Everyone would know she was back before the hour was up. Maggs shuddered. It seemed her hope of slipping into Ryker Falls were dashed. Now she had to prepare herself for the invasion of her girlfriends. They’d all come, knowing she’d returned. The thought made her nauseous.
No way she wanted them all in the small space that was her house. She felt it again, the onset of panic. Pressing her foot down on the gas pedal, she shot out of town, turned right, and headed to her house. She’d be safe there once the doors were locked. Safe, and home. This place would heal her. It had to.
Chapter2
Fin watched Maggie’s car until the taillights disappeared. Rubbing a hand over his lips, he could still feel the press of her sweet mouth to his. That woman had always disturbed him. The first time he’d seen her, he’d been blindsided. He’d been in his friends’ stables when she’d ridden in, laughing. Eyes alive, face flushed from the exercise. He’d looked at her and thought,well hell, that woman is going to spell trouble for me.
Strangely they’d kept their distance from each other, and Fin had never really been sure why.
He liked women and enjoyed their company. Loved the way they laughed—well, most of them. Mrs. L cackled like a witch around a cauldron. Loved the way they teased him.
“What is your deal, Maggie Winter?”
He’d sensed something was off with her from the start. Sure, it could be coming home and the travel. But he would bet his new Harley on this Maggie Winter being vastly different from the one who left them two years ago. He wasn’t sure why he knew that, just that he did.
He’d seen her break up a bar fight in A.S. one night. Two men had been going at it yelling at each other when he’d arrived. She’d waded in, grabbing the arm of one guy and hauling him away before Fin could stop her.
“You look confused, bud. Your date just cancel or something? Need help adding two plus two again?”
“Loser.” Fin looked at his old friend. Tall like him, with an easy smile, the man was pushing a stroller. “I know it’s five, we’ve discussed this already, and what woman could resist me?”
“I’m still no wiser about that.” Joe pointed to the banner strung across the street.
“Nearest I can figure, it means some kind of weird mating ritual. I mean, what adults actually want to play musical chairs, and won’t the kids in this town be really pissed they’re not included?”
“Dylan thinks his mom’s behind it and it’s something to do with getting her girls hooked to the men she’s handpicked for them.”
Fin shuddered. “Imagine being in the sights of Mary Howard.”
“A shiver just ran down my spine.”
“She’s a regular piece of work, for sure,” Fin said. Joe’s cousin was married to Mary Howard’s son, and it was fair to say the union wasn’t something she voted for. All seemed smooth sailing now, but the woman wasn’t someone you wanted to get on the wrong side of.
“True that.” Joe rocked back on his heels. “So now we’ve covered that off, tell me what’s wrong. That whole ‘Fin Finds A Femur’ front page news in theRyker Gazettenot getting to you, is it, bud? Nigel at the paper didn’t mean any harm.”
“No, and quite catchy really, all that alliteration.”
“But it’s not funny, is it? Because whoever lost that femur has a body somewhere on the mountain, and we need to find him,” Joe said in a somber tone.
“Yeah, we do, and a femur is not something you lose like your keys, bud.” Fin dropped down to greet Benjamin, Joe’s son. Giving him a loud sloppy kiss, he received a gruff little chuckle.
One week ago, Fin had been hiking on Phil, one of the mountains, and come across human remains. Since that day, the news had got out and he’d been inundated with questions about the discovery. TheGazetteprinted the ‘Fin Finds A Femur’ piece yesterday, and he’d been getting hassled ever since.
“You got enough clothes on him? Seriously, bud, he looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy in that outfit. It’s amazing he can bend in the middle,” Fin said, taking in the all-in-one puffy butter-yellow suit the little man had on.
“It’s cold, and his mother would slay me alive if he came back less than toasty warm,” Joe said. “So if it’s not the bone that’s bugging you, tell me what’s going on.”
Fin stood. “Did you know Maggs was back in town?”
The shock on his friend’s face told him he didn’t. “The hell you say?” The shock turned into a big smile. “Looking forward to seeing our girl, I have to admit. I missed her.”
“I just saw her.”
“Yeah. How’d she look?”
“Different… I think.”
“You think?”
