Kentuckygirl: What’s your favorite ride at an amusement park?

Sharpshooter: The games.

Kentuckygirl: The games aren’t a ride. What was the first one you got in line for when you went?

Sharpshooter: My family was too poor to go to the carnival. When me and my brothers did go, we sneaked in and watched everyone else ride.

Kentuckygirl: Why can’t you just answer the question?

Sharpshooter: What was yours?

Kentuckygirl: I loved the merry-go-round.

Sharpshooter: That’s lame. At least the tilt-a-whirl is fun when you go around in circles. The merry-go-round is boring.

Kentuckygirl: I thought you hadn’t ridden any rides? How do you know the tilt-a-whirl is fun if you’ve never ridden it? Or that the merry-go-round is boring?

Sharpshooter: I may have been exaggerating.

Kentuckygirl: Do you do that often?

Sharpshooter: Only when I’m trying to feel sorry for myself, so you’d go to the carnival next Friday.

Kentuckygirl: I don’t think it would be a good idea. We’re just friends. Going to the carnival would be like going on a date.

Sharpshooter: So, you’re saying you’re never going to meet me? Why did you even message me if you weren’t interested in a relationship? I was upfront. I’m looking for a relationship.

Kentuckygirl: I was upfront, too. I said I wasn’t. I was only looking for a friend, and you’re a good friend. I don’t want to lose your friendship. Besides, you wouldn’t like me if you met me.

Sharpshooter: Why not?

Kentuckygirl: Because I love merry-go-rounds, and you’re a tilt-a-whirl kind of man.

* * *

Holly stared morosely into her tea cup. She’d had a sleepless night between Logan waking intermittently with his stomachache and seeing the man chasing her in her dreams. She had simply given up the struggle to sleep, going to the kitchen to make herself coffee.

When she heard one of the bedroom doors open then the bathroom door close, she knew it was Dustin by the sound of the shower running.

She had lived with the men long enough to know their habits. Dustin took his shower every morning; Greer took his at night. Greer liked to stay out a night, sometimes not coming home until morning. Dustin came home every evening after work to spend time with his son. He would stay out on Saturday nights, but he always made sure that Greer stayed home those nights.

“Morning.”

She braced herself at hearing the voice behind her.

“Morning.”

Seeing Greer head toward the kitchen to make himself a plate for breakfast, she mentally prepared herself for another argument. No matter what, he would find something to antagonize her with. This morning, she was too tired and drained to deal with him.

“You need a refill?”

Lifting surprised eyes to him, she nodded.

“I heard you up early this morning.” Greer brought his coffee cup and the pot over to the table she was sitting at, pouring them both coffee before taking the pot back to the kitchen. “Logan feeling any better?”

“I think so. He’s still asleep, but his fever is down.”

“He was running a fever?”

“Yes. I called the doctor this morning. He says there’s a virus going around town and he should be better in a couple of days. Diamond said I can work from home today, so you won’t be bothered with him.”

Holly noticed the muscle in his cheek twitch, but he remained silent as he drank his coffee. Then Dustin came in dressed for work.

Coming to her side, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay this morning? I heard you up after I went to bed.”

“I had a little trouble sleeping. I’ll take a nap this afternoon when Logan does. You want me to fix you a plate?”

“I can. Finish your coffee. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep either if someone had been chasing me in the dark.”

Her mouth curled into a smile. “Yes, you would. You’re not afraid of anything.”

Dustin’s handsome features brought a smile to any woman’s lips. His features weren’t as mature as his older brother’s, his boyish face lacking the lines of maturity and experience that age would bring. His was much softer and gentler than Tate’s and Greer’s, but what Dustin’s looks lacked in maturity, there was no doubt about him being a player with a body she had heard more than one woman confide they wanted in their beds. Holly always shied away from those conservations as if they were talking about her brother.

