"Mrs. Winslow, you're doing the right thing. Do you have somewhere safe to go?" Jack asked the elegant woman who stood before him. She was in her mid-fifties, with meticulously manicured nails and pale blonde hair that hung in a perfect, sleek bob to her chin. Her husband was a well-respected doctor, and they were members of the country club and active in Riston politics.

She nodded. "I'm going to stay with my sister until I decide where I want to live. I'm never going back to him." Her voice wobbled just a bit but her eyes were determined and Jack admired her strength. He handed her his card.

"If you need to call us for anything, that's my direct line and the main number as well. Don't hesitate to call if you feel threatened in any way."

"Thank you." She smiled. "My only regret is that I didn't do this sooner."

Jack watched her go and then turned back to his computer. His shift was almost over and he was getting ready to shut things down.

"You just never know, huh?" Mary, the receptionist at the front desk said once Mrs. Winslow was gone.

"Could happen to anyone," Jack agreed. He thought about what Mrs. Winslow had told him. It was a story he'd heard many times over the years in different variations. How things had been so wonderful at first and the abusive behavior seemed to catch them by surprise once they were married or almost married. In retrospect, most women said the warning signs were there, but they’d failed to see them. Controlling behavior, moodiness, wanting to know whereabouts at all times—many women mistakenly were flattered by the attention, at first, not seeing it for what it really was until it was too late.

Jack thought of Melissa, and wondered how she was doing. He knew that she had a restraining order on file. When she moved to Riston, she'd come into the office and gave them a copy for their files which also activated the order in Idaho. She didn't think she needed to worry, given that it was so far, but she was smart to take the precaution. He didn't know what her story was. They hadn't talked about it. But he remembered the look on her face when he went to check on the alarm. She'd been nervous and scared. He was glad that it had turned out to be nothing. They'd had such a good time at Wade's wedding, too. He'd been dying to call her, to spend more time with her, but his sister Bernie had asked him to wait.

"I don't think Melissa is ready to date and as much as I love you, I'm not sure that you'd be who I'd pick for her. You're like a hurricane, Jack. You'd sweep her off her feet and it would be all wonderful, until you get bored and you're on to the next one, and then she'd be devastated. I really like Melissa. I don't want to see her get hurt," she'd said.

He'd been insulted by that at first, but then he'd taken a step back and truthfully had to admit that his sister had a point. That was his pattern. And it wasn't like he'd left a string of broken hearts; he'd had his share of women dumping him, too. But he knew that he came on strong. He decided to bide his time and wait, and of course date up a storm while he was waiting.

Jack loved women, all shapes and sizes and ages. They were all beautiful to him in their own way, and women generally found him quite lovable as well, and fun to be around, even if they didn't see him as a good long-term prospect. But he was okay with that. Until he found his Mrs. Right, he was going to have as much fun as possible.

But, it had been weeks now since Wade's wedding and he'd been thinking about Melissa more and more, wondering what she was up to and how she was doing. He decided to find out. He picked up the phone and called his sister. Bernie answered on the first ring.

"Wade Weston's office, this is Bernie."

"Are you going to trivia tonight?"

Bernie laughed. "Well, hello and how are you, too? Yes, I think we are. Will you be joining us? You haven't come for ages."

"Yeah, I think I'm in the mood for it."

"Good, we could use you for sports and history. That's always our weak spot. Though David and Clark are coming tonight, too, so we should be in really good shape."

"Clark's coming, too? He's almost as much fun as I am."

Bernie laughed. "You should hang out with him more. You are like two peas in a pod." Clark was a doctor, like David, and Jack enjoyed spending time with both of them.

"How's Melissa doing? You should invite her to come, too," he said casually. But he should have known he couldn't sneak anything by his sister.

"So that's what you are up to! You just want to see her. You're not planning to ask her out, are you? I really don't think that's a good idea."

Jack was quiet for a moment. That actually had been his plan. But Bernie sounded so adamant. He could wait a bit longer.

"No, I just liked her. It would be nice to see her, that's all. No ulterior motive."

"Well, Lily and I were planning to invite her. She usually comes with us. We're going to stop by the shop on our way and see. So, you might see her later."

"All right, then. I'm going to head home and then I’ll see you there."

* * *

"See you tomorrow, Anna," Melissa said as Anna left for the day. It was a few minutes after six and Melissa was almost ready to go, too. She had just shut down the computer when the front door opened and the chimes sounded. It was Bernie and Lily.

"Are you up for trivia? We're going to have a bigger group than usual tonight. It should be fun," Bernie said.

"Yes, absolutely. I'll just grab my purse."

Melissa locked the shop and they made their way over to the restaurant at the ranch where trivia was held every Thursday night in the bar. It was also buy-one-get-one-free pizza night in the bar and restaurant so it was always packed with guests as well as locals.

"Who's coming tonight?" Melissa asked as they walked.

"David and Clark, one of the doctors that he works with, and you know my brother, Jack."

