She had to keep busy. Naomi put away the last of the dinner dishes, carefully stacking the plates, reorganizing the cups three times. Heartache clung to every movement and made everything seem heavier. Lucas hadn’t come in with them after he’d brought them back to the ranch. He’d said he had things he needed to take care of and she hadn’t found the courage to ask him what. She suspected those things had to do with packing and preparing to go back to the McGowen ranch, but she refused to acknowledge it. Refused to believe he could walk away so easily.
Rinsing a rag in the sink, she went to work scrubbing the countertops.
All afternoon, she’d made sure she hadn’t sat still. After getting Gracie cleaned up, the two of them had gone straight to the hospital to see Mark. His surgery had gone well, and they expected him to be released within a few days.
After they’d gotten home Gracie kept asking to see Lucas, but Naomi hadn’t been able to get ahold of him. So the two of them had a quiet dinner and then Gracie had fallen asleep in front of The Little Mermaid. As Naomi clumsily hauled her to bed, she remembered how Lucas had carried her, so careful and competent, as though he’d tucked in a little girl every night for years. There was nothing quite as sweet as seeing a strong man carry a little girl so tenderly.
Her hand bore down on the counter, working at a dried splotch of orange juice that had been there since the last time her emotions had driven her to clean. By the time she was done in here, every square inch of the kitchen would sparkle. It wasn’t as if she’d get any sleep tonight, anyway.
She scrubbed and scoured and scraped until a knock on the front door finally gave her a reason to throw down the rag.
Anticipation beat all through her. It was amazing how even the thought of seeing Lucas standing at her door fixed her. Fixed everything.
She hurried down the hallway, carried by the craving to be in his arms, to feel the comfort of his body against hers. Bogart grunt-barked at her heels all the way to the door as though he was as hopeful as she was.
She opened it, ready to fall against him, but it wasn’t Lucas. Levi stood under the porch light, shoulders hunched, hands stuffed deep into his pockets. Behind him stood Lance and Jessa, and Luis.
Oh God. “Is everything okay?” She took ahold of the door to steady herself. Had Lucas left without saying goodbye?
None of the men would look at her directly, so Jessa pushed her way in. “Everything will be okay. But there’s something we need to tell you.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Right, guys?” she prompted sternly.
“Right,” all three of them responded in a mumbled chorus.
“Okay…” Naomi backed away from the door so they could come in.
“You’d best sit down for this.” Jessa quickly guided her to the overstuffed chair near the fireplace.
Levi, Lance, and Luis all sat on the couch, stiff and uncomfortable, but Jessa sat on the arm of the chair, settling in next to Naomi with a reassuring arm around her shoulders.
“What is it?” She couldn’t bear the silence. Something terrible must’ve happened.
“Ahem.” Her friend cleared her throat loudly and widened her eyes at the men.
Levi scooted forward on the couch, hunching over so that his elbows rested on his knees.
For once the youngest Cortez brother looked serious. The charismatic light that always illuminated his eyes had dimmed. “There’s something you need to know.”
“So tell me already.” It couldn’t be any worse than what she was imagining in her head. “Did Dev arrest Lucas?”
“No,” Jessa said quickly, shaking her head as though disgusted by Levi. “Lucas is up at our place.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding since they’d come in.
“But he’s not doing so good.” Lance’s gaze barely lifted to hers.
“Is that why you came? Should I try to talk to him?” God, she wanted to. She wanted someone to give her permission to go to him, to bring him out of that dark place he’d gone to when he’d talked to Dev. “I’ll convince him to stay. We’ll fight back. We’ll make sure no believes he started the fire…”
“First we need to make sure everyone knows the truth about the fire ten years ago,” Luis said gruffly.
“The truth.” Naomi glared at the three men, trying to understand what they weren’t saying.
“This is all my fault.” Levi finally raised his head. “His life is falling apart again because of me.”
“That’s ridiculous. This is Marshal Dobbins’s fault,” she nearly shouted. God, why couldn’t everyone see that? Why didn’t Lucas understand that?
Levi looked at her directly. “Maybe so, but it’s all because of what happened before. Dobbins can’t let it go. He wants Lucas to suffer for it.”
