Brent shook Megan’s hand as well. “We’ll sort this out. Promise.”
Luke opened the office door and placed a hand on the small of Megan’s back, guiding her out. Dan waited near the receptionist desk. He said nothing as they passed by, but Luke felt the heat of the man’s glare following them all the way to the parking lot.
Eight
Something rumbled in her ear.
Megan jolted awake. Spiral pillars arched upward from the bed frame. It took two heartbeats to orientate herself. She was at Luke’s ranch in a guest bedroom. She turned her head on the pillow and got a face full of fur. Archimedes shifted and blinked his bicolored eyes. She stroked the cat, and his purring intensified.
“Go back to sleep, buddy. Yesterday was more excitement than you’ve seen in a month.”
Rain pattered gently against the window. She grabbed her new cell phone—purchased along with a few necessities since everything she’d brought to town was destroyed in the fire.
Almost noon. She sat straight up in bed and her head spun. She’d taken one of the pain pills the emergency room doctor had given her last night. Big mistake.
Twenty minutes and a shower later, the sound of country music and a heavenly smell drew Megan to the kitchen. Hank relaxed in a chair at the kitchen table, the paper in his hand, and a cup of coffee at his elbow. Luke’s mother pulled a loaf of homemade cornbread out of the oven, setting it on the counter, before pushing her glasses up on her nose.
“There you are.” Nancy smiled and wiped her hands on the polka-dotted apron tied around her waist. “Feeling better?”
“I am.” The solid night of rest had gone a long way to soothing Megan’s body, but did little to ease the worries running through her mind or settle the ache in her heart. “How are you feeling, Hank?”
“Fit as a fiddle, darlin’.” The paper crinkled in his hand and a flush rose in his cheeks. “Although I’d like to get my hands on the son—”
“Hank Williams McGregor, don’t you dare swear.” Nancy shot him a scowl. “Sunday morning and you just got back from church service. My word. You know better than that.”
“Sometimes there are reasons to swear, Mom.” Luke appeared in the doorway. His hair was mussed, as if he’d also just crawled out of bed, but the alertness in his gaze along with the wrinkles in his slacks caused by sitting belied the notion. “Hank deserves at least one swear word after what happened yesterday.”
His mother humphed as she stirred something delicious in a huge cast-iron pot on the stove. A brown-and-white mutt ambled in behind Luke.
“Hey, Jax.” Megan bent to rub the old dog’s ears. He licked her hand and his tail thumped the tile floor. “Why are you limping, boy?”
“Arthritis,” Luke said. “He’s on medication, but the rain aggravates it.”
Jax stared up at her, his brown eyes full of adoration. Megan dropped a kiss on his forehead. She’d been with Luke on adoption day, and Jax was as much a part of their courtship as lazy afternoons in the hammock or ice cream splits after training the horses.
“What are we eating?” Luke asked. “It smells amazing.”
“Chili.” Nancy smacked his hand as he picked at the cornbread. “Lunch won’t be ready for another half an hour.”
Luke stole two slices and skirted around the island, out of his mom’s reach. He handed one to Megan and winked. Nancy laughed.
“You’re incorrigible.” She grabbed butter from the fridge, along with a knife, and pushed it in Megan’s direction. “How’s June doing?”
“Every day is better. They’re thinking she’ll be out of ICU today or tomorrow. The doctors aren’t making any promises because head injuries are so touch-and-go. It’s all up to June on whether—” No. She wouldn’t think like that. Megan took a deep breath. “—when she wakes from the coma.”
“If you don’t mind, once she’s in a regular room, I’d like to visit. Sit with her.”
“That…” Megan swallowed past the unexpected lump in her throat. “It would ease my mind a lot to know June has you there. Thank you.”
Jax let out a bark, his warm body touching her leg. Megan laughed, breaking off a piece of her cornbread, and feeding it to him. “You always knew I was a soft touch.”
The familiar scene sent an ache radiating through her chest. This was supposed to have been her life. The impact of the loss had been muted in Houston, but now the full force of her choices hit her like a punch to the stomach.
Luke glanced at her, and his smile dimmed. “Since lunch isn’t ready, can I show you something?”
“Sure.”
She followed him through the living room. Overstuffed leather furniture was bracketed by well-chosen end tables. Glass doors leading to a wide porch stretched the entire length of the room. Nothing had changed in the last three years, not even the rustic Texas flag or the photos on the wall. It was strangely comforting.
Luke took a turn into the home office. “Did your aunt own a Glock?”
“Yes. It was her go-to weapon.”
“We recovered one from the vehicle she was in. I was hoping it was the murder weapon used to kill Franny. Guess not.”
Jax hobbled in and settled with a sigh on a dog bed thick enough for a king. Megan gave his ears another rub while she studied a map of the area attached to a whiteboard. She pointed to a red marker. “Is that where June had her accident?”
“Yep. That’s what I wanted to show you.” Luke leaned against the desk, bracing his hands on the shiny surface. “I’m trying to figure out where she was coming from. Using information from the towers her cell pinged, June turned off her phone while in Cardin at two twenty-one and didn’t turn it back on until she called you at four fifteen. That’s roughly two hours we can’t account for. My best guess is that she went
