Chapter 9
The untouched doughnut sitting beside Suzy had hardened, making it more useful as a paperweight than breakfast.
Not like she could eat anyway.
Turmoil raged inside her like an avalanche, engulfing everything in its path. A hundred questions sat on the tip of her tongue, but she held them back. Asking Heather to divulge information about her brother wasn’t fair.
No matter how tempting.
Sitting at the kitchen table, Heather attacked her doughnut as though it had personally offended her. “She has some nerve. I mean, really? To sit and talk to you of all people?”
Suzy bristled at her tone. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Heather dropped the doughnut along with her jaw. “You can’t be serious.”
“Not always, but just now, yeah. I’m serious. What is different about Chrissy speaking to me other than anyone else in this town?”
“You don’t think it’s odd she found the one person who means the most to Duke to question?” Heather tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowed as if trying to see inside Suzy’s mind.
All the moisture evaporated from Suzy’s mouth. She cleared her throat then took a sip of her reheated coffee—now dosed with a healthy amount of cream and sugar. “You think Duke cares about me?”
Heather snorted. “Please. You two are ridiculous. It’s clear to everyone around you that the two of you have the hots for each other. Not sure why you’re bothering to hide it.”
Lane sauntered in and headed for the coffee pot. “Who’s hiding what?”
Suzy widened her eyes and stared at Heather, hoping the other woman understood to keep her mouth shut in front of Lane. She may harbor some personal demons that kept her from wanting to dive in and test the waters with Duke, but Lane was a big reason why she kept her feelings for Duke buried.
Her brother was finally settled, happy. The biggest part of that was Celine and Parker, but the other part was finding his place—his purpose. Getting involved with his business partner and friend could add complications for everyone.
Complications she didn’t want to deal with. At least not until she felt as though she truly knew who Duke was. And after her conversation with Chrissy, she was more confused than ever.
“Oh nothing,” Heather said, sitting back in her seat. “Just having a little girl talk. Where’s that adorable little boy of yours?”
Leaning against the counter, Lane sipped from his oversized mug. “Celine took him to her mom’s today. With everything that’s happened the last couple days, we thought it best to keep him away from any possible danger.”
Heather’s face and shoulders fell. “I’m sorry I brought trouble into town with me.”
Suzy couldn’t be sure if Heather meant Mason or Chrissy, but either way she wasn’t to blame. “Remember what I said last night. This isn’t your fault. We’re all happy you’re here.”
“We’ll be happier when we can catch the sonofabitch who’s causing problems,” Lane said. “No one messes with family and gets away with it. Duke’s family now, so that means you are too. Where is Duke by the way? Figured I’d find him in here with you two.”
“He should be here soon. He stayed in town to talk to his ex, who had cornered Suzy at the bakery.”
Lane tightened his jaw. “Excuse me?”
Suzy sighed. “It was no big deal. She heard me say Duke’s name and asked if I’d sit and talk with her.”
“I don’t like it,” Lane said. “She’s here for a reason, and it can’t be good. Duke hasn’t said much, but he doesn’t have to. If he’s worried about her showing up, we all should be. Did any deputies speak with her after the fire last night?”
Knowing Lane would hear about what happened eventually, Suzy had called him the night before and filled him in on what happened at Duke’s place. He’d wanted her to stay at his house, but she’d insisted on heading home. She enjoyed having her brother back in town, but she didn’t need a babysitter.
Hell, most of her life she’d had only herself to count on. She knew how to take care of herself.
“I don’t know,” she finally answered. “I haven’t heard from Spencer or anyone else from the sheriff’s department today. Lane told him about Chrissy and his suspicions of her when he came out to the house. Beyond that, I haven’t heard a peep.”
Lane aimed his concerned gaze at Heather. “What about your ex-boyfriend? Did he reach him yet?”
Frowning, Heather shook her head.
“I’ll make some calls today,” Lane said.
“I know Spencer’s taking these threats seriously, but there’s only so much a small department can do.
Especially with the Winter Rodeo setting up today.
That always brings in large crowds and stretches the department even more.
There’s never a good time for shit like this to happen, but right now is one of the worst.”
Heather slumped further down into her chair. “I really wanted to have a nice visit with Duke. Looks like I won’t get a chance to relax and enjoy my brother until we figure this out. By then, I’ll have to head home.”
Lane snorted. “I didn’t know Duke had an enjoyable side.”
Heather’s lips turned into a small smile. “Not all the time, but every once in a while he’s okay to hang out with.”
Suzy smiled along with their playful banter.
Duke and Lane would always rib each other, no matter how close they’d gotten.
But she couldn’t help but wonder if there was a side of Duke he’d hidden from them.
That he’d kept in the shadows for fear of what they’d think if he exposed the entirety of his past and what had brought him to Hillmore.
As if her thoughts summoned him, the front door opened, and Duke appeared. His cowboy hat was tilted a little lower over his face than usual, creating an air of mystery that darkened her thoughts even more. His tight jaw and the rigid set of his broad shoulders broadcasted his irritation.
Heather straightened. “How’d it go?”
“I told her what she needed to hear,” Duke said. “But who the hell knows if she actually listened. She usually doesn’t.”
Suzy dropped her gaze to her clasped hands on her lap. She wanted to believe Duke—to stand by him no matter what. But she couldn’t stop replaying the earlier conversation in her head. To remember the pain in Chrissy’s eyes when she’d spoken about what she’d lost.
“Suzy?”
The rough timber of Duke’s voice lifted her attention to his face. Her eyes met his, and the pain reflected back at her made her heart shudder.
“I tried to get out of the ick.”
She couldn’t help but grin.
“The ick?” Lane asked, expression pinched. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Ignoring Lane, Duke kept his focus locked on her. “Can we talk? Alone?”