“Which is insane,” she reminded them. “Lucas already paid the price. He’s already atoned for everything.” She’d forgiven him. Gracie had forgiven him. His family had forgiven him. That was all that mattered. They would stand by him, no matter what some lunatic had tried to do.
“He didn’t start that fire at the rodeo grounds,” Levi said quietly. “I did.”
“What?” Even as the gasp shot out of her mouth, everything clicked into place. Everything. The suspicions she’d had back then. The shock, knowing Lucas never got into trouble. It’d never made sense until right now.
“I started the fire,” Levi repeated as though he was afraid she hadn’t understood.
She had. She just couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.
Lance shared a look with his future wife. “When Levi told us what he’d done, Lucas and I locked him in his room and came up with a plan.” He said it as though he’d rehearsed his part ahead of time. “We decided he should confess. He’d never been in trouble, and we thought he’d get off easy.”
Naomi gripped the armrests, desperately trying to stop her world from spinning.
“I was having an affair with Maureen Dobbins,” Luis explained. “And Levi found out. He was angry. They all were. I wasn’t there for them. Not the way I should’ve been. So if anyone takes the blame in all this mess, it should be me.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” Jessa looked around the room. “It’s in the past. All that matters is figuring out how to help Lucas.” She turned her attention to Naomi. “We’ll figure this out.”
“Figure it out?” She blinked at them, the fury and anguish filling her eyes with fiery tears. “I can’t believe this.” Bracing her hands against the armrests, she pulled herself out of the chair and moved away from them. From all of them. “He lost everything. We lost everything.” His own brothers had stolen years of his life away from him.
Lance stood, too, but he wisely stayed on the other side of the room. “It was what Lucas wanted. He was adamant. You know him. He wanted to protect the rest of us.”
“And you let him.” She wanted to yell at them, to scream, but she could hardly manage a whisper. “My God, you let him sit in a jail cell for three years for a crime he didn’t commit. You let him give up on a life he’d dreamed about…” On a life they’d dreamed about together. Did they even realize how much they’d taken away from Lucas? From her?
“I’m so sorry,” Levi said, his voice as strangled by emotion as hers. “I never would’ve agreed to do it if I’d known what would happen. We thought he’d get probation, community service. I never imagined he’d be sent to prison.”
“Well, he was.” Naomi didn’t bother to wipe away her tears. “All these years, you’ve let him take the blame.” She directed the words to Luis. How could a father hurt his own son that way?
“He didn’t know.” Jessa rushed to her side. “Luis didn’t know anything until last fall, when I asked Levi and Lucas to come home.”
“How long have you known?” she asked her friend. There was plenty of anger to go around. All of these people she loved had been lying to her.
“Lance told me not long after we got engaged.”
“Why didn’t Lucas tell me?” Didn’t he trust her enough to tell her the truth? He’d known her suspicions about the fire, anyway.
“He was still trying to protect us,” Levi said. “And I get that you’re pissed, that you probably hate me now. That’s fine. But we need to figure out how to protect Lucas. He’ll need all of us.”
Naomi crept back to the chair, overwhelmed by warring emotions—anger and hurt and fear. Would she lose him again because of what they’d done?
Jessa crouched next to her. “What do you need, honey? Do you want us to go? To give you some space to process everything? We could talk tomorrow…”
“No.” Naomi grabbed her hand, holding on tightly. They were right; if they were going to help Lucas they had to do it now. “Tomorrow’s too late.” Lucas might be gone, or Dev might have to arrest him. “We need to come up with a plan.” Lucas had spent his entire life protecting the people he loved. That was one of the things she admired most about him. But now it was time for them to rescue him. “What did you have in mind?” she asked his brothers, hoping like hell they had some ideas. Because she had nothing.
“There’s a town hall meeting. Tomorrow night,” Levi said. “An update on the fire. I’ll tell everyone in town the truth then.”
“That’s great, but it won’t make him stay.” Her eyes heated again. “He won’t stay unless Dobbins is in custody.” As long as that man was a threat to her and Gracie, Lucas would leave. He wouldn’t risk their safety after what had happened earlier.
“I think you and I can take care of that.” Jessa shot her a calculating smile. “All we have to do is target the one person who can bring him down.”
