Page 7 of Mountain Dreams

Her throat felt tight, so she simply nodded. Then she opened the passenger door and stepped down before he could come around and help her.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” he said.

She nodded again and quickly went over to her car and got inside. She’d been with him for over an hour, and Wyatt would probably be home from work soon. She wanted to get home before he did so she wouldn’t have to lie about where she’d been.

Lies. She hated that the word had permeated her relationship with Wyatt. How had it come to this? No relationship was perfect, but she’d thought theirs was pretty darn close. Now she was questioning everything, including her own heart.

Whatever problems she and Wyatt were having, she’d probably just made them worse by confiding in Cody. Yes, he’d offered to help her uncover Wyatt’s secrets, but at what cost, and what of her own?

Three

The next day, Cody sauntered into the resort office for his weekly meeting with Jax to discuss maintenance issues. He used to resent it, thinking his brother needed an excuse to check up on him. Now he understood that Jax was just doing his job, and the resort ran smoothly for it.

It was still early, and Avery wasn’t at the front desk. Usually, he’d stop and chat with her, but today he was glad she wasn’t there. After Madison’s appearance yesterday, he assumed Avery would have some questions for him, and he wasn’t up to an interrogation. It turned out Avery wasn’t the only one who was curious, though…

“You look like hell,” Jax said when Cody entered his office. He slid a coffee mug across the desk toward him.

“Gee, thanks.”

“Out late last night?”

“No.”

“Have a lady friend over?”

“Nope.”

Jax raised his brows. “You sure about that?”

“Avery.” He should have known.

“She mentioned that Madison stopped by and seemed upset.”

“Is it a requirement for couples to tell each other everything?”

Jax chuckled. “You’ll find out for yourself someday.”

Cody took a long drink of coffee and eyed his brother across the desk. Living and working in such close proximity made it difficult to keep secrets from each other. Cody decided it would be easier just to tell him.

“Madison thinks Wyatt might be cheating on her.”

Jax frowned. “Did she confront him about it?”

“Yes, and he denied it.”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know what to think. I haven’t talked to him in a while.”

“Not since he and Maddie got engaged.”

Cody nodded.

Jax took a drink of coffee and eyed Cody over the rim. He slowly set the mug down. “Her coming to you kind of puts you in the middle, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Cody looked past Jax and out the window at the view. The morning fog clung to the mountaintops, and the sun struggled to break through. He’d been up half the night, thinking about Madison’s visit and his promise to help her. He’d vacillated between scolding himself for getting involved and wanting to punch Wyatt in the face. If Wyatt hadn’t given her a reason to distrust him, she never would come to the ridge yesterday, and Cody wouldn’t be in this predicament. On the other hand, he’d enjoyed seeing her, talking to her, and just being with her. It reminded him of how they used to be, minus the sadness and tears.

“Do you think it’s wise to get involved?” Jax said, getting to the crux of the issue.