“Yeah.” He kissed her on the top of the head and tightened his hold on her. “Very together.”
“We had a one-night stand.” She didn’t wait for him to respond and pulled away from him as she entered the house. “We can grab something to eat at the café on our way out to the Whittaker place.”
He waited a half beat before responding. “All right. Sounds good.”
“Sorry if I was prickly.”
“That was nothing. You forget I’ve been friends with a Cameron for ten years. I figure you held back. I’m lucky.”
Rose laughed as she dug the tennis ball out of her pocket and set it in the closet along with a dozen others. “You wanted to make me laugh, didn’t you?”
“Always.” But Nick was serious now. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You got away from Cutshaw. That’s what counts.”
“I thought of myself as so strong…”
“A hit to your ego like that undermines your confidence. Only thing to do is to get back up and carry on.” His voice was quiet, his eyes on her. “Being strong doesn’t mean you never get hurt.”
“Or do something stupid.”
He smiled. “That, too.”
She took one of Ranger’s leashes from the closet. “Nick, what if Derek somehow knew about us and went into a jealous rage and arranged to kill himself so that I’d find his body?”
“From everything I’ve heard, he wasn’t even remotely suicidal.”
“I keep asking myself why was he out there. What did he want with me?” She started back to the door but stopped abruptly. “Why now, Nick? Why are you here now? Is there anything you haven’t told me?”
“The timing was right. That’s all. Nothing more.”
“Right for what?”
“To make sure you were okay, and to see if there was any indication Jasper was killed by Lowell’s network. Informally,” Nick added. “I’m not part of any investigation.”
Rose yanked open the front door again. “We can take my Jeep out to the river.”
Nick touched her upper arm, stopping her. “Rose,” he said, “I haven’t told anyone about us because I promised I wouldn’t. That doesn’t mean I regret making love to you. I don’t.”
She held on to the doorknob, letting cold air seep into her house. “Hannah suspects.”
“Hannah knows. She’s good at reading people, especially her friends,” Nick said, obviously liking her. “A prosecutor in the making.”
“I told her she didn’t have to keep any secrets from Sean.”
“Yeah, I know. I had a text message from him waiting for me this morning.”
“What did it say?”
“My sister?” Nick winked at her. “Sums it up, doesn’t it?”
Rose pulled the door open wider. “I guess it does. I probably should be more embarrassed than I am. I’d hoped he didn’t have to find out.”
“Hell, so did I, but not for my sake. Sean and I have covered a lot of ground together.”
“I can assure him you didn’t take advantage of me.”
Nick shook his head. “He won’t ask. He was just telling me he knows. The rest is none of his business. He understands that.”
“Then Hannah told him about Derek, too.” Rose groaned. “I said she could, but I hate this. Derek was already at the Whittaker place when you arrived. Could he have known or guessed you were on your way and just got there first? Maybe he wasn’t there to see me at all.”
“I didn’t know until I woke up at four-thirty that I’d head out there. I was lucky A.J. gave me directions. Derek was dead by then.” Sunlight angled through the door, shining on his striking hair, his dark eyes. “We’re speculating.”
“Which can lead to trouble—just as it does in a search.” She motioned for Ranger to come to her and clipped the leash onto his collar. “I’m neutral about you, Nick.”
“Neutral? What’s that mean? You didn’t want to crawl under my hand-knitted afghan last night, or you didn’t even think about it?”
She’d thought about it. She’d wanted to. Had he thought about knocking on her bedroom door?
She said nothing and headed back outside with Ranger.
“So neutral means you’re resisting being attracted to me,” Nick said as he trotted down the steps behind her.
She glanced back at him. “Could I say the same about you?”
“I’m not neutral, and I’m not resisting.”
“Then you’re—”
“Restraining myself. You’re under duress. We already did that. It didn’t work out so well.”
“We were both under duress in June.” She stopped at the bottom of the steps, choking on her words, then forced herself to continue. “If one of Lowell’s killers created that hot spot and lured Jasper Vanderhorn into it—”
“Don’t jump ahead.”
“Nick, could Jasper’s serial arsonist be in Black Falls?”
“Jasper’s serial arsonist might not even exist. He never could prove his theory. One thing at a time, Rose,” Nick said quietly, winking at her as he opened the back of her Jeep for Ranger. “Let’s go to Three Sisters Café and see what’s cooking.”
Ninety minutes later, Rose let Ranger out of the back of her Jeep. He leaped onto the snow-packed driveway of the sprawling Whittaker estate, which, she thought, had to occupy one of the most scenic stretches of the shallow, twisting branch of the Black River.
Nick went ahead of her onto the shoveled walk. She tried to relax, but sitting next to him on the drive into the village, then across from him at the café and again on the drive out to the river had nearly done her in.
He was the sexiest man she’d ever met.
Telling him about Derek—giving Hannah permission to tell Sean and Beth—had been difficult but also a relief. Her past with Derek had turned into a secret that rapidly had taken on a life of its own. Derek’s lies and exaggerations and the fight at O’Rourke’s had only made matters worse.
For months, Rose had wondered if she’d have fallen into bed with Nick if not for her brief, awful relationship with Derek Cutshaw.
Ranger looked up at her, as if he remembered that their last visit here hadn’t gone well. The wind whipped the dusting of snow into the cold, clear air.
Nick eased close to her, putting a hand on her hip. “Hold on.”
“I see,” she said, noticing a man coming down the walk from the boarded-up farmhouse, then recognized Brett Griffin.
Brett waved as he approached them, his camera hanging from his neck. “I heard the investigators were done here and thought I’d stop by and see for myself.” He gestured down the slope toward the stone guesthouse. “I parked in the turnaround and walked up the road. It’s windy as all get-out. Took me by surprise.”
“Did you come alone?” Rose asked.
He nodded. “The police came to see me last night to ask about Robert. I heard he tried to break into your house.”
“That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it doesn’t matter. He should stop sneaking around and talk to the police.”
“I think so, too. I told him as much yesterday morning. Whatever he’s hiding, it can’t be as bad as having the police think he was involved in Derek’s death. That’s what’s going on, isn’t it?”
“I wish I knew,” Rose said. Another strong gust of wind blew up from the river. She felt a spray of snow in her face and could see Nick, who remained at her side, was hit with it, too, but he didn’t seem to notice.
Brett looked up toward the boarded-up farmhouse, his face pale even in the wind. He seemed to force himself out of his thoughts. “I ran into Bowie O’Rourke at the guesthouse when I got here. He was checking on the work he did for the Whittakers in January. You two aren’t meeting him, I take it?”
Rose shook her head. “No, we’re not. Is he still there?”
“I don’t know. Bowie and I don’t exactly get along. We only exchanged a few words.” Brett raised his camera and eased the strap over his head. He had on layers that were well suited to the conditions, and he could easily spend the day in the cold. “I thought I’d take some pictures of the river while I was here. It’s therapeutic.”