* * *
Naomi sashayed into the Cut Above Beauty Salon behind Jessa, five minutes late for their appointment with Jen Dobbins. She’d never been to the lone salon in Topaz Falls, opting to make the trip to Denver once every eight weeks instead. The place wasn’t exactly regarded as a high-end establishment, and normally she didn’t entrust her unruly hair to just anyone. But this morning they had a special mission.
“You sure you want these people to do our hair for the wedding?” she whispered. The salon’s interior didn’t exactly give her extra confidence in their capabilities. The space was decorated with outdated hair posters featuring women who looked like they belonged on a late-’90s sitcom. The whole place smelled like the solution they used on perms, likely because their business catered to the little old ladies who came in twice a month.
“How hard could it be?” Jessa whispered back. “All they have to do is put in some curls and do a few twists. It’s not rocket sci—”
“Good morning.” A young receptionist slipped in through a door off to the side and greeted them enthusiastically. Naomi supposed that was probably because they didn’t get many patrons under the age of sixty walking through their doors.
“Hi there.” Jessa smiled just as brightly. “We’re here for the bridal hair trial run.”
“She’s here for the hair,” Naomi corrected before anyone got any ideas about touching her curls. “I’m just here to watch and offer opinions.”
“Right. You must be Jessa and Naomi.” The woman didn’t even check the schedule. The salon didn’t exactly have a full house that morning.
“I’ll go tell Jen you’re here.”
After she’d disappeared, Naomi tried to wring the nerves out of her hands. “I hope this works.”
“Of course it’ll work.” Jessa glanced around like an undercover detective. “We’ll figure out how much she dislikes her ex, and then see if she has any proof that he went to that hardware store in Denver last week.”
According to Levi, Dev had already talked to Marshal Dobbins regarding his whereabouts. Supposedly, he was in town all week, but of course no one could vouch for him being around 24/7.
“She might still love him,” Naomi reminded her. “Which means she’ll try to protect him.”
Before her friend could answer, Jen hurried toward them. “Hi there!” She was a pretty girl. Plump and cheerful. Her long blond hair was streaked with pink. “Welcome to a Cut Above!” She leaned in for hugs as though the three of them were old friends.
“Oh, wow. Hi.” Naomi patted her back awkwardly, then pulled away. She knew of Jen. They’d both gone to Topaz Falls High, though Jen was a few years younger. Now her son went to Gracie’s school so they ran into each other at some of the events. She’d already decided not to bring up the whole issue at school the other day, though it was tempting. Telling on Jen’s son wasn’t exactly relevant to their mission.
“Oh my God! I’m so excited to do your hair for the wedding!” Jen squealed. “Come on back. Let’s get started!”
Jessa squealed, too. Naomi followed them while they chatted all the way to the stylist chairs in the back.
“Can I get you anything?” Jen gestured to a small kitchenette at the back of the shop. “Coffee? Tea? Bottled water?”
“No thanks,” Naomi answered for both of them. Best to make this as quick as possible.
But Jessa sat down in the chair and settled in. “Actually, I’d love some coffee. Do you have any flavored creams? Hazelnut is my fave.”
“Coming right up.” Jen spun and booked it to the coffee pot.
“You’re sure enjoying this,” Naomi mumbled.
Excitement glittered in Jessa’s eyes. “It’s my first undercover investigation.” She spun the chair around. “We’re like Sherlock and Watson. Or Castle and Beckett!”
“Or Lucy and Ethel,” Namoi said, considering she had a feeling this whole sham might end in a comedic disaster.
“Ohhhh.” Jessa sat up straighter. “Can I be Lucy?”
“Lucy who?” Jen came back carrying a steaming mug.
“Lucy Ricardo,” Naomi mumbled with a glare at her friend. “It’s one of Jessa’s favorite shows.”
“Oh.” Jen gave her skeptical look. “Is that how we’re doing your hair for the wedding?”
Judging from the dramatic lift of her eyebrows, Jessa was tempted, so Naomi stepped in. “You were talking about having it half up and half down with some flowers, right?” She didn’t want Jessa to make any hasty decisions she’d regret later.
“Oh. Right.” Her friend’s excited expression mellowed.
“Sure, we can do that.” Jen fluffed the edges of Jessa’s hair. She turned to the tower of plastic drawers that sat next to an oval mirror. “We’ll need quite a few pins. And I can talk to the girls over at the flower shop about what we can use on your big day.” She sighed dreamily. “I love weddings.” As she turned around, her lips curled into a smirk. “If only everything that came after the wedding didn’t suck.”
