“Marnie,” he said, breaking into a genuine grin that transformed his serious face. “It’s so good to see you.”
He didn’t try to hug her. She’d never liked being touched much, and apparently he remembered that. But she went up to him to shake his hand. As their skin touched, she opened herself briefly—just a glimpse, just enough to get a sense of him.
Her smile grew wider at what she found. He was deeply content in his life, loved his wife and children more than anything, and Lila annoyed him to no end—but he’d given her the job as a favor to her husband, whom he genuinely liked.
“It’s good to be back,” she said.
“Is it?” His expression sobered and he studied her with a cop’s assessing gaze, watching her the way he might watch a witness—not with suspicion, but with genuine concern.
“I think it is,” she answered honestly. “I wasn’t so sure when I decided to come home. But it feels right now that I’m here.”
“Oh my goodness,” Lila said from behind her desk, her mouth forming a perfect O before she covered it with her manicured hand. “Marnie Whitlock. I never in my life would’ve known that was you. Just look at you, all grown up and back in Laurel Valley. It’s me,” she said, as if Marnie could have forgotten. “Lila Rose. Well, I’m Lila Randolph now. I married Tucker Randolph. You remember him? He graduated with Blaze.”
She didn’t remember Tucker Randolph, but that wasn’t surprising since Blaze was almost a decade older than she was. They hadn’t exactly run in the same circles. She did recognize the Randolph name, though. Mr. Randolph—Tucker’s father—had been the bank president.
The confusion must have shown on her face because Lila pouted and put her hands on her generous hips. “Now don’t tell me you don’t remember me. We were in school together all the way through until you—left.” She let the word hang there, her eyes glittering with something that looked almost like satisfaction even as her smile remained firmly in place. “Oh, I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to make you remember. That must’ve been so hard on you when your parents died like that. And your daddy wanted for murder and everything.” She clucked her tongue sympathetically, but her eyes told a different story.
“Lila,” Blaze interrupted, his voice carrying a note of warning, “why don’t you take your lunch break. I’ll cover the switchboard until Deputy Greyson gets back. He’ll only be a few more minutes.”
Lila looked like she wanted to argue, but the look on Blaze’s face must’ve changed her mind. “Sure thing, Sheriff. You want me to bring you anything back?”
“No, I’m meeting my wife for lunch once Greyson returns. Thanks for the offer, though.”
Lila grabbed her designer handbag from the bottom drawer of her desk, eagerness to spread the news practically vibrating off her. She’d have Marnie’s return broadcast to half the town before she finished her first bite of salad. “Now don’t be a stranger, Marnie. I’d just love to sit down and catch up one afternoon. And I can’t wait until your little studio opens. It’s been too long since we had a family portrait done. Not since our youngest was born. He’s the cutest thing. You’ll just love him.”
She shot out the door as fast as her designer heels would carry her, and the silence in her wake was like a breath of fresh air.
“I should apologize for her,” Blaze said, shaking his head, “but it wouldn’t do any good. She is who she is, and that’ll never change.”
“She’s never bothered me. She helped thicken my skin when I was still in grade school.”
“I’ll bet.” He gestured toward his office. “Come on back. I’ve got the paperwork ready for you.”
His office was small and sparsely furnished. A large L-shaped desk with two computer monitors dominated the space. A file cabinet sat in the corner, and a single bookshelf filled with a hodgepodge of books and photographs and knickknacks stood next to it.
The photographs caught her attention, as they always did. The faces staring back fascinated her. A pretty woman with dark hair cut in a pixie style smiled into the camera with laughing brown eyes. The look on her face was flirtatious and a little bit mischievous, and Marnie knew automatically that Blaze had to have been behind the camera when that shot was taken. The woman held two little boys on her lap.
“They’re beautiful,” she said, touching the edge of the frame gently.
“I think so,” he said with a smile that softened his whole face. “But the youngest one is going to be a handful. Mom says I’m getting what I deserve with that one.”
“I’m glad you’re happy. It shows.”
His expression gentled. “And I’m sorry you’re not. We’ve always considered you part of the family, even during the years when we didn’t see you. I hope you know that.”
“I do,” she said, looking over the rental papers he’d slid across the desk so he wouldn’t see the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. “This is a good start toward that happiness. It’s where I need to be.”
“Good.” He settled into his chair, watching her with those keen blue eyes. “Mom said to tell you to come to dinner tonight. Most of the family’s going to be there. And she said no excuses because she knows you won’t feel like grocery shopping and there’s no food in the rental house.”
“I’d never argue with Simone.”
He grinned. “I always said you were a smart girl.”
Chapter Six
Marnie managed to make it a full week without having to interact with anyone but the O’Haras.
Like an obedient daughter, she’d driven to see them that first night Simone had asked her to dinner. She’d gone early, so the late rays of the sun painted the landscape in an orange glow—the mountains turning purple in the distance, the valley floor awash in gold.
