His phone vibrated, and Cameron withdrew it from his pants pocket.
I’m back in town. Want to hook up this weekend?
Tessa.
Normally he’d text back for her to stop by whenever, because why not? He was single, she was single, so why not indulge? But as he shot a quick glance at Audrey, something stopped him. His thumb hovered over the keypad as multiple responses tumbled around his mind. Finally, he answered without giving himself too much time to ponder it.
This weekend isn’t good. I’ll call you later.
With that, he tucked his phone away and opened the sliding glass door. Audrey’s head jerked up at the sound, tracking his movements as he set the sweatpants down on a porch chair and crossed the yard.
“Have room for one more?” he asked.
She blinked at him, then scooted over. He sat, ignoring the groaning of the wood beneath his weight.
“I see you got your pants,” she observed.
He grinned at her. “Yeah. Maybe I should hire you to mend the rest of my clothes.”
Her brows knitted together. “Are all your clothes in that sorry of shape?”
Great. Now he sounded like a bum. “No. I just don’t shop that much.”
She slanted him a look as she lifted the bottle of wine to her lips. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” He watched her throat work, thinking how he’d like to place his lips there. She lowered the bottle and offered it to him. “Want some?”
He gazed at the opening of the bottle and thought, Yeah, her mouth was just on that. Then he thought, What the hell? Close enough.
Her brows lifted when he pulled a sip. “What?” he asked after lowering the bottle.
“I just wouldn’t have pegged you for a wine drinker.”
“I’m not.” He handed the wine back to her
“But you’ll make an exception for me, right?”
His mouth twisted. “Actually, I was thinking free booze.”
She shook her head at him. “I should have known you’d be that simple.” They passed the wine back and forth in silence, until Audrey cleared her throat. “Congratulations on your win,” she told him. “So what’s your goal? To win a big playoff game or something?”
A playoff game? Cameron slanted her a look. “The state championship,” he corrected. “And yeah, we’d be pretty happy with that.”
“No need to be sarcastic,” she chastised. “I know as much about football as you probably do about home staging.”
“Home staging?” He couldn’t even make a guess at what that was.
Audrey took another swig of the bottle and handed it to him, while taking the opportunity to explain her business.
“And you make a living doing this?”
She chuckled as though he’d underestimated her. “We do okay.”
“It’s not an easy thing to run your own business,” he pointed out. “Your parents must be proud.”
Something dark flashed across her eyes as though he’d touched a nerve. “It’s just me and my dad, and we…” She paused as though searching for the right words. “We have an odd relationship.”
He waited, giving her an opportunity to explain if she felt comfortable.
“My mom disappeared when I was eight, and ever since then my dad has spent most of his time in his dental practice. I don’t see him that much.”
“What do you mean, disappeared?” Cameron wanted to know. “Did she leave?”
Audrey shook her head. “No, my mother never would have left us. My brother and I were her world. She went missing during a camping trip she and my dad were on.” She gazed out over the moonlit lawn. “Every year, my parents would go camping in the Rockies for their anniversary. Like, seriously roughing it. Nothing but a tent, some sleeping bags, and food. My dad said he woke up one morning and my mom was gone. She’d taken her backpack, rolled up her sleeping bag, and gone for a hike.” She glanced out of eyes full of grief. “At least that’s what my dad told the police.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. Dammit, he should not be thinking about kissing her while she was confiding in him. “You don’t believe him?”
She opened her mouth, then let out a humorless laugh. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, my dad would never have hurt my mom, but there were things about that morning that didn’t make sense. Like, she’d left her compass and her cell phone. And she never would have just up and gone hiking that early in the morning without my dad and leave her compass behind. That was totally out of character for her.”
“You said your dad threw himself into his work. He was never arrested for anything?”
“No, the police had almost no evidence to go on. There were no signs of violence, no trace of her body, no witnesses, no nothing. Plus my dad had no reason to want my mom dead. They weren’t going through a divorce, there was no life insurance, and my dad makes six figures a year, so there was no financial motive.” Audrey pulled in a deep breath. “It’s like she just got up one morning, walked away, and vanished.” She turned to gaze at him. “How does that happen?”
Unable to help himself, Cameron tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know. Maybe she really did go on a hike, somehow fell and hurt herself, then succumbed to the elements.”
Audrey’s brows twitched as though picturing the scenario, and Cameron wanted to kick his own insensitive ass.
“My mom was a skilled hiker. She never would have gone without her phone and compass. The lead detective once told me he’d never had a case keep him up at night like my mom’s.”
“They never solved it?”
She shook her head and spun the wine bottle around in between her legs. “No, it’s still an active investigation. They think…”
He waited for her to continue, but she only bit her lip. “What?”
She exhaled a shuddering breath. “They think
