Melanie. His best friend. He’d messed that up, too.
He sighed, wishing he could go back in time and shake some sense into the stupid, arrogant kid he used to be. “I couldn’t believe Trish would do something like that. We had a huge fight over it and finally broke up. I wanted to track you down and apologize...but no one knew where you’d gone.”
“How hard did you look?” she asked, her voice cold and accusatory.
“Not very,” he admitted. “I figured you wanted to leave me and everything I’d done in the past. It didn’t seem right to force you to have to sit through my sad excuses if you’d moved on with your life.”
“And yet here you are.”
“To help,” he insisted. “I know it doesn’t change the past, but you’re in trouble now and you shouldn’t be forced to deal with it alone. I’d like to help you, the way I should have back then.”
Silence settled between them, tense and awkward. After a few minutes, he felt her hand touch his arm. Brow rising in surprise, he turned to face her.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jess’s voice was hesitant. It was an olive branch, and he knew it and gladly seized it.
“Yeah, sure.” His voice was thick. He cleared his throat. He spared her a glance to be sure she heard him. Her face was turned toward him, eyes intent.
“I don’t remember ever seeing you sign before. But yesterday you were signing like you’d been doing it for years. How did you learn? Why?”
He shrugged. “I had a roommate in college who was deaf. Ernie. He taught me some sign. And I went home with him several times. His whole family was deaf, so it was sink or swim. After I decided that I had zero interest in following my dad into law and politics, I took other classes to find what interested me. Including ASL.”
“Ernie Mitchell?”
His eyebrows rose. “You know him?”
“He attends Deaf church with me.”
The mention of church was unsettling. He and Ernie had stayed in touch since college but they didn’t talk religion much. Seth blew out a relieved breath as his sister’s house came in view. Soon, he would be able to tell Dan everything. Then the police could take control of the situation. Jess would be safe and would no longer need him. That last thought made him frown. The idea of walking away from her now when she was in danger didn’t sit well with him at all. But sticking around held the risk of his becoming attached to her. He realized that he liked and admired her. The last thing he wanted was to see her hurt again. And he would hurt her. How could he not? He was his father’s son, after all.
Pulling into his sister’s driveway, he frowned, feeling uneasy. Dan’s truck was there, but the minivan was nowhere in sight. And the blinds were closed. Maggie always opened the blinds. Getting out of his truck, he walked over to the garage and peered in. The motorcycle was there, but no van.
Whipping out his cell, he sent his sister a text. Hey sis. Where r u?
A minute later he received an answer. And groaned. Pittsburgh. Visiting Ty. Back 2morrow. Everything OK?
Ty was Dan’s foster brother. What now? He would just have to keep an eye on Jess until Dan returned. He sent back a text to tell his sister he needed to see Dan as soon as they returned. Then he climbed back in his truck. Jess was watching him, those gorgeous hazel eyes wide and curious. How would she react to the news that she’d have to wait to talk with Dan? Would she give up on speaking to the police altogether?
“Okay. Change of plans. Maggie and Dan are in Pittsburgh for the day.”
A soft sigh came from the woman beside him. Relief or resignation? Hmm. Not sure he knew.
“Do you want to go back to your place?” he offered. Man, he hated the thought of bringing her back to that ranch house alone. The stables were far too secluded. Her face paled.
Taking a deep breath, Jess squared her shoulders and lifted her jaw. Probably trying to look brave. To his sympathetic eye, she looked vulnerable. And scared. As she glanced up, her posture shifted. Eyes narrowing, she looked closer at the fancy invitation trapped behind the sun visor. Her slender fingers reached out and touched the fine paper, hesitant, almost awed.
“May I?” she asked. Unsure what she was thinking, he nodded.
Jess plucked the card from its spot and brushed her hands across the return address on the engraved invitation. A stallion was prominently embossed on the front.
“Ted Taylor,” she breathed. “You know Ted Taylor.”
Huh? Her voice was almost reverent.
“Yeah, that’s my uncle.” Seth gently pulled the invite from her fingers to glance at it. “I had forgotten this. He’s throwing a big blowout tonight.”
“You could help me!”
Seth found himself on the receiving end of a stunning smile. Jess leaned toward him, and he could practically smell her eagerness. For some reason his stomach tightened. He had the feeling he wasn’t going to like what she suggested.
* * *
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
Jess grinned and rolled her eyes. That was the third time Seth had complained. He was smiling and shaking his head as he said it, though, so she decided he wasn’t too upset with her. Plus, he was driving toward his uncle’s house.
She couldn’t get over the fact that she had never connected him with Ted Taylor. Ted Taylor owned the most renowned stable for breeding racehorses in this part of the country. He was an influential man who sat on various committees dealing with equine care and treatment. His passion was abused horses. Just as Cody’s had been. His endorsement could sway public opinion in her favor.
She shivered. On the other hand, a cold shoulder from him would convince many she and her brother were guilty. But she had to try.
And he was also well known for throwing lavish parties. Like this one. Parties where everyone brought an overnight bag because one day wasn’t long enough to celebrate. Not to mention the fact that he lived almost an hour away from LaMar Pond on the outskirts of Spartansburg. Ted always opened the spring season up with a bang. Anyone who was anyone in the equestrian circle in northwestern Pennsylvania would be there. Breeders, coaches, trainers. All people who she and her brother had met in one capacity or another. It was possible that someone there might be able to provide some answers about what had really happened in the last few months of Cody’s life.
“Are you sure you can spare this much time away from the stables?”
Seth was precious when he was concerned. No way. Not going there. Even if it was true, it would do no good for her to become attached. The butterflies currently fluttering in her stomach would go away if she ignored them. She cut a quick glance toward him and met melting brown eyes. Instead of going away the butterflies intensified.
What was the question? Oh, yeah.
“The stables will be fine. I texted my staff so they’ll know to come in and take care of the morning chores. Even if I don’t show up for a few days, the workers keep things moving. We keep charts on which animals need what to be done, so someone will be able to pick up the slack.”
As the truck sloshed through the back roads toward Ted Taylor’s party, she watched as the puddles on the road became progressively deeper. Rain continued to pound on the truck. The rhythmic swipe of the wipers could barely keep up. Her teeth tugged at her lower lip. Maybe convincing Seth to bring her to the party with him as his “plus one” hadn’t been a great idea. With weather like this, they wouldn’t be able to leave the party quickly or easily if she was treated badly by the other guests—which was a definite possibility. Many of them had treated her as if she had leprosy since Cody’s