Page 2

TWO

Meredith had a moment of startling clarity. Regardless of why he’d happened to be driving by—and she put mental quotes around “happened” because she had no doubt he’d either followed her, tracked her, or come looking for her—he was currently under her van, lying on a rough road, and doing it without any complaint.

And she had him all to herself for a few minutes.

Why was it that when that happened, and it happened rarely enough, she always seemed to find a reason to snap at him. She took a deep breath and made a heroic effort to rein in her sass. “Mrs. Frost is a sweet lady. I went to help her. I didn’t even think about her being in another county. And even if I had, I would have gone anyway. Because, again, Mrs. Frost is precious, but she’s also a menace on the road who shouldn’t be allowed to drive anywhere ever again. So I told her not to come to the office. I would bring the office to her.”

Her magnanimous explanation earned her a grunt. And then a low whistle. Well, that was a weird response.

“Meredith.”

She bent over so she could look under the van again. Not that she could see Gray’s face well, but it felt rude to continue talking into the air when he was just a few feet away. “Yes?”

“Could you hand me your phone? I need to take a few pictures.”

She pulled her phone from her pocket. “Pictures of?”

“The hole in your fuel line.”

She got down so she could reach under the van and handed the phone to Gray. A few clicks later, he held it out to her. “Can you take this? I’m coming out.”

She considered offering to pull him out by his legs but bit her tongue. That would probably hurt his back. And it would be awkward. And she wasn’t even sure if she could move him. The man was a wall of muscle.

But she did do what was clearly the only polite thing. She watched him like a hawk as he shimmied himself out from under the vehicle and then leaned over to rub his hands in the grass. Which might be the reason she was a little bit breathless when he finally got to his feet and asked to see the phone.

“Huh?”

“The phone? The pictures?”

“Oh. Right.” She handed it over and gave herself a mental slap.

He turned the screen toward her. “See this?”

She studied the photo. “That’s where my diesel leaked?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to see, but when I wiped the line dry, I could see the cut. I don’t suppose you, I don’t know, ran over a large branch, or took the van through a ditch, did a little off-roading?”

His questions, albeit increasingly facetious, held a tinge of hope. He would have been thrilled if she could give him an explanation other than the one she could already see forming in his mind.

She wanted to say that she made it a habit to take her freakishly expensive dental office on wheels through random fields, but she refrained and answered truthfully. “Mrs. Frost has a gravel driveway, but her sons smoothed it out last week. I didn’t so much as hit a pothole today.”

Gray’s mouth twisted into an unpleasant grimace. “Stay here.”

It wasn’t a request, and she considered ignoring it. But given that there were now two vehicles and two people on the side of the road, she chose to remain where she could flag down any oncoming motorists before Gray, who was now walking up the middle of the road, was flattened into a police chief pancake.

He walked around the curve and out of sight. Rude. He could have said something like, “I’m hot on the trail.” But no.

She opened her van door and reached inside for her coffee. It was still hot, and she was on her eleventh sip—and yes, she was counting—when Gray reappeared. He didn’t say anything as he returned to her side. When he reached her, he looked at the insulated tumbler she held. It was a lurid pink. “I didn’t think you liked pink.”

“I don’t particularly.”

“Then why?” He waved a hand toward the cup.

“Because Cal and Mo used to have a bad habit of raiding my kitchen when they can’t find their own mugs. I bought four of these in lovely neutral shades before I gave up and started buying the most obnoxious colors they make.”

“Clever girl.”

Meredith nearly dropped her coffee. Was Gray flirting with her? This was flirting. Right? “Would you like a sip?”

“What’s in it?”

“Coffee.”

“I gathered that. What else is in it?”

“Oh, um, oat milk creamer?”

He rolled his eyes but took the tumbler and raised it to his lips. He took a cautious sip. Then another. “That’s not bad.” He blew out a breath. “We have to consider the possibility that someone punctured your fuel line while you were at Mrs. Frost’s house today.”

Meredith leaned against her van. “Why?”

“I have a few theories.”

“Care to share?”

“Not here. Not now.”

“Does that mean later?”

Gray shifted his feet. “I’m not sure.”

“I deserve to know.”

“You do. But I don’t want to scare you.”

