an attempt to intimidate Nora. He wished he believed it. He and Gage had talked about it, but Gage had no ideas, either.
But he should have known secrets didn’t remain secrets forever. Not in this town, not anywhere. And he should have guessed that sooner or later Nora would call one of her friends back in Minneapolis and get the news.
He was out in the barn in the early morning, forking some fresh hay into the stalls with Al’s assistance. At this time of year the nights grew cold enough that he preferred to keep the horses inside. They probably could have huddled together in the paddock and kept themselves warm enough, but he didn’t see the point in putting them through that when he could get them out of the wind and into a warm space. Their shaggy winter coats were thickening nicely, though. They’d probably make it through a blizzard outdoors.
But he was thinking about more than horses. He was thinking about Nora, too. A thought had been dancing around the edges of his brain, and he wondered if he was tinkering with memory. As a cop he knew how unreliable memory could be.
But as Nora strengthened, he felt the pull of an undeniable sexual attraction to her. Feeling that, and remembering how she had looked in high school, despite her hideous clothes, he began to wonder if the whole reason he had erupted at her as he had that shameful night was because he was promised to Beth and he really wanted Nora.
She had offered herself to him, and that made him mad for her sake, certainly, but maybe it had made him uncomfortably aware how much he’d wanted to take her up on that offer. Maybe his cruelty to her had been defensive denial. Or maybe not. Maybe he’d just been a stupid twenty-year-old who for some unknown reason had blurted a whole bunch of cruel stuff.
It wouldn’t have been the first time in his life he’d acted on an idiotic impulse he couldn’t explain. Probably not the last, either.
But regardless of what had been going on in his head twelve years ago, he knew what was going on in there now. And in his body. As Nora’s health returned, he wanted her more and more. Not because she was prettier, but because she was stronger. He didn’t feel quite so guilty about the yearnings now that she didn’t look fragile enough to break.
Not that he should act on them. Not after what she had been through.
But he was growing increasingly uneasy. He couldn’t imagine how Cranston Langdon had managed to evade both the Minneapolis police and the Minnesota state police. A lot of people slipped their bracelets every day, but most of them wound up back in custody within seventy-two hours. Mainly because they were stupid and didn’t leave the area. This guy either had a great place to go to ground, or he hadn’t stopped moving and wasn’t using his own vehicle.
It was the latter idea that increasingly worried him. Initially he’d been certain that Langdon would be under wraps in a few days. It had been over a week now and he seemed to have dropped off the radar.
He was just emerging from the barn, covered in hay dust, when he saw Nora marching across the yard his way. His heart lifted a little at the firm determination of her step. She was coming back fast. She came to a halt about six feet away, putting her hands on her hips. Her blue eyes were shooting fire. Another time he might have liked seeing this burst of spirit.
She didn’t even need to open her mouth for him to realize what was coming. He braced himself, suspecting this wasn’t going to be pretty. Worse, he suspected he may have utterly sacrificed any trust she had begun to feel for him. Probably deserved to, too.
“Why didn’t you tell me that man was missing? You knew, didn’t you? Hell, that’s what my father meant when he said the guy was going to come after me. Everybody knew but me! ”
He hesitated, unsure of the best way to give the story to her. His mother used to tell him, when he was young, that it was all in the way you said
But he should have known secrets didn’t remain secrets forever. Not in this town, not anywhere. And he should have guessed that sooner or later Nora would call one of her friends back in Minneapolis and get the news.
He was out in the barn in the early morning, forking some fresh hay into the stalls with Al’s assistance. At this time of year the nights grew cold enough that he preferred to keep the horses inside. They probably could have huddled together in the paddock and kept themselves warm enough, but he didn’t see the point in putting them through that when he could get them out of the wind and into a warm space. Their shaggy winter coats were thickening nicely, though. They’d probably make it through a blizzard outdoors.
But he was thinking about more than horses. He was thinking about Nora, too. A thought had been dancing around the edges of his brain, and he wondered if he was tinkering with memory. As a cop he knew how unreliable memory could be.
But as Nora strengthened, he felt the pull of an undeniable sexual attraction to her. Feeling that, and remembering how she had looked in high school, despite her hideous clothes, he began to wonder if the whole reason he had erupted at her as he had that shameful night was because he was promised to Beth and he really wanted Nora.
She had offered herself to him, and that made him mad for her sake, certainly, but maybe it had made him uncomfortably aware how much he’d wanted to take her up on that offer. Maybe his cruelty to her had been defensive denial. Or maybe not. Maybe he’d just been a stupid twenty-year-old who for some unknown reason had blurted a whole bunch of cruel stuff.
It wouldn’t have been the first time in his life he’d acted on an idiotic impulse he couldn’t explain. Probably not the last, either.
But regardless of what had been going on in his head twelve years ago, he knew what was going on in there now. And in his body. As Nora’s health returned, he wanted her more and more. Not because she was prettier, but because she was stronger. He didn’t feel quite so guilty about the yearnings now that she didn’t look fragile enough to break.
Not that he should act on them. Not after what she had been through.
But he was growing increasingly uneasy. He couldn’t imagine how Cranston Langdon had managed to evade both the Minneapolis police and the Minnesota state police. A lot of people slipped their bracelets every day, but most of them wound up back in custody within seventy-two hours. Mainly because they were stupid and didn’t leave the area. This guy either had a great place to go to ground, or he hadn’t stopped moving and wasn’t using his own vehicle.
It was the latter idea that increasingly worried him. Initially he’d been certain that Langdon would be under wraps in a few days. It had been over a week now and he seemed to have dropped off the radar.
He was just emerging from the barn, covered in hay dust, when he saw Nora marching across the yard his way. His heart lifted a little at the firm determination of her step. She was coming back fast. She came to a halt about six feet away, putting her hands on her hips. Her blue eyes were shooting fire. Another time he might have liked seeing this burst of spirit.
She didn’t even need to open her mouth for him to realize what was coming. He braced himself, suspecting this wasn’t going to be pretty. Worse, he suspected he may have utterly sacrificed any trust she had begun to feel for him. Probably deserved to, too.
“Why didn’t you tell me that man was missing? You knew, didn’t you? Hell, that’s what my father meant when he said the guy was going to come after me. Everybody knew but me! ”
He hesitated, unsure of the best way to give the story to her. His mother used to tell him, when he was young, that it was all in the way you said
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