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“Don’t want to drink on the job,” she explained before Allison could speak. “Now, I’m all ears. What’s the matter?”

Allison didn’t respond right away. She raised her glass to her lips and took a sip, then set it down with a sigh.

“It’s my husband. He’s back.”

Penny frowned. “I’m not sure how that’s a bad thing.”

“No, you don’t understand. He disappeared four years ago. We argued, and he went for a ride on his horse on the ranch. That was the last I saw or heard of him until the night I left this bar. He was standing in the middle of the road when I saw him. Almost ran him over.”

“Whoa.”

Allison gave a tiny shrug. She wasn’t sure whether she should be telling all this to Penny. The barmaid was practically a stranger as far as she was concerned. If anyone at all, she should be talking to Celine. But Allison went on, staring down at her glass as she spoke.

“He’s been telling me that he never meant to leave me,” she said. “He said he got lost, trapped on some mountain. The whole thing sounds like a cock-and-bull story to me, but I can’t help wondering ... I mean, he looked different than when I last saw him.”

“ Different ?” The barmaid had a look of unwavering interest on her face.

Allison nodded. “Shaggy hair, no shirt. He looked ... bigger, and there were these scars all over his body.”

“What in the ...?”

“And his eyes ... I’m not sure how to explain it, but they look like they’ve seen things. He’s still the same old Stanley, but he’s also changed. I told him to stay away from me, and he’s been living in our barn without complaining. He’s never done that before.”

She sucked in a breath. Was the barmaid human or supernatural? She couldn’t quite tell. Whatever the case, she should probably try not to say anything that might suggest it.

“That’s not even the main problem. I was supposed to be over him.

After everything I went through after he left, I should’ve lost any feelings I had for him.

But now he’s back, and it’s been ... well, chaotic.

I want to let him in—at least, that’s what my heart wants—but that would be foolish.

He abandoned me before. I can’t just pretend that it didn’t happen.

I can’t risk him breaking my heart all over again. ”

Her words faded into silence, and she realized her breathing had quickened a little. Across the table from her, Penny took a sip from her glass, frowning like she was trying to make sense of everything Allison had just said.

“I’m sorry,” Allison told her. “I’m dumping all this on you, and—”

“No, don’t apologize.” The other woman gave her a lopsided grin. “I did ask you to talk to me. But something you said made me wonder ...”

“What?”

“Something tells me your husband wasn’t lying about not leaving you on purpose. You said he vanished.”

“Without a trace.”

Penny stared at her glass for a moment. “It happened to someone I used to know.”

Allison sat up a little straighter. “Really?”

The barmaid nodded, brushing a few strands of red hair out of her face.

“His name is—was—Adam. We were supposed to be together, and one day, he just .. .vanished. I thought he’d abandoned me or something, but my pack—I mean, my family —did everything they could to find him.

When even they couldn’t, I knew something worse had happened.

There was no trace of him anywhere. No sign that he’d taken off or been dragged away. He just ...”

“Vanished,” Allison said. That sounded a lot like what had happened in Stanley’s case. Except for one thing. “He still hasn’t returned?”

Penny had a sad expression on her face. “It took me a while to accept that he was gone. It still hurts, but not as much. I don’t know if it’s the same thing that happened to your husband, but I hope he’s doing okay wherever he is.

” She reached halfway across the table as if to touch Allison’s hand, then seemed to change her mind.

“I’m happy for you, anyway. And you should be, too.

If I were in your shoes, I’d be more than grateful to have him back. ”

***

Maybe talking with Penny hadn’t been such a great idea, Allison thought as she drove back to the ranch.

She’d barely gotten anything to drink, and by the time she and the barmaid were done talking, she’d all but lost her thirst. A good thing since she still had to drive back home.

It was not so good because her thoughts were still racing.

She rounded a bend and flashed back to what Penny had said about her lover, who’d also disappeared.

The thought kept prodding her: What if he never really meant to leave?

Allison had already been considering the possibility, but what Penny told her made her wonder even more. What if she’d been wrong this whole time, and he really was telling the truth about this Frost Mountain business?

I’d be more than grateful to have him back , the barmaid had said.

Allison wasn’t exactly ungrateful. In a way, despite all the pain and memories that had accompanied his return, it was great to have Stanley back, to know that he was around.

And that was exactly why it was such an issue.

She still cared, no matter how much she wished she didn’t.

And that made her more susceptible to being hurt by him again.

She was halfway down the dirt path that led to the ranch house when she sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

The cowhands weren’t at work. A few of them stood by the barns, looking tense.

They glanced at her as she drove by, but none of them even waved in greeting.

Allison frowned. What the heck was going on?

She continued toward the house. Allison spotted two figures in front. Julian was there, and sitting on the porch steps, bare-chested and mouthwatering as usual, was her husband.

Her stomach clenched. What was he doing back at the house? And why did everyone look so worried? She pulled up and climbed out of the truck.

“What’s going on?” she wanted to know.

Julian started toward her, looking like he’d rather not be the bearer of bad news. “Boss, something’s happened.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Allison replied impatiently, looking to him for an explanation. “What happened?”

“Three of our cows were slaughtered.”

She blinked at him. “I don’t understand.”

“Someone killed them earlier today on the field. I found them less than an hour ago with slashes and claw marks on their necks.”

“Claw marks?”

He nodded. “It’s almost like some wild animal did it, or ...”

He didn’t have to complete his sentence. Allison knew what he was about to say. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. Her animals had been slaughtered. That was the last thing she’d been expecting to hear upon returning to the ranch.

She glanced over his shoulder at Stanley.

He sat motionless, his elbows on his knees, his brows knit together.

He was still shirtless, a fact she could never not notice.

His gaze was trained on the ground. Suddenly, he looked up, and their eyes met.

His were filled with an emotion she hadn’t seen since his return.

He’s furious. And he looks like he knows something.

“Thanks, Julian,” she said. “Give me a moment with my husband, will you?”

The cowhand looked at her funny but nodded and walked away. She faced Stanley just as he rose to his feet.

“You’re right to give us privacy,” he said. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” she wondered.

“I know exactly who slaughtered those cows.” His jaw clenched. “The bastard is after me, and now he knows where I live.”