It was well after lunchtime by the time Jed pulled into the Henryetta town square. He parked in a space on the side street next to the building that housed the RBW Landscaping office and left the engine idling. He’d offered to drop me off at the farmhouse, but I’d already missed two and a half days of work. Rose needed me.

“Why do I feel like I’m losin’ you?” I asked quietly. I couldn’t look at him when I said it. The whole ride home it had felt like the string tying us together was growing tauter, reaching a breaking point.

He tilted my head up to face him. “You’re not, Neely Kate.”

“But we’re keepin’ this a secret. How’s it gonna work?”

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll figure out a way.” A sexy grin spread across his face. “Besides, we’re both great at keeping secrets.”

My stomach cartwheeled. When he smiled like that, I practically melted.

Still, we were back home, and Jed was known for his extremely short-term relationships. If I was reading this wrong, I needed to know before I got hurt. “Are you sure this isn’t your way of giving me the brush-off?” I asked. “Because I’m a big girl, and I can—”

His mouth was on mine, his tongue parting my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. This was a kiss of promise and hope, not a goodbye.

He lifted his head with a warm smile. “We’ll make it work.”

I smiled back. “Yeah.”

Lifting a hand to my face, he brushed the hair off my cheek as he looked into my eyes. “If you need me for anything, call straightaway.”

“Okay.”

His smile faded. “I’m serious, Neely Kate. With Scooter missing . . . Skeeter’s not sure if he’s just wandered off or if it’s foul play. With the recent trouble around the necklace . . . just be careful, okay?” Worry filled his eyes.

“You’re in a lot more danger than I am,” I said. “You’re not only lookin’ for Scooter, but you’re at odds with his brother.”

“I can handle it.” He kissed me again, a leisurely kiss that quickly warmed into a raging inferno. He put his hands on my arms and pushed back. “We need to take this slow.”

I blinked. “What?”

“After . . . everything . . . I want you to know I want you for the right reasons.”

Part of me wanted to protest, but outside of high school, I couldn’t think of a single man I hadn’t slept with soon after getting involved. Maybe there was something to his idea. “Okay.”

A frown crossed his face. I wondered if he was upset with me for agreeing, but he pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the screen. “I’m going to walk you to the office door.”

He moved to get out, but I grabbed his arm. “Jed. Stop.”

He turned back to face me.

“If we’re keeping this secret, then we should say goodbye here. I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you go without kissing you goodbye.”

His grin was back. The one that lit up his eyes and made me glow with the knowledge that his smile was for me.

I lifted my hand to his cheek, my thumb brushing his skin. “I love your smiles. I’ve become addicted to them. You should smile more, although I suspect it wouldn’t be as intimidating when you’re trying to stare down a bad guy.”

His grin spread. “You might have a point. I’ll save them for you.”

His promise warmed me more than it probably should have. “Go find Scooter. Then, as soon as he’s back, I’m expecting you to take me to Colorado to feed the chipmunks. Maybe I’ll get some cute outfits to put on ’em too. Like I do with Muffy.”

Jed released a full-on belly laugh. “I really want to see that, so it’s a deal.”

My smile faded. “Why is this so hard?”

“It’s not goodbye. I promise.”

“I know. But it’s hard anyway.” I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Then I forced myself to open the door and climbed out into the Arkansas July heat.

I opened the back door and grabbed my bag and walked toward the sidewalk. I gave Jed a little wave, waggling my fingers with the hand I’d used to hold my bag.

He lifted his palm, his smile gone. Something rumbled in my guts, and it wasn’t the greasy burger we’d stopped to get in Lewisville about an hour ago.

Disconcerted, I turned away and headed toward the street corner, spotting my dead car still parked in a spot on the end with a few parking tickets under the windshield wiper.

Great. I was stuck with a bunch of fines and car repair bills.

I turned back toward the office. As I approached the door, I saw Rose inside, talking on the phone as she sat at her computer. The feeling of disquiet grew, and I finally recognized it for what it was, the all-too-familiar feeling of being on the outside looking in.

I sighed as bitter disappointment washed over me. I had believed that confronting my past would make that feeling go away, but Pearce Manchester’s body had been reduced to dust and that feeling still held sway over me. Nevertheless, I felt like the chains holding me back from feeling like I truly belonged had lost a few chinks over the last couple of days. Maybe it just took time.

Rose looked up and saw me staring through the glass. Her eyes widened, and she said something into her phone before dropping it onto the desk and running for me.

“Neely Kate!” she cried out as she burst through the door and enveloped me into a tight hug. “Oh, my God. You’re really home.”

Home. I’d been searching for it my whole life, and now I’d destroyed the secret that could have stolen it from me. So why did I still feel on edge?

I glanced down at my purse and knew why. The tape. I had a powerful urge to make a roaring fire in the alley behind the building and destroy the awful thing right away. It was what Jed thought I should do. But something held me back. Beasley still knew my secret, Branson wasn’t to be trusted, and some unknown man had been searching for me. Right or wrong, that tape was the only record of what had really happened that night, and I needed to keep it. First chance I got, I was walking to the Henryetta Bank and putting it in a safety deposit box.

My rainy-day insurance policy.

But today I was basking in the sun of my new life. Family who loved me. My best friend who stood by me no matter what. And the man who put everything on the line to help me.

I had a lot to be thankful for, and I wasn’t about to squander any of it. Because I never knew when it might be snatched away.

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