by Debbie Mason
With a toilet-paper veil on her head from the last game, Vivi stood in the circle of laughing women, watching as the wedding bouquet moved from hand to hand. Since her goal was to be eliminated first, she angled her head to see the moment Annie raised her finger to shut off the music. She caught Liz’s daughter Cat O’Connor doing the same thing. “No way,” Vivi said to Cat, whose long, wispy bangs peeked out from beneath the voluminous toilet-paper veil covering her short dark hair.
“Way,” Cat said, widening her stance as she narrowed her thick-lashed green eyes in Annie’s direction.
“Your mother will be disappointed if you’re out first,” Vivi said, keeping a close eye on Annie’s finger.
“Yeah, well, Nell will be—”
The music stopped. Vivi hip-checked Cat and grabbed the bouquet from Skye, who stood on the other side of her. “I’m out,” Vivi made sure to sound disappointed while mentally giving herself a high five. Then she handed the bouquet back to Skye.
“You totally cheated,” Cat said, crossing her arms.
“I did you a favor. Last woman standing gets a complete makeover from Holly and Hailey.” The twins owned the Rocky Mountain Diner and were Christmas’s self-appointed beauty experts. “Good luck.” Vivi smirked and headed for the kitchen, laughing when she heard Cat mutter, “You suck.”
She wasn’t surprised when Cat joined her in the kitchen five minutes later. Vivi looked up from refilling the veggie tray. “So, who did you steal the bouquet from?”
Cat grinned, tugging off her toilet-paper veil. Vivi had gotten rid of hers as soon as she’d left the living room. “Grace.” She wadded up the paper and tossed it in the garbage. “Need a hand?”
“Sure. We’ll cut up some more veggies. We have to kill time or they’ll make us take part in the next game.”
“Bring on the veggies. They’re playing Name That Romantic Movie next. I hate charades. My sister’s the actress, not me.”
“Where is Chloe?” Cat’s identical twin sister, Chloe, was an actress on the soap As the Sun Sets. They lived in LA. Supposedly, Cat was her bodyguard-slash-manager. But from what Vivi had seen at Skye and Ethan’s wedding, she was more of a babysitter-slash-lackey.
“She couldn’t get away until the day before the wedding.”
“Too bad. Do you like living in LA?” Vivi asked as she opened the refrigerator to take out a head of cauliflower, a cucumber, and a bag of carrots.
“Hate it. But a job’s a job, right?” Cat got a knife out of the drawer. “And Chloe needs me.”
“You’re a better person than me. I don’t think I could give up a job that I loved for anyone.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” Cat said, reaching for the carrots.
Even as a little girl, Vivi’s curiosity had gotten her in trouble. By now she should have learned to control that burning need to discover what made people tick, to figure out why they did the things they did. She knew Cat had left the Denver PD under a cloud of suspicion. She’d been engaged to a man who, unbeknownst to Cat, had been running a Ponzi scheme. By all accounts, she’d been an amazing police officer. One of the youngest female detectives on the force. “Sorry, Cat, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
The other woman waved off her apology. “No worries. That’s the one thing about coming home. Someone’s bound to bring it up.”
“It wasn’t your fault, you know. It could have happened to anyone. I’m sure you would have been exonerated.”
“Probably, but it’s better that I left. I didn’t trust my judgment anymore.” Cat looked up from chopping a carrot. “So, my mom tells me you’re dating Chance.”
Vivi wondered if there was a reason Cat segued from her own lack of judgment to Vivi’s. “Was. I ended it this morning.”
“You want to talk about it?”
Oddly enough, since Vivi didn’t know her very well, it probably would be easier to talk about her relationship with Chance to Cat than anyone else. She didn’t strike Vivi as the type to sugarcoat things. Not the way Skye and Maddie had a tendency to do. More importantly, Vivi could find out about Callahan. Because of the way Chance had shut her down last night, she knew there was something more going on. Scraping the last of the dip from the jar into the serving dish, she weighed out how best to broach the question. She didn’t want to give too much away. “Not much to talk about, really. He’s not ready to be in a relationship, and I am. He’s still got things to work through. Did you know Kate?”