“Please.” Meredith pointed a finger at his chest. “You’ve been trying to scare me off for months. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Why aren’t you jumping at it?”

“Because this is different.”

“How?”

Gray walked toward his car. “Not now.” He reached inside and used the radio. “Tell Donovan I need him here with a gas can. But it needs to be diesel. Yeah. At least ten gallons.” He rattled off a few more things that he wanted and signed off.

She had walked to his door. “Thank you. My phone doesn’t have a signal.”

“Want me to get a message to Mo?”

“No.” She dropped her head in defeat. “But yes. They’ll freak out if they can’t reach me. Although by now someone in my family has probably already started a phone tree.”

“How would they even know?”

“Police scanner. Someone will have heard it and called my parents, or Papa, or Mo directly. Poor Donovan. He’ll probably be leading a caravan of Quinns here.”

“Let them come.” Gray didn’t seem to think this was as serious a situation as he should have.

“I don’t need to be rescued.”

Gray quirked an eyebrow.

“Yes. I did need to be rescued. But you’ve already rescued me admirably, so now I’m fine. Perfectly safe. I don’t need a parade.”

Gray studied her for a moment, then returned to the radio, where he made it clear to Donovan that he should risk the wrath of his soon-to-be in-laws and make sure most of them stayed home. “Mo can come if he wants. Or Douglas. But we don’t need the whole family.”

Donovan said he understood and he’d do his best.

“Happy now?” Gray asked Meredith.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Gray went to the back of his car. “I’m going to see if I can wrap that up enough to at least slow the leak until we can get you to a service station.”

For the next ten minutes, Meredith sat on the ground beside Gray’s legs and handed him the various items he requested. When he shimmied back out, she went to the front of her van and retrieved her stash of baby wipes. She returned after he’d gotten to his feet.

He wiped his hands clean and glared at her van. “Meredith?”

“Gray?”

“I know I don’t have any authority, any right, any ... well, anything to ask this. But I’m going to ask it anyway. Please don’t leave the county by yourself. Not just for clinics. For any reason. I—” He ran a hand over his close-cropped head. “There’s something going on and you’re involved. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. I don’t know what the end game is. I don’t want to scare you or make you jump at shadows. But I need you to be careful.”

He took her hands in his and squeezed. “Please. I’m ... I’m begging you. Please.”

She stared at their hands and tried to keep her face from showing her shock. He’d never touched her before. Never. His hands were so big, so warm, so firm and sure. But there was so much pain in his gaze. So much fear. For her. She wanted to explore the emotion. Wanted to understand where his intensity came from. Wanted to have permission to slide her hand into his anytime she wanted.

But now wasn’t the time or place. So she nodded and said the only thing she could that would alleviate some of Gray’s distress. “I promise.”

Donovan arrived with Mo’s Jeep close behind him. Mo hopped out and ran to Meredith. “What on earth have you gotten yourself into now, baby sister?”

Anyone hearing just the words would have thought Mo rough and angry. But Gray could see the emotion, feel the tension, and more importantly, watch the way this often-taciturn man grabbed his sister in his arms and squeezed her close.

The sight rubbed at the place in his heart that would never heal. He envied them this moment in a way neither of them knew. He left them to their conversation and walked over to Donovan.

“She was at Mrs. Frost’s house for approximately two hours.” While Mrs. Frost didn’t live in their jurisdiction, she did drive into Gossamer Falls. And Meredith was right. The woman was a menace behind the wheel. All of Gray’s officers knew Mrs. Frost. “She had a toothache, so Meredith came up here and took care of it rather than turn Mrs. Frost loose on the unsuspecting citizens.”

Donovan chuckled. “Wise woman.”

“Indeed. Meredith said she was in the van for about an hour. Then went inside to visit. Mrs. Frost made her hot chocolate and cookies.”

“Are you thinking the damage was done while they were in the house?”

“Probably. When I asked Meredith if she heard or saw anything strange, she said no, but that Mrs. Frost had the TV on and the volume was so loud she wouldn’t have noticed if a train had come through.”

“Opportunity or planned?” Donovan asked.

“Maybe a little of both? A plan that was implemented as soon as the opportunity presented itself?” Gray looked to where Mo was talking to Meredith, one arm casually thrown over her shoulder, her head against his chest.