Jessa widened her eyes in Naomi’s direction with a covert message. That was exactly the opening they needed. “I was sorry to hear about you and Marshal,” her friend said sympathetically.
“Yeah. It sucks.” Jen started to comb out Jessa’s hair. “I mean, it hasn’t been great for years, but you always hope you can stick it out for the kids.”
Sympathy rippled through Naomi. “Trust me. I get it. Being a single mom is no picnic.” She knew that for a fact.
“Hell no, it’s not. But it looks like that’s where I’m headed.” Her eyes brightened. “Hey! We single moms should stick together. Maybe we could hang out sometime.”
“That’s a great idea.” Jessa sat perfectly still while the woman brushed her hair. “I mean, I’m not a single mom, but I do love a good girls’ night.”
Naomi shot Jessa a surreptitious glare. It felt so wrong to pretend to be friends with the poor woman when they were only fishing for information. Besides, they didn’t have time for small talk. They couldn’t strike up a friendship and go out and then ask what they needed to know. They didn’t have time. A sense of urgency sputtered through her. “Jen…if you don’t mind sharing…what happened with you and Marshal anyway?”
A panicked look thinned Jessa’s lips, but the woman didn’t seem to take offense. Jen simply sighed. “Honestly, he kind of lost it after his dad passed away.” She set down the brush and fired up the curling iron that sat on her station. “I’m pretty sure he’s been using again. Meth,” she clarified. “So I finally told him to get out. I don’t need another kid to take care of.”
“I’m so sorry.” She was. Sincerely. But she had to push; she had to find something that would help Lucas. “Do you two still talk?”
“Oh yeah. We have to.” Jen took a section of Jessa’s hair and wrapped it into the curling iron. “He picks up the kids for me a lot. Takes them out to dinner. Stuff like that.”
Jessa narrowed her eyes at Naomi as though reminding her to be careful, but they were so close…“Do you happen to know if he was in Denver at all last week?” she blurted, earning another glare from her friend.
“He went a little over a week ago,” Jen said warily. “On Wednesday. I wouldn’t have known but he was supposed to pick up the kids from school that day. He called me to say something came up so I tracked his phone.” She released Jessa’s hair from the iron and a curl bounced down around her shoulder. “He’s always lying so I wanted to see where he was.” Setting down the curling iron, Jen eyed Naomi. “Why?”
Naomi approached her. They had him. They just needed her to tell Dev. “Jen…you might want to talk to Dev. They found accelerant where the wildfire started yesterday. Turpentine. Traced from a store in Denver.”
The woman gave her a blank stare as though she didn’t understand.
“I think…” How could she say this delicately?
“Marshal might be trying to frame Lucas for starting the fire.” Jessa didn’t seem to care anymore about being delicate.
“What?” The woman gaped at them like they were crazy. “No. No way…”
“But you’ve noticed a change in him since last fall,” Naomi prompted, ready to lead her out of there and drive her down to the station.
“Yeah…” She drew the word out as though considering everything. “He was more of a dick than normal. And he’s been completely unreliable. But I can’t imagine he’d do something that insane.”
Before last week, Naomi never would’ve imagined it, either. “Anger makes people do crazy things.” Not to mention drugs.
“Oh my God. Wasn’t Gracie out there when the fire started?” Jen asked with a horrified expression.
“Yeah.” That feeling of helplessness washed over Naomi again. But they weren’t helpless. They could make him pay. “And Mark. Her dad. He broke his leg trying to get her out.”
The woman’s face paled. “You think…Marshal did that?”
Jessa pushed out of the chair and went to Jen’s other side. “Like you said, he hasn’t been himself. He’s unstable. But if he started that fire, he needs to be held accountable.”
Jen nodded slowly, her eyes wide, her mouth slack.
“Will you come with us to talk to Dev?” Naomi asked. Jen was their proof that Marshal had been in Denver at the same time Lucas was. Maybe it would be enough for him to get a warrant. “Just to hear what he has to say?”
The woman’s expression shifted from shock to anger. “If it’s true—if he really started that fire—I’m not gonna cover for his sorry ass.”
That was what they’d been counting on.