Cat slanted Vivi a sidelong glance and nodded. “They were a few years ahead of us in school. Every girl wanted to be Kate Porter and every guy wanted to be Chance McBride. Chance called her his golden girl. She was one of the sweetest women I’ve ever known. Everyone loved Kate, especially Chance.” Cat grimaced. “Sorry, that’s probably not what you wanted to hear.”
“Actually, it is. The journalist in me, I guess.”
“Or is it a woman trying to figure out the man she loves?”
“And to think I liked you.”
Cat chuckled, then grew serious. “I like you, too. Maybe that’s why I want to save you from a lot of heartache.”
It was a little late for that. Vivi knew she should leave well enough alone, but she couldn’t help herself and asked, “You don’t think he’ll be able to move on, do you?”
“No. You’re best friends with Maddie and Skye, so I think you’ll understand what I mean when I say Chance had the same kind of relationship with Kate as they do with Gage and Ethan. Seems to me the odds of finding a love like that twice in a lifetime are about the same as winning the lottery.” Above the chatter in the living room, they heard Liz laugh. Cat smiled. “Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Look at my mom and Paul.”
Vivi tamped down a small flicker of hope, reminding herself why she’d begun the conversation in the first place. “Do you know anything about a man named Callahan?”
Cat gave her a wary look. “Yeah, why?”
“Because there’s been several pharmacies robbed in the last couple of months and Chance asked Gage if he was looking at Callahan. Chance seemed, I don’t know, tense, angry. It felt personal.”
“Oh, it’s personal all right. Chance blames Jake Callahan for Kate’s death.”
Her instincts had never steered her wrong in the past, so Vivi wasn’t completely surprised. But that didn’t stop a sour taste from filling her mouth. “I thought Kate went off the road in a snowstorm?”
“She did. But Chance didn’t believe it was an accident. There’d been bad blood between him and the Callahans since he’d thrown the old man in jail. A couple of months before Kate’s accident, Chance had been working with the local DEA trying to break up a meth ring. Jake was his primary suspect. When Chance raided Jake’s garage, Jake threatened his family. Two days later, Kate was dead.”
Vivi rubbed her temple. “What do you think? Could Jake Callahan be responsible?”
“I didn’t know him well. Seemed like an all right guy. When I first heard about it, I didn’t believe it. Something felt off. But Chance was very good at his job. He wouldn’t let his personal feelings interfere with an investigation.”
“So what happened?” From the way Cat averted her eyes, Vivi didn’t think she was going to like her answer.
“After Kate’s funeral, Chance went to Jake’s garage. I don’t know if he was looking for answers or revenge, but he put Jake in the hospital. Chance left town right after.”
Vivi swallowed past the lump in her throat. “How come none of this was in the paper?” She knew the incident hadn’t been reported. When she’d first discovered who Chance was, she’d spent weeks investigating him. “Why wasn’t he arrested?”
“The McBrides had the story buried. They’re a powerful and well-respected family. They know the right people. Besides, no one blamed Chance. He was a decorated soldier and a good sheriff, and he’d lost his family.”
“But he blamed himself.”
“Yes, and I imagine he still does. It was tough to lose Kate and the
baby the way that he did, but when you factor in the guilt, it’s a nightmare. I’m sure it still haunts him to this day.”
“I’m sure it does,” Vivi murmured.
Maddie walked into the kitchen. “Hey, you two, we’re splitting into teams for charades.” She looked from Cat to Vivi and frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. We were running out of veggies.” Vivi forced a smile, arranging the carrots in the tray.
Skye stormed into the kitchen. “Maddie, why did you tell Sophia about Ethan doing a striptease for me? Poor Liz spilt punch all over her top.”
Maddie made a face. “Sorry, it kind of slipped out when—”
“You’re talking about my brother, right?” Cat asked.
“Gah.” Skye threw up her arms. “Don’t say anything to Ethan. He’ll kill me. But right now we have another problem. Sophia says this is the most boring bachelorette party she’s ever been to. She’s threatening to hire a stripper.”
“Good Lord,” Maddie said, hurrying after Skye.