“I don’t get it.” Donovan waved a hand in her direction. “She goes there to help. That’s it. She’s not causing any trouble. She’s cleaning teeth and filling cavities. It’s not like she’s busting up meth labs.”

“No. But the kids love her. And kids talk. They talk a lot of trash, but some of it’s legitimate. Back when Landry was taken, Meredith made a comment that if Kirby didn’t cooperate, she’d share some incriminating information. I didn’t have to threaten Kirby with that. But I do wonder if her comment got back to him somehow.”

“What does she know?”

“She’s never said. From what I’ve been able to put together, there’ve been little comments here and there. A lot of small stuff that, taken on its own, means nothing. But when combined? Could mean we have a dirty cop. Maybe more than one. And that the meth and cocaine coming through the mountains has found a safe harbor right on the other side of the county line.”

“Those Atlanta dealers don’t play.” Donovan’s face clouded. “I don’t like having that stuff right across the county line.” Donovan had almost lost his fiancée, Cassie, to some locals mixed up in the drug trade just a few months ago. The wound was raw. “It would help if she didn’t go traipsing off alone. But she’s a Quinn. And the Quinns—”

“Believe me. I know. But we’ve talked. She promised not to leave the county alone.”

“How did you manage that?” There was more innuendo in those five words than Gray thought possible.

“Drop it.”

Donovan gave him a small salute. “Yes, sir.” There was no attitude in his remark. Maybe a little disappointment, but nothing else. “Ready for me to try to get the van moving again?”

“Yeah. Fill her up. Then we’ll caravan into town.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Donovan went to his truck to get the diesel while Gray walked over to the huddle where Meredith and Mo stood in tense conversation. “Excuse me.”

Meredith and Mo turned to him and their familial similarity hit him hard. The way they stood and the set of their mouths were identical. And even though he was sure they’d been arguing, there was still a closeness, a comfort level, between them.

If things had been different, would he and Jasmine have had this kind of relationship? Would people have been jealous of how close they were? Would she have looked at him the way Meredith looked at Mo now, with a mix of exasperation and fondness?

Meredith tilted her head in Mo’s direction. “My big brother thinks I’ve made poor life choices today.”

“You left town. Alone!” Mo pointed at Gray. “Tell her.”

“From what she told me, there wasn’t any reason for her not to pay a visit to Mrs. Frost.”

At Meredith’s triumphant “Told you,” he focused on her.

“Although, it would have been wise to let someone know you were headed out.”

“Exactly,” Mo growled.

“But it isn’t something we need to worry about.” He turned to Mo. “Meredith’s promised not to leave the county alone anymore, so that’s settled.”

Mo’s eyes widened, and he turned on Meredith. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“You didn’t give me a chance. You went all overprotective big brother on me. Gray and I had an adult conversation with no yelling and no threats. I recognize there’s a problem far greater than what any of us realized, and I’ll take all necessary precautions.”

Mo stuck a hand toward Gray. “Man, I don’t know how you did it. But thank you.”

Gray shook Mo’s hand, and when their eyes met, Gray saw something that he didn’t want to know.

Mo approved.

He didn’t need Mo’s approval. Especially not when it came to Meredith.

Meredith shoved Mo’s arm. “I’m right here, you moron.”

“Yes. I see that. In the middle of nowhere out of diesel.”

“I had a full tank!”

“It doesn’t matter if it leaks out all over the road!”

Meredith turned to Gray. “We need to call Mrs. Frost. She has animals. If it leaked out at her house—”

“I’ll go see her.” Mo’s voice was reassuring.

She gave him a hug. “You’re the best big brother. I don’t care what I said earlier.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Mo made eye contact with Gray, and Gray gave him a quick nod of appreciation.

Gray would have loved to go to Mrs. Frost’s home and investigate the scene, but he couldn’t. It was out of his jurisdiction. Mo had no such limitations. He could do a favor for his baby sister, and Mrs. Frost would flirt and ply him with cookies and hot cocoa. She might even tell him things she hadn’t thought to mention to Meredith.

Mo Quinn was an interesting guy. Quiet in a crowd. Funny and sarcastic with the people he was close to. A favorite of all the little Quinns, and goodness knew there were a lot of them, and the first one to volunteer to hang out with his aunt Minnie when his granny needed someone to look after her.