“I think that’d be a good idea.”
He held out a hand for her to hold.
She stared at it, her heart racing. She swallowed hard and battled against the multitude of emotions warring inside of her.
Damn it, before this morning, she trusted Duke.
Wanted nothing more than to lay all of her defenses on the ground and find a way to be with him.
She couldn’t let one conversation with someone taint her entire view of him.
She owed it to him to hear his side of things.
Slipping her palm into his, her toes curled and heat shot through her core. She fell into step beside him and ignored the irritated mutters of her brother behind her.
“I know it’s kinda cold, but do you want to head outside?” Duke asked. “I could use some fresh air.”
“Sure.”
He plucked Suzy’s coat from the rack in the front hall and helped her into it before slipping into his own jacket. Opening the door, he waited for her to step through before following and closing it behind him.
“Where to?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. “The barn?”
He grinned and shoved his hands in the pockets of his red and black plaid coat. Growing up around animals, he often found solace in the big red barn on Lane’s property. New critters showed up every month, Lane buying them because he wanted to make Celine happy.
Little did he know Duke kept planting seeds in Celine’s ear to grow their farm, claiming each new creature would be great for Parker. The fact that Suzy knew him well enough to understand where his comfort spot was shifted something inside him that had already started crumbling.
“Maybe we can stop by and say hi to the makeshift herd on our way back to the house,” he said. “I need to move a little first. I have all this pent-up energy inside of me. Gotta get it out some way.” Just like the night before, more fun and creative ways to get rid of his energy sprang to mind.
But now wasn’t the time to give way to fantasies. He’d spent enough time hiding certain parts of himself. If he ever wanted a real shot with Suzy—not just an idealized version he went to bed with every night—it was time to show her every part of himself.
Even the ugly ones.
As they moved down the stairs side by side, the wind whipped up and skimmed his cheeks. He took a moment to soak up the stillness, the quiet around them. The cold snap hushed the world that was usually alive with sounds of nature. The crunch of his boots on the brittle ground echoed in the air.
Choosing the worn path that looped around the side of the house, he struggled to find the best way to start such an important conversation.
“So how’d you get out of the ick?” Suzy asked, beating him to it.
He lifted his shoulders then let them drop. “I’m glad I got things off my chest. I should have had have that conversation a long time ago instead of running away.”
“You and my brother have more in common than I realized.”
The sadness of her words weighed heavy on his chest. Sure, he and Lane had both run from issues instead of making sure the problems were solved. But beyond that, their situations couldn’t be more different.
“What I had with Chrissy is worlds apart from what Lane has with Celine.”
“Really? From what I heard, it sounds pretty dang similar. Young and in love then someone is left behind to pick up the pieces of their broken heart.”
Stopping, he faced her. “Is that what she told you?”
“Pretty much.”
“And you believed her?”
Her silence was like a dagger in the gut. “I told you last night she’s a manipulator. That she’s deceptive and vengeful. Did it ever dawn on you she may be lying to you to gain sympathy? I thought you knew me better than to think the worst of me.”
Suzy winced. “Maybe I don’t know you as well as I thought.”
He fought the urge to storm away, to end the conversation right then and there and forget any notion he had of him and Suzy together.
But if he did, then Chrissy won. Because he had no doubt she’d used every evil skill in her arsenal to turn Suzy against him.
Running away now would only continue a pattern he needed to break.
Besides, he’d fallen victim to Chrissy and her lies more than once.
He couldn’t blame Suzy for not seeing through the bullshit.
“What did she say that made you look at me differently?”
Suzy finally met his eye. “That you lost a child.”
He couldn’t be more shocked if the ground split open beneath his feet. “Are you serious?”
She nodded, lips pressed in a firm line and tears clinging to her lashes.
Scrubbing a hand over his mouth, he lifted his eyes to the blue sky. “Jeez, you’ve got to be kidding me. We never had a child together. Hell, we never even talked about having children. She lied. Just like she’s been doing since the day I met her.”
“What kind of person would lie about something like that?”
“Someone who’d do anything to get what they want—what they think is theirs.” He couldn’t help but snort out an incredulous laugh. “This isn’t even the worst of her lies.”
“I don’t know how that’s possible.”
“Trust me. She has a way of figuring out your weakness then twisting your reality into some screwed up version of what you wanted, only to have it snatched away. I was told she couldn’t have kids then she cried to me about losing a baby that never was.
When I ended things, she followed me from town to town.
Always showing up at different rodeos. Didn’t matter how far I went, she’d find me.
Always with some sad story to get my defenses down. ”
“Is that why you stopped bull riding?”
He nodded, hating the knot in his chest that tightened when he thought about the world he’d loved and left behind. “If I wanted a fresh start, I had to figure out how to keep her away. I never imagined she’d follow my family here.”
“So if you get things sorted with Chrissy, will you go back to riding?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I always thought I’d go back eventually, but I really like it here.
I like my job, the people I’ve met. I’m not sure if riding can give me what I need anymore.
But before I can really sort out my feelings about what lies in my future, I need to make sure Chrissy leaves and never comes back. ”
Suzy swished her lips to the side as if chewing a question she wasn’t sure she should ask.
“What is it?” he asked.
“What was the last straw? The thing that made you quit what you love and start a whole new life?”
He curled his hands into tight fists at his side.
“She told me she’d been attacked by a guy I know.
Someone who used to be a friend. I reacted first when I should have asked questions.
Put him in the hospital then found out she’d been upset with him for dumping her and used me to pay him back.
Killed two birds with one stone. Chrissy isn’t just a liar, she’s dangerous.
I won’t rest until she’s out of my life—out of this town—for good. ”