By the time Vivi and Cat refilled the veggie trays and returned to sit on the couch, Nell was staging a revolt. “Sophia’s right. We should have gone to the Penalty Box with the men.”
“We’re not crashing Dad’s bachelor party, Nell. I have karaoke. We can—” Maddie trailed off when Nell rolled her eyes. “What’s wrong with karaoke?”
“Why don’t we go check out the Garage?” Hailey suggested.
“Great idea, Hails,” Hailey’s twin sister, Holly, agreed. “We’ve been wanting to check it out since it opened last month.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Maddie said with a thick Southern drawl. When her best friend got nervous, she spoke Southern.
Which begged the question, why was Maddie nervous? Vivi’s eyes narrowed when Maddie elbowed Skye, who sat on the floor beside her.
“Maddie’s right. Ethan said the Garage is a biker bar.” Skye made a concerted effort to avoid Vivi’s suspicious stare.
“I’m in. I always wanted to check out a biker bar,” Nell said. “And Liz deserves some excitement before she gets leg-shackled to my nephew. He’s boring.”
“Nell,” Liz said with an exasperated head shake.
“The Garage is not a biker bar. My customers, they tell me the Callahan brothers spent mucho dinero on the place.” Sophia, a former Playmate who owned the high-end clothing store Naughty and Nice, rubbed two fingers and her thumb together.
Vivi stared down Maddie and Skye. They’d known about Chance’s past with Jake and hadn’t told her. “Okay, ladies. Let’s get this show on the road. First round is on me,” she said.
Maddie and Skye groaned when the other women cheered.
“Vivi, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Cat said under her breath, an apprehensive look on her face.
There was a part of Vivi that agreed with Cat. For a woman determined to get over a man, allowing herself to get sucked back into his life was a bad idea. But she couldn’t help herself. And not only because the story intrigued her, which it did. She cared about him, and if there was a possibility she could help alleviate his guilt, she’d do it. And it didn’t have anything to do with the thought that a guilt-free Chance might be able to move on with his life. Not at all. “It is, if we can find out the answers Chance needs.”
“Okay, how did I get roped into this?”
“I’m a reporter and you’re a cop. We’re the perfect team.”
“Ex-cop, and as I’m sure you know, cops and reporters tend to be on opposite sides.”
“We’ll be the exception. Come on, Cat. Chance is going to be your stepbrother. Surely you want to help him out.”
“The last thing Chance McBride would want is you and me trying to get information on Jake Callahan. And Vivi, I’ve seen a ticked-off Chance, and he’s freaking scary.”
“He’ll never know.” Vivi’s stomach dipped, and the nervous jitter had nothing to do with Chance’s scary temper or facing down a supposed drug dealer and possible murderer. It was because Nell McBride was looking at Vivi like a spider who’d trapped a fly in its sticky web.
Chapter Nine
Geezus, you’ve been in a mood since you picked me up. Do me a favor and lose the attitude. Dad’s been looking forward to tonight,” Gage said as Chance pulled into a parking spot on Main Street.
“I’m not in a mood.”
“Yeah, you are.” Gage gave him a knowing look as he got out of the truck. “It’s because of Vivi, isn’t it? Why don’t you just call her and work things out?”
“Nothing to work out. We’re done.” He slammed the truck door, wincing as he realized the action supported his brother’s theory. “If I’m in a ‘mood’ ”—he made air quotes—“it has nothing to do with Vivi. It’s the damn colony of mice that have taken up residence in the cabin.” It had everything to do with Vivi. Learning about her date with Dr. McSexy had pissed him off. It shouldn’t bother him, but it did.
Which his brother obviously knew because he said, “Right,” and held open the door to the Penalty Box.
Tension knotted the muscles in Chance’s neck as he walked into the bar. The place was packed with friends, neighbors, and his father’s patients. The last time Chance had seen half the people in here was at Kate’s funeral. He’d rather be in the middle of a shoot-out than deal with them now. Off to the side of the dance floor, his father stood surrounded by well-wishers.
Chance headed straight for the bar. “Tell Dad I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Come on, he—” Gage began, then searched Chance’s face and nodded.
