“You knew I was having doubts about getting married, didn’t you?” The stark question popped out of her mouth before she could think about it.
Duncan didn’t respond for several seconds. “You didn’t look like a happy bride coming down the aisle. In fact, I was afraid you were going to be ill.”
His intuition had been right on and explained the concerned way he’d been looking at her.
“Did Brett do something to upset you?” he asked.
“No.” Honestly, it would have been easier if he had. But Brett was a nice and decent guy. She was the one with the issues, not him.
“Then what was bothering you?” Duncan’s deep, husky voice made her shiver. It was crazy to be this aware of him. “Why were you having second thoughts?”
She couldn’t tell him that seeing Duncan again had rekindled feelings she’d thought were long gone. How in that moment, she’d understood that she loved Brett as a friend and not as a husband.
“My mother died three months ago.”
Duncan shifted ever so slightly, looking down at her. “I’m sorry to hear that. Your mom was a wonderful lady.”
“After my father passed away two years ago, my mom and I became very close. Her death made me feel as if I was lost at sea without a boat or even a life preserver. When Brett came to the funeral, it was as if I’d been given a piece of my childhood back. One I didn’t want to let go.”
“I can see that.”
Duncan’s acceptance of her failures made her want to scream in frustration. Instead, she took a breath and continued to explain. “We began dating. It was so wonderful to have him here. His job was primarily based in Cheyenne and required him to travel a lot, so we made the most of the time we had together. When he proposed...” her voice trailed off. The memory was not a happy one. “I wasn’t expecting it. I said yes, because he was beaming with excitement. And it wasn’t that I didn’t love and care about him.”
“Marriage is a big step. It’s understandable that you would have second thoughts.”
“Stop making excuses for me.” Her tone was sharp and she pushed herself upright into a sitting position. “I should have figured out that my caring about him was different from being in love with him. And now he’s dead! Gone forever. And it’s all my fault.”
Tears pricked her eyes, but they came from a deep well of guilt.
“That’s not true, Chelsey. His death isn’t your fault.”
“It is!” Why was Duncan being so stubborn? “If I’d called off the wedding ahead of time, the way I should have, none of this would have happened.”
“Not in the same way it did, no. But if Brett was involved in something he shouldn’t be, there would have been an attempt to get him another time. And don’t forget, you were a target, too. If you hadn’t walked down the aisle today, you may have been killed along with him in another location. I’m glad your life was spared.”
She peered at him, trying to make out the expression on his face in the firelight. “You really believe that.”
“Yeah, I do. That second shot wasn’t an accident or a mistake. We were running away from the scene, which must have caught the shooter off guard. He probably expected you to go to Brett, giving him the perfect second shot. Instead, we took off, causing him to recalibrate his aim for the distance and our movements.”
He spoke as if he knew exactly what the shooter had been thinking. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. “But you need to understand why we need to keep moving. Why we can’t simply go back to the hotel. There’s no way for us to know friend from foe.”
His tone was so rational and reasonable in the face of this insanity.
If Duncan was right, and she was in danger, then he was the only thing standing between her and the shooter.
She owed Duncan her life and trusted him to keep her safe.
Duncan was grateful when Chelsey finally stretched back out on the ground beside him. He waited for her muscles to relax enough that she might be able to get some sleep.
Her statements about how she’d become engaged to Brett had surprised him. It made sense given the fact that things had happened so quickly after her mother had died.
Seeing Chelsey again after all these years had reminded him of how much he’d liked her. They were only young teenagers back then, so there was nothing serious that had ever transpired between them, but he’d always admired her. She’d been smart, beautiful and funny. He’d been upset that her parents had moved from Wisconsin to Wyoming to take over her grandparents’ hotel. It felt as if she lived on the other end of the planet—that’s how far apart those miles had seemed.
He and Brett had gone out to visit her one summer after graduating from high school. They’d had fun, but it wasn’t as if there were dozens of job opportunities out there. Duncan had plans to join the army, while Brett had wanted to go to college in Chicago. They’d left Chelsey behind, promising to visit again, but they hadn’t followed through.
Or at least, he hadn’t followed through with visiting her. Obviously, Brett had come to Wyoming and had taken a job with the Coyote Creek Construction company.
Had his old friend done that as a way to be close to Chelsey? Probably.
When Duncan had come out for the wedding, he’d learned that Chelsey’s parents had inherited the Teton Valley Hotel which had been in the family for several generations. The hotel likely belonged to Chelsey now, after the death of her mother. According to Brett, Chelsey loved playing the hostess to her guests and the hotel business was
