“Why?” she finally asked. “You... Well, you don’t know me. This could absolutely get you fired and jail time.” She lowered her voice and took a step closer. Julian could reach out and touch that baby bump between them if he were so inclined. “Why take that risk? Why lie?”
Julian gave her the honest truth.
“You said you didn’t do it and I believe you.”
A look he couldn’t interpret crossed the innkeeper’s expression. Then it transformed back into exhaustion.
“And am I to guess what we were doing together in secret last night?”
Julian felt the heat of their earlier intimate memories burn through him. Just as they had been throughout the last several months. Like lighter fluid thrown into a low flame. Hot, alarming and just a dangerous taste of what else could happen.
“The same thing we did last time I was here,” he answered. “Apparently, Caleb had no idea you and I had been romantic then. I had to tell him otherwise to give credence to my story now.”
Again, Julian wanted to search her expression to find the reason why she’d ended things, why she’d kept him a secret then and the time after he’d left, but he had to focus. Not that he could have gleaned the truth from the woman standing so close to him. Her expression was as guarded as her brothers’ had been when they’d brought her in. Maybe it was a Nash family trait.
“And why did you show up? Outside the fiction you’ve been spinning about our romantic encounter.”
Julian tried to smile, tried to downplay the eagerness he’d hidden from Chance when he’d decided to visit Hidden Hills. This time he lowered his voice.
“I just wanted to say hi before I went on to my new life.”
Madi was quick to comment. She wasn’t smiling.
“And now you’re my alibi in a murder investigation where I’m the lead suspect. If that’s not good—or bad—timing, I don’t know what is.”
Silence stretched between them for a few moments. Madi looked down at her hands on her stomach. Her expression was knotted in thought. When she met his eyes again there was a fire behind them. However, before she could speak, the door to the department swung open.
Caleb took the stairs down two at a time. When he got to them, he clapped Julian on the back and smiled for all he was worth.
“While I’m not exactly happy you waited so long to do it, I’m sure as hell glad you came forward,” he said, reiterating what he’d told Julian earlier. He gave his sister an equally enthusiastic smile. “I’m just glad we can all go home now.”
Madi didn’t share in his exuberance.
“My home is a crime scene,” she pointed out.
Caleb nodded, deflating slightly.
“Good thing that’s not the only home you have here.”
Madi looked like she wanted to say something else but Caleb wasn’t having it. The earlier stress had lifted. Now he was reveling in the lightness. Julian had been there before. He became reacquainted with the feeling at the end of every deployment.
Caleb motioned to his truck and addressed Julian directly.
“Why don’t you two follow me?” he said, already digging out his keys. “Mom and Nina have some beds made up and some breakfast going, depending on how you’re feeling.”
Julian’s eyebrow rose high.
“And where exactly are we going?”
The detective gave them both a grand smile.
“The Nash Family Ranch! Where else?”
* * *
THE SUNLIGHT MET them and followed them across town and right up to and through the entrance to the Nash Family Ranch. The last time she’d talked to Julian, Madi had been avoiding the ranch and her mother out of guilt.
Things hadn’t gotten much better. When she’d announced her pregnancy her mother had been happy, but also angry.
It had created a rift between them, one Madi’s brothers had tried to repair, but they found no easy way to soften either woman. Because even though her situation wasn’t ideal, Madi wouldn’t allow any negativity. No matter if it was a passive-aggressive comment or a wayward glance that held an edge.
Now, though, as the fields passed by on either side of Julian’s SUV and the ranch at the end of Winding Road became closer, Madi wanted to avoid her mother for an entirely new reason. Dorothy Nash had been through the wringer in the past three decades. She’d faced and dealt in heartache like she’d been cursed with bad luck. She’d seen needless violence and pain much more than any one person should have to bear.
And here Madi was, adding another heartache alongside the father of her child, who’d just committed a crime to keep her from being charged as a murderer.
Madi pressed her forehead against the cool of the window. It sounded like the plot to a movie where Harrison Ford would eventually be jumping out of an airplane or from one skyscraper rooftop to another to save the day.
“So, this is the famous family ranch?”
Julian’s eyes had been swiveling as he’d driven through the front gate that ended Winding Road. He was observant, that much Madi knew of the man. She had appreciated this skill during their week together. He’d noticed the shifts in her mood and thoughts with ease. He understood her.
Yet maybe that hadn’t been something special between them. Maybe that was just who Julian was. An observant man who had come into town, flashed his smile and then disappeared.
Then again, she’d been the one who said leaving was okay.
So what that Julian hadn’t reached out? He hadn’t picked up a phone, hadn’t sent an email, and the mailbox had remained free of any letter bearing his name.
That was what she had said she wanted, right?
Never to see him again?
Yet here he was.
It, along with everything else, filled Madi’s head like rising water. There wasn’t time to sort out what didn’t make sense. All she could hope to do was survive it. To keep swimming. To escape the flood.
So she held her tongue back from asking why Julian had gone silent and why he was back. Instead, she tried to answer him like she would a guest. Forced jubilance and pride. Polite but not overly expressive. A good middle ground.
“Yes, this is it. The Nash Family Ranch. Home to several generations of Nashes throughout the many years it’s been here.” She motioned to a road that forked off the straightaway. “That leads to the Wild Iris Retreat, the stables, several trails and Caleb and Nina’s new house.” She hesitated before detailing the rest of the ranch’s geography. The customer service lilt to her speech drained away. She couldn’t hide the weight of what had happened pressing her next words down. “You know, I don’t know if Mom has anyone staying at the retreat right now. If so, this could really hurt business. Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”
Julian shook his head. For a moment she thought he was going to reach out to her, but he kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel.
“I don’t know your family but I have a feeling, just by what I’ve seen in the last few hours, that there’s nowhere else they’d rather you be.” This time his gaze swept over to her.
And then down to her stomach.
Madi ran her hand over it, as if she could shield herself from his questions. For months she had tried to tell him the very same thing she was trying not to