From where he stood mixing a drink behind the bar, Sawyer Anderson tipped up the brim of his baseball cap when Chance parked his ass on a leather stool. A couple years younger than Chance, the tall, athletically built Anderson had opened the bar after retiring from the Colorado Flurries, a professional hockey team. The rough-hewn walls were plastered with hockey memorabilia celebrating Sawyer’s short-lived but lucrative career.
“Hey, Chance, good to see you, man. What can I get you?”
“Whatever’s on tap,” he said, relaxing when Sawyer didn’t hit him with a bunch of questions. “Place looks good.”
Sawyer slid a drink down the scarred dark-wood bar into another man’s waiting hand. “Yeah, I’m happy with how it turned out,” Sawyer said as he grabbed a tall glass from under the bar. “We’re hopping tonight thanks to your dad. Good turnout.”
“Yeah, he’s a popular guy.” Chance retrieved his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. “Thanks,” he said when Sawyer handed him the beer. He pulled out a twenty.
Sawyer waved him off. “On the house.” His mouth crooked when Chance objected. “I owe you for letting me off with a warning when I took out the fire hydrant.”
“Forgot about that.” Chance laughed, returning his wallet to his back pocket. “You were a little shit.” Sometimes he forgot not all his memories of his hometown were bad ones.
“Hey, not so little.” Something caught Sawyer’s attention by the door, and he rubbed his jaw before turning back to Chance. “Sorry, I took her off tonight, but I guess… Hey, Natalee, what are you doing here? Brandi was on the schedule.”
Chance took a deep pull on his beer before swiveling on the stool. Nat walked toward him with a smile so like her sister’s he felt like he’d been sucker punched. He probably should thank his dad. A reunion here would have been a lot tougher than at the airport surrounded by strangers.
“Her son had a baseball game. I offered to take her shift.” She drew her attention away from her boss to give Chance a hug.
“How’s it going, kiddo?” He closed his eyes at the warm citrus scent that clung to her black-and-white-striped uniform shirt. She even smelled like Kate.
Nat drew back, leaving her hand on his shoulder. “Good. How about you? Princess settle in okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine.”
She glanced at him from under her long lashes. “Oh, I thought you’d have a hard time with he
r. She didn’t like your friend.”
His mouth curved as he thought about Vivi’s interactions with Princess over the last twenty-four hours. Until he remembered watching her walk away this morning and his smile faded.
“Chance?”
He returned his attention to Nat. Might as well get it over with. She’d hear about it anyway. “Doesn’t matter. Vivi’s not staying at the cabin.”
“I’m sorry.” Her smile belied the sentiment. “But don’t worry, I’ll come by every day and help out with Princess. I can clean and cook for you, too.”
There was something about the way she looked at him that made him uncomfortable. Which might’ve been the reason his response came out more curt than he intended. “Nat, I’m thirty-eight years old. I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
She withdrew her hand from his shoulder, twisting her fingers in the strap of her purse. “I didn’t mean… Sorry.”
The wounded expression on her face made him feel like a jerk. No doubt he’d imagined the look he’d seen in her eyes. She was his wife’s baby sister and almost seventeen years his junior. Kate would hate it that he’d upset her. “Don’t mind me, kiddo. It’s been a long day. You can come over anytime.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course I don’t. Better get to work before your boss fires you.” On second thought, maybe that wasn’t a bad idea. He wasn’t exactly thrilled to discover Nat worked in a bar. With her looks, she’d draw a lot of male attention. Though he trusted Sawyer to protect his waitresses. Still, Nat had been a brainiac in school. She should be in college. And it wasn’t like she had to work while going to school. He’d made sure of that. It was something he needed to talk to her about.
When Nat left to get ready for her shift, Chance got up to go to his dad’s table. Someone clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, big guy, it’s been a long time.” He turned to see Ray, his brother’s deputy who had once worked under Chance. He’d been with him the night of Kate’s accident. He saw the memory lurking in the other man’s eyes and prayed to God he didn’t want to relive it now. “Good to see you, Ray. How’s my little brother treating you?”