The women were always trying to find out if she and Dustin were in a relationship. When they found out they were only friends, that was when the confessions started. Most of them ended with pleas to tell Dustin to call.

Her eyes moved to Greer. He, on the other hand, had no soft or gentle features. Each nook and cranny of his face was sculpted in hard angles and curves. His bottom lip was sensuous and had a woman torn between staring at it or his eyes, with a nose that had been broken, marring the perfection of his looks. The expression he inevitably gave to a good-looking woman made her think of satin sheets and dirty sex. His skin was usually sunburned in the winter, until the summer came and it turned a golden tan. He didn’t have a spare inch of soft flesh on his body, and the times she had bumped into him in the hallway were like running into a brick wall. There wasn’t a soft thing about him.

Stormy grey eyes stared at her as he lowered his coffee cup. “You don’t think he gets scared? You should have seen him last night when I told him what happened to you. Everyone has something they’re afraid of.”

Holly couldn’t help herself. “What are you afraid of?”

When he didn’t answer, Dustin did.

“When Pa was alive, Greer was afraid of going to the barn. We all were. When our pa gave you an order, you did it or you’d regret it. Pa made you go to the barn and wait for him there. I don’t know what was worse: the wait or the whipping.”

“The whipping.” Greer took a piece of toast off Dustin’s plate when he sat down next to him.

“You could go make yourself one.”

Greer shrugged. “Why should I when you can carry it to the table for me?”

He was trying to steal a piece of bacon when a knock came to the door.

Holly started to get up, but Greer was already rising from his chair.

Opening the door, he let Knox in.

“Sorry to interrupt so early, but I wanted to bring Holly’s purse to her. Diamond forgot to give it to you last night.” Knox set it down on the table in front of her.

“Thanks. Can I get you some coffee before you leave?”

“No, thanks. I need to talk to you alone.” Judging from Knox’s serious expression, whatever he wanted to say wasn’t going to be good.

Neither Dustin nor Greer made a move to leave the room.

“Go ahead, Knox. I’d just tell them after you left.”

“All right. It’ll be in the newspaper this afternoon, anyway. Have you heard about the car wreck last week?”

Holly frowned. “Diamond said you missed dinner because you were working a car wreck, but other than that, no.”

“A driver from out of town rear-ended another car outside the town limits. The driver from out of town was killed.”

Holly’s hand clenched on her coffee cup. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“The driver was burned, and it made identification difficult, but he had his license on him and the car was registered to him. His name was Brett Martin.”

“I don’t know anyone with that name.” Holly was confused as to why Knox was telling her about the man who had suffered such a terrible death.

“I didn’t think you did. When I contacted his family to notify them about his death, the man who answered the phone was actually Brett Martin. He confessed to letting a friend borrow his car.”

A sick feeling of dread had her standing up. “Who was it?

“Mitch Reynolds. He told his friend he wanted to see you.”

Overwhelming guilt had her clutching the table to keep her balance. “It’s all my fault,” she choked out. “If I’d answered his letters, he wouldn’t have been trying to see me. He knew we were over. He just wanted to know that I forgave him.”

She couldn’t bear to look at Greer. She needed to leave the room before he said something. She couldn’t deal with him right now, not while she was thinking of Mitch being burned alive.

“Thanks for coming here to tell me.” Holly started toward her room when Dustin stood up and took her arm.

“Can I do anything?” Dustin put his hands on her shoulders when she would have passed him.

Holly leaned against him weakly, pressing her head on his chest. “Can you turn back time and make me a better person? I should have answered his letters.”

“The one thing I have learned is that you can’t turn back time. I wish I could.”

Holly looked up into his eyes. Dustin lived with his own guilt for the way Logan’s mother had died.

“Logan’s still sleeping. I’m going to go lie down until he wakes up.”

She wanted to leave before she burst into tears in front of Greer.

She needed time to deal with the guilt of letting him get involved in her life. Being brutally honest with herself, she would have called Knox if Mitch had shown up here or work. Still, Mitch had his faults, but he had more heart than Greer would ever have.

