Grady’s heart dropped like a heavy stone into a deep well. His cover had been blown. Cait would leave no leaf unturned until she figured out exactly what was going on between him andLinx.
The cogs seemed to be turning in Cait’s mind as she counted her fingers and moved her lips. When she looked up at Grady, her face was pale. “Seven years ago, you were an instructor for the Forest Service. Linx was a rookie. She told me she’d jumped one season. But after that, shequit.”
“Did she tell you why shequit?”
“Said she lost interest and decided to work with dogs.” Cait shrugged. “I take it there was somethingelse?”
“Maybe.”
“You slept with her, didn’t you?” Cait nailed him with her sharp green eyes. “You were an instructor, and you weren’t supposed to fraternize with the rookies. She could have had youfired.”
“Well, I wasn’t fired. She quitinstead.”
“Do you think she was pregnant?” Cait’s mind worked at warpspeed.
“She doesn’t have any children. I, uh, don’t think that’s herproblem.”
Cait’s face twisted as if she were checking off clues at a mystery dinner. “She quit firefighting abruptly. She pretends she didn’t know you when we met. Her family wants to run you out of town, or at least her big, overprotective older brother does. She kept yourdog.”
“Yeah, she kept my dog, but what does that have to do with whether she was pregnant or not?” A flutter in his heart jittered down to his gut, but he wasn’t worried. She’d assured him there was no kid. It had been a false alarm, or a blatant ploy to force him to marryher.
“She might have kept your dog to have a piece of you close to her.” Cait blinked, her eyes now watery. “Or maybe she wanted revenge, or at least your attention. I’m not blind. I sense a lot of angst and tension between youtwo.”
“Yeah, well, it’s all one-sided. I’m the innocent victim here.” Grady patted his thigh at Sasha, beckoning her to come with him. “I’ve got to be going. Just thought I’d let you meet Sasha and let you know what a snake Linx Colson is. Are you sure you two want to settle here? Her family owns the entiretown.”
“It’s a charming town, full of potential,” Cait said. “Millions of people drive by on Interstate 80 on their way to Tahoe and Reno for their quickie weddings without realizing if they took a little more time, they’d have something moreunique.”
“I wish you lots of luck then, but I have a feeling the Colsons like this place quiet and backward the way it is.” Grady headed for the door. “I’m wondering if someone in her family set fire to Mom and Dad’s place as awarning.”
“You mean they want us to stay away?” Brian asked, setting down his tablet. “Is that what you’reimplying?”
Grady shrugged. “I heard around town that people are calling you two carpetbaggers. Seems Tami has a big mouth about how much money you have to invest in thistown.”
“But, Grady, your cabin burned down, too.” Cait idly rubbed Sasha’s mane. “What if they’re trying to run you out of town? You’re the one who has the entire Colson family up in arms—about their sister,Linx.”
“Let’s talk about that fire way back,” Brian said. “Did they ever figure out who started it? Seems to me Linx is suspect numberone.”
“Linx wouldn’t do something like that,” Grady said, his hackles rising. “She wouldn’t have endangeredSasha.”
“She could have saved Sasha before lighting up the place,” Brian said. “Fatal attraction meets dog lover. Justsaying.”
“But Linx fought fires,” Cait said. “She told me once it was her first love, before taking care ofdogs.”
“Someone’s burning down houses around here.” Brian picked up the tablet he was reading and woke it. “Did you see the news? Upnorth?”
“No, I’ve been working on my cabin,” Grady said. “Morefires?”
“Yep, near Redstone BaseCamp.”
“Redstone.” Grady grabbed the tablet and scanned the article. Redstone was one of the smokejumping camps he worked out of. It was a few hours north of Colson’sCorner.
“Right. In the last month, a bunch of men have had their houses burn down, even the firechief’s.”
“You mean, Chief Montgomery?” Grady read the article. “Did they catch who’s doingit?”
“Not yet,” Brian said. “Guys go out on a jump and they’re busy fighting a forest fire, then come home to an ashheap.”
“Sounds like someone has something against firefighters.” Grady blew out a breath. “Or maybe it’scoincidental?”
