed in January that something happened between you two. Rose, come on. Relax. No one expects you not to have lived. Why should you be perfect?”
“Maybe after this past year we’re not as hard on ourselves as we once were.”
“Or on each other.”
She noticed Nick’s eyes were half-closed as he watched her from the door. She wondered what secrets she was betraying simply by how she stood, how she looked at him.
She smiled into the phone to help keep any self-consciousness out of her tone. “How’s Hannah?”
“Worried,” Sean said. “She’s got on her prosecutor’s face.”
Rose doubted her friend would ever become a Vermont prosecutor. It was the path taken, then changed by circumstance—namely, falling in love with Sean. “I’d like to talk to her.”
While she waited for Hannah to come on the line, Nick withdrew back into the kitchen, giving her privacy. Ranger glanced at her, then, his tail wagging, followed Nick as if they were now best friends.
“Rose,” Hannah said. “What on earth is going on?”
“You don’t have to keep secrets from Sean,” Rose blurted. “Tell him what you know about Derek.”