He also had a mind that understood patterns and loved spreadsheets. He’d been something secret with Army intelligence, and no one knew for sure why he’d left when he did. He claimed it was because his mama had cancer and he decided it was time to move home.

Gray figured that was about 30 percent of the story. The remaining 70 percent had yet to be told.

Regardless, Mo wasn’t a man to be trifled with. He could handle himself and whatever came at him.

“Meredith, who do you want to work on your van? Do you want to take it to a mechanic?”

Her eyes widened in horror. “Are you kidding? Daddy would strangle me. I’m driving Flossy straight to my parents’ house.”

“I refuse to call your van Flossy.”

Meredith patted her van. “Why not? It’s the perfect name. The kids love it. Flossy, the mobile dentist van.”

Donovan stood nearby with the gas can at the ready. “I still say you should get a vanity plate.”

“I tried.” Meredith’s expression was so disgruntled that Gray had a sudden and intense urge to call the DMV and insist they provide her with whatever she wanted. What was wrong with him?

It was time for him to get away from Meredith. He did fine as long as he kept his distance, and today had topped him off for at least a week. Gray clapped his hands together. “Okay. Let’s get out of here. Donovan, fill her up. Mo, if you’ll pay Mrs. Frost a quick visit?”

Donovan and Mo nodded.

“Meredith, Donovan will take the lead. I’ll follow. We’ll stay with you all the way to your parents’ house. And if you need a ride back to your office, one of us will take you.”

Meredith flashed him her trademark smile and dropped into a sugary-sweet Southern drawl. “Why, officers, I just don’t know how to thank you for coming to my aid.” She fluttered her eyelashes to dramatic effect.

Donovan bowed dramatically. “It was our pleasure, ma’am.”

“You’re just sucking up so I’ll make that obnoxious flower arrangement you asked for.”

Donovan shrugged. “I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

“I’m not making it. It’s a crime against nature.”

Donovan poured diesel into the tank. “Meredith, you make flower arrangements out of wood. I’m not saying they’re a crime, but they aren’t exactly following the nature of things.”

“They’re gorgeous, and they never die.” Meredith defended her creations. And she wasn’t wrong. Gray had never paid any attention to flower arrangements until Meredith had brought a bouquet to the station that even he had to acknowledge was stunning.

When he realized that the flowers were made from paper-thin sheets of wood that had been shaped and dyed, he couldn’t believe it. And then she casually mentioned that she’d been the one to design and dye each flower and that she’d created the arrangement.

He’d made sure the flowers were in a prominent spot, and he smiled to himself every time he saw them.

Not that he told her that.

“What does Donovan want you to do?”

Meredith groaned. “He wants me to make an arrangement so gaudy it could possibly cause permanent retinal damage to anyone who views it for more than a few seconds. And he wants me to present it to Cassie as the real thing. I’ve tried to explain to him that no one pranks their bride on their wedding day.”

Gray adjusted his belt. “Can you make the arrangement? I mean, is it possible to make it?”

“Yes, but—”

“Why don’t you make it and let him have his fun before the wedding. She could carry it during the rehearsal, and then it can be the bouquet she tosses during the reception.”

Meredith gaped at him for a few seconds, then threw her arms around him. She squeezed him close and then leaned back and looked into his face. “Gray! You’re a genius!”

Eyes alight, she looked at Donovan. “What do you think?”

Donovan rubbed the back of his neck. “I think it’s great, but if it’s all the same to you, I’m not going to squeeze the stuffing out of Gray to express my approval.”

Meredith, body still pressed to Gray’s, hands still on his arms, scrunched up her face at Donovan, then turned a radiant smile on Gray. “I’m so happy! Thank you!” She rose on her tiptoes, and before he saw it coming, planted a kiss on his cheek. Then she hugged him again before releasing him to run over to Mo.

Gray stood frozen in place. He heard her explaining his solution to “this bouquet issue that’s been giving me literal nightmares” to her brother, but he couldn’t quite get his brain and body in sync. He should move. He should get in his car.

He should drive far, far away from Meredith Quinn.

But five minutes later, he was in his car, following Meredith to her parents’ home.