A sudden thought struck her before she could leave. “Mitch doesn’t have any family. Who …? How will he be buried?”

“I’ll check with his parole officer. If no one comes to claim his body, do you want me to contact you?”

“Yes. Just let me know what I need to do.”

Knox nodded. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything out about Mitch and who was chasing you last night.”

“One thing is fucking sure; it wasn’t Mitch.” Greer pulled Dustin’s plate toward him. “Any other suspects?”

“Not yet. I was hoping Lucky would find something on the security footage from the back of the church, but the only thing you see is his face. It was too dark to get a good look at it, though.”

“Have there been any other assaults on women in town?”

“You know I can’t talk about pending cases, but no.”

“How about Curt Dawkins? I heard a rumor he attempted to rape someone when he was in high school.”

“It wasn’t Curt. I already looked into his alibi. He was with Luke Baxter all evening.”

“I wouldn’t take Luke Baxter’s word for shit. He damn sure wouldn’t tell the truth to anyone wearing a badge.”

“I agree, but I can’t arrest him if I can’t place him there. And, so far, there’s no evidence Curt was there. Mick vouched that they were at Rosie’s when the attack was reported.” Knox turned his attention back to her. “Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you? Have you been seeing someone new? Made anyone mad at you lately?”

Holly tried to think, coming up blank. “No. The only one I’ve made mad lately is the cocktail waitress at King’s and Greer. Diamond said that Greer was with her, and the waitress was a woman, so I can’t think of anyone else.”

“What’d you do to the waitress?” Dustin asked curiously.

“I don’t know. She had an attitude from the minute I was seated in her section.”

“Who was it?”

“Her name was Lindy.”

“That explains it.” Dustin ran his hand along the back of his neck. “She hates my guts. I got drunk one night and promised her that if she took me home with her and showed me a good time, she’d never have to work again.”

“And she believed it?” Holly couldn’t believe the woman—any woman—was that gullible.

“I bought her several drinks. She was as drunk as I was. I thought King fired her.” Dustin looked at Greer.

“Evie probably felt sorry for her. Does it matter? If she was as bad in bed as you told me she was, lucky you didn’t ask for the money back you spent on her drinks.”

“That’s so … so …” Holly wanted to smack the empty plate Greer had just practically cleaned over his head.

“Why are you mad at me? I’m not the one who said she was a lousy lay.”

Holly hands went to her hips, glaring at the two brothers. “I can believe Greer would talk like that about a woman, but I’m disappointed in you.”

Dustin’s skin turned a bright shade of red as he gave his brother a furious glance. “I better go. I’m going to be late for work.”

“I’ll check with Diamond and make sure Lindy didn’t have time to change her clothes and sneak out of the bar.”

“Don’t bother. She was there. I was arguing with her right before I saw your squad car go by.”

“I was joking.” Knox gave Greer an exasperated look as he headed toward the door. “I better be going. Holly, don’t forget to make sure Greer or Dustin stays close.”

“I will.”

Dustin left with Knox as if he was afraid she would continue fussing about Lindy.

“You sent him off with his tail tucked between his legs. It’s not a good look on my brother. You embarrassed him in front of Knox. A woman needs to know her place when other men are around.”

“Greer …”

“Yeah?” He leaned back lazily in his chair, patting his full belly.

Holly struck her foot out, sending the chair toppling backward. “Dustin deserved me embarrassing him for running his mouth disrespectfully about a woman.” She picked up the dirty plate that was still sitting on the table, brandishing it over his head. “And if you ever talk like that in front of me again, I’ll wrap this plate around your thick skull. I’m a lady, and whether you like it or not, you’ll treat me like one. You understand me?”

Greer eyed the plate warily. “Yes.”

“Good.” Holly set the plate down so hard it spun across the table. “And since you enjoyed eating the food I cooked so much, you can do the dishes.”