Page 36 of River Wild

He was on his way home when he spotted AJ Plummer’s pickup parked in front of the hotel. “Just saved me the drive,” he said to himself as he pulled into the lot and went inside.

No surprise, he found AJ at the bar. It was early so he was alone, the bartender nowhere in sight. “Thought you said she was too young for you,” Stuart said as he took the stool next to him.

The rancher had the good grace to look shamefaced.

“You failed to mention that the two of you dated for a few months.”

“It was only a couple of months,” AJ said. “I liked her, okay?”

“You lied about your age with her.”

“I never told her myexactage. She knew I was too old for her.” AJ looked down at his drink on the bar.

“Did she know you were still married?”

“I assume so,” AJ snapped, “since everyone knows everyone else’s business around here.”

“You took off your wedding ring, but now it’s back on.”

“What are you getting at? Faith and I are trying to work a few things out.”

“Now that Willow’s no longer in the picture?”

AJ took a drink. “I don’t have to put up with this.”

“You’re right. You could come down to the sheriff’s department, and we could make this more formal. You should have mentioned you had a relationship with her.”

The rancher sighed. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Why don’t you tell me what it was like,” the sheriff said. Again, AJ looked embarrassed. “Let me guess. You knew better than to be seen with her, so the two of you never left the hotel.”

“She was of age,” AJ said in his defense. “It was consensual.”

“Did you tell her to change her hair color?”

AJ’s head jerked up. “What?”

“Someone at the bar told her she needed to go back to her natural color.”

“It wasn’t me. I thought she looked great as a blonde. I liked it better than way.”

“Did you ever notice other men flirting with her?”

“Sure.” AJ’s face flushed with anger. He was still holding his empty glass, his knuckles white. “All the time. They were like bees to honey.”

Stuart saw that the rancher had been jealous. So jealous that he stopped Willow from seeing anyone else? “Do you happen to know who got her to change her hair? She didn’t mention to you that she was changing it?”

“I told you, I’d broken it off and stayed away from her. We weren’t seeing each other the last month or so.”

“Why was that?” Stuart asked.

“She was too young for me and...and Faith and I were talking about getting back together.”

The sheriff studied him for a moment. It wasn’t adding up. What was he missing? “Was Willow seeing someone else?”

“How would I know?” he snapped.

“You don’t seem all that broken up over her murder.”