"Jack's coming? He hasn't come to trivia before." Melissa tried not to sound as excited as she felt about seeing Jack. It didn't make any sense, as she knew he was all wrong for her. Yet, he made her smile and she liked to be around him. She suspected that most people did. Jack was fun.

"He likes trivia. He comes in spurts. And then he's on to the next thing. Jack likes to keep busy." Bernie laughed.

"Is Cody coming?" Melissa asked Lily. Her husband, Cody, and his brother ran a ranch and did some real estate development. Lily worked in the office with Bernie, handling events and on the side, she wrote songs and occasionally sang at local bars with her brother Tyler and his friend, Mark.

"Yes, he should be along soon. Wade said he would try to stop by, too. He promised Vivian he'd take her and Maddie out for pizza."

"It will be fun to see them," Melissa said. "And of course Jaclyn and Simon will be there."

"They're probably already there," Bernie said as they walked into the restaurant. Sure enough, Jaclyn and Simon were at their usual long table, and waved as soon as they saw them. Barbi, their favorite waitress, met them at the table to get their drink orders.

"I don't suppose any of you want root beer?" Jaclyn asked, with a gleam in her eye.

Bernie laughed. "I'll stick to Chardonnay. Thanks anyway."

"I'll have the same," Melissa said.

"I'll have some of that root beer," Lily said.

"Great. I'll be right back with your drinks." Barbi walked off to the bar. Meanwhile, everyone was silently staring at Lily in surprise. Jaclyn slid a glass and the pitcher of root beer Lily's way.

"I have never seen you drink soda. What's going on?" Bernie asked.

Lily grinned. "Cody and I have some news to share."

"Oh, my gosh, you're expecting!" Bernie gave her a big hug, while Lily beamed.

"I've been dying to tell you all, but we wanted to wait until three months had passed. I was going to wait for him to get here and we'd announce it together, but I guess the root beer was too much of a giveaway."

A few minutes later, Cody, Clark and Jack walked in. Jack sat next to Melissa as everyone congratulated Cody.

"I tried to wait for you…but they knew as soon as I ordered a root beer!" Lily said with a laugh.

They ordered drinks and once Barbi returned with them, Jack lifted his glass and everyone joined him in a toast. "Congratulations to both of you!"

Jaclyn led the discussion of which pizzas to get and they ended up ordering their usual combinations plus a spicy Hawaiian for Jack.

"What is that?" Melissa asked as Barbi collected their menus.

"Pineapple, ham and Sriracha sauce for a little kick. You'll have to try a slice."

"I don't know." Melissa was looking forward to her plain cheese pizza.

"Trust me, it's amazing. So, how've you been? Seems like we were just at Wade's wedding."

"The weeks really have flown by. That was so much fun. They seem like they've always been together." Melissa waved as Wade, Maddie and Vivian walked in and were seated at the table next to them.

Melissa's phone vibrated and she glanced down to see who it was. A text message from Melanie.

I know you're probably at trivia, but can you call me. It's important.

"I need to go make a quick call. Back in a few minutes," Melissa said as she grabbed her phone and went outside to call Melanie. Her sister picked up immediately.

"You're at trivia, right? I know you go on most Thursdays. Sorry to interrupt."

"What is it?" Something about Melanie's tone had her senses on alert. Something was wrong.

"Okay, it may be nothing. But I've had a bad feeling about this all week and didn't want to alarm you until I had good reason. Cooper hasn't been into the club for three days now. You know him—he doesn't miss a day, ever."

He had been obsessive about working out. He went every day at the same time, without fail.

"Maybe he changed gyms?"

"No, his membership is still active."

"Maybe work has been busy?"

"I would have thought that, except that I called his office and asked for him, and they said he is out of town on a leave of absence."

"Oh. Well, maybe there was a death in the family or something." Melissa still didn't want to go there. It had been so long now since she'd left Boston that she finally was starting to really feel like it was over.

"Maybe. But the reason I called his office to check is because I was worried. He's said a few things to me. I didn't say anything before because I didn't want to worry you and I thought he was all talk."

"What did he say?"

"Well, you know he used to ask me all the time where you were?" Melissa knew that he gave Melanie a hard time when she first left. She insisted to him that she didn't know where she'd gone and he finally stopped asking.

"He told me a month ago that he was still trying to find you. And the day before he disappeared he told me to tell you hello and that he was working on finding a way to see you soon. It was strange. I thought he was just being a jerk, so I'd tell you and just get you upset. As long as he kept coming into the gym, I figured he was full of it. Until he didn't come in the next day or the day after. By the third day, today, I'd had enough and called his office. It still may be nothing, but just to be safe, promise me that you'll stay with someone or have someone stay with you until he surfaces."

Melissa was totally shaken and speechless.

"Did you hear me? I'm not hanging up until you promise me." Melissa could feel her twin's worry.

She signed. "I promise. Thank you. I can't believe this might not be over yet."

"It will be. It may be nothing...but better safe than sorry. Now go, win trivia!"

"Thanks. Love you."