Northern Escape by Jennifer LaBrecque Page A

resumed their stroll down Main Street. He wouldn’t blog about her or her business, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep digging until he uncovered the secret that put those shadows in her eyes.

7
    N ICK WALKED INTO THE AIRSTRIP center an hour later, having stopped by every business to check out the artists and their crafts. The airstrip office was hopping, as well. Merrilee had set up a landscape painter in the front, a beader in the middle of the room and a flute carver over near the bank of windows overlooking the landing strip out back. The hum of conversation along with the aroma of coffee, cookies and wood smoke hung in the air.
    Merrilee was busy talking with the wood-carver and the three or four people. She wore a smile but there was no mistaking the dark circles beneath her eyes. He knew with a surety his time with Gus last night had put them there.
    Grabbing a cup of coffee and snagging a couple of cookies—chocolate chips were his favorites—he headed upstairs to his room. He’d check out the artists later, on his way to the restaurant. Right now, he was eager to get his thoughts down.
    Settled in his room, he made notes on his laptop, wrote his latest post, and made short work of the coffeeand cookies. Nick set his computer to the side and leaned back against the headboard. Grabbing a pen and notepad, he began to make a list of what he knew about Gus and her situation.
    Left New York four years ago. Changed her name. Didn’t travel now. Did not want her business in his blog. Merrilee’s friendliness up until she found out Nick’s occupation. Restaurant wasn’t in Gus’s name. No public records on her at all. The shock of white in her hair a result of extreme stress. Merrilee extremely protective. Gus, friendly but holding herself apart from the rest of the town. Shadows in her eyes.
    He closed his eyes and thought. There had been something yesterday and then today. Something that struck him as similar chords. Got it. He opened his eyes. It was the look on her face when he’d asked her if she’d ever had a close call and she said she’d been engaged. It was the same expression she’d assumed when he’d asked her today if she’d ever returned to New York. Both questions had elicited a neutral expression and sometimes that could be as revealing as wearing your emotions on your face. It meant she was carefully hiding her true response to both of those questions.
    He began to doodle on the page and draw arrows from one part of the list to the other. He stopped and read through his notes one more time.
    He reorganized his notes, listing them in as close to chronological order as possible. A picture emerged. It was pure deduction on his part, but that’s what solved cases and mysteries.
    Putting all the parts together, his best guess was Gushad an engagement that had gone bad. He’d speculated she was running from someone and that was her ex-fiancé. It would explain the name change, the not dating anyone for the last four years, and the general protectiveness surrounding her.
    And the way he saw it that fiancé was still in New York. Merrilee’s demeanor had changed when she’d found out he wrote for the Times. Gus had point-blank asked him not to mention her, which told him if he did, this man could then find her. It also told Nick if she’d gone to those measures, this man was dangerous in the extreme.
    If he was right, and his gut told him he was, he was even more determined to solve this and do something about this guy. And now, there was an equal measure of desperation gnawing at him. The thought of anyone threatening Gus made his blood run cold with a fury he hadn’t known he possessed.
    If she would just trust him, and he knew that wasn’t something that would come easily, he could help her. Without a name, hers or her former fiancé’s, Nick’s hands were tied.
    Â 
    I MPATIENCE RACKED HER. Gus had