Page 4 of Mountain Dreams

“Anyway, we’ve been friends for a long time, and when I thought about telling someone, you were the first person who came to mind.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Being friends with her had always been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, he truly liked her as a person and not just a woman he wanted to… Which brought up the other point. Once she’d started dating Wyatt, Cody had been relegated to “just friends” status, and he’d hated it.

While he was glad she thought of him as someone she could confide in and trust, he’d always wished she wanted him for more than friendship. There’d been times over the years when he’d thought he sensed something between them—something other than friendship—but nothing had ever come of it.

Recently he’d even toasted the happy couple at their engagement party: Congratulations to two of my favorite people. I wish you every happiness. Cheers!

He’d gone home that night and proceeded to drink himself into a stupor. The next day, he’d woken up with a nasty hangover and vowed to stop dreaming about Madison Harris for good.

Yet here she was, sitting on his couch, looking just as beautiful as when he’d first met her in American history class, even with mascara tracks down her face. Suddenly he despised Wyatt more than any other human being, except for the trucker who’d stolen his parents’ lives.

Whether or not Wyatt was guilty of cheating, he’d caused her pain and filled her with doubt. For that reason, Cody was willing to put his feelings aside and do whatever she asked of him, even help her win Wyatt back.

Two

Madison glanced at her watch. “Wyatt will be home soon. I should probably get going.”

“Home?” Cody said, wrinkling his brow.

“I moved in with him after we got engaged.”

“Oh.”

“I thought you knew that.”

He slowly shook his head, and it struck her that Wyatt hadn’t mentioned his friend in a while. She’d thought it was because they were both busy with work, but now she wondered if there was something else to it.

“I guess you haven’t seen each other in a while,” she said.

“Not since your engagement party.”

“That was a few months ago.”

“The resort was really busy over the holidays.”

“Wyatt’s been busy too.”

“I take it his auto body shop is doing well.”

She nodded. She had first-hand knowledge of how well since she’d taken over the bookkeeping for the shop. She was thinking how she’d uprooted her life for Wyatt, moving in and working for him, when she caught Cody staring at her.

She sighed. “I thought we were happy…”

“Maybe you still can be.”

“I can’t shake the feeling that he lied to me, even though he swore he didn’t.”

“You probably need to talk to him some more.”

“I’ve tried that. He just keeps denying it.”

Cody was quiet for a few beats, but she could tell he was thinking. “What if I talk to him?”

Her eyes went wide. “I didn’t come here to ask you to do that.”

“I know, but I’m volunteering.”

“What if he thinks I put you up to it?”