Page 26 of Ardently Yours

“Why did you call me a liar when you saw what he did?”

She drops her eyes to stare at the asphalt under her feet. “I distracted him enough for you to get away, but I couldn’t . . . He’d have killed me. He was dangerous. His temper . . . I know how that sounds. No one would believe it, but it’s true. I had to wear a turtleneck sweater in the middle of summer for three weeks afterward.”

Oh, I believe her. Transitioning to the idea of her being a victim is like a puzzle piece snapping into place.Of course, she was.

“The police wouldn’t help you.” I know exactly how unhelpful our police department is when a woman has been hurt by Jeremy Polford.

She rubs her eyes, then shakes her head. “I’d have had to be dead or in the ICU before they would have arrested him. And a restraining order is nothing but a piece of paper to men like him. You got away before . . . It could have been worse.” She hesitates, then in a broken voice says, “I hoped that was enough.”

I squeeze her cold hand, our breaths vaporizing in the frigid gloom. “He’s gone now.”

“Your lawyer scared him, I think. He was the one wasn’t he? Who hired the private investigator?”

I nod.

“The sheriff told Jeremy that a private investigator was setting him up to think he was talking to a minor online. My husbandgot scared and ran. I told the sheriff if he had kept quiet and done his job, Jeremy wouldn’t have taken off. He didn’t like hearing that.”

“Good.”Very, very good.

She nods, then hesitates. “Jeremy was planning to find you. He said he was going to make you call off the investigation. I was afraid for you. I tried to call, but your mom said you were at the hospital and had just had a baby. I figured that was okay. He wouldn’t do anything in public. Then he disappeared.”

The adrenaline surging through me makes me lightheaded in a way I’ve felt before. Fight. Flight. Or Freeze. I always, always fight. “Did you tell the sheriff your husband was planning to confront me?”

Bianca shakes her head. “It’s none of his business, is it? I don’t care how or why Jeremy is gone. But if I told them he was planning to come after you, they’d have thought you had something to do with it.”

My stomach turns, and my pulse pounds in my ears. “It’s not like I don’t have an alibi. Like you said, I’d just given birth.”

Bianca chews on the corner of her lip. “I didn’t recognize your lawyer at the funeral. I was afraid for you when he looked like he was going to follow you outside. You found someone more powerful than Jeremy to defend you. When this”—she spreads her arm—“is the only life you know, it’s easy to forget that Jeremy and the sheriff only seem like big fish because we’re in such a small pond. You were smart.”

Heat curls up my neck at the unwarranted praise. I had nothing to do with Arden’s decision to investigate, and his poking around sent Polford outlooking for me.

I get the impression Arden always does “what’s right.” He wasn’t wrong to want to see justice served, even if he did kick a hornet’s nest into my life. I would have done the same thing.

“There are people in this town who still believe the lies you told about me. They treat me and my child like shit because of it,” I say.

She flinches at my crass language but doesn’t call me on it. “You want me to tell them the truth.”

“What’s stopping you now? Your husband isn’t here.”

She hesitates. “I . . .” Her gaze skates away and she wrings her hands. “He could come back.”

“If you need help, I’ll call my lawyer for advice.” It’s weird calling him “my lawyer.” He’s been my Arden for months, but that’s none of her business.

“I don’t have money to pay Arden McRae. You had Steve’s life insurance. I’m struggling to keep up with my mortgage.”

I’m not surprised she knows about the life insurance payout—everyone is so damned nosey and gossipy around here—but the way she keeps using Arden’s first and last name irritates me.

I could tell her what he ate for dinner last night, but she obviously knows things about him that I don’t. I force myself to speak gently. “I’ll pay him for you if that’s what it takes. If you’re worried about coming forward, he could help you make a statement. If you’re worried your husband could come back, he could—”

“I can’t.” Bianca shakes her head, her brown eyes pleading.

I nod. “Thank you for helping me get away back then and for trying to warn me when he was going to come after me. I don’t blame you for what happened. You were in an awful position.”

She presses her lips together. “Everyone knows Jeremy and Calvin Marsh were best friends. He hasn’t let Jeremy’s disappearance go, and I don’t know if he ever will. If I start saying negative things about Jeremy, Calvin won’t like it. He might decide I had something to do with it. He could come after me, Charlotte, and I have a four-year-old child. I can’t do this.”

In my head, I can hear the sheriff calling me “Charlie” the same way Polford did.

If I were half as nosey as the majority of this town, I’d have already known the two of them were close. But when it comes to Polford, I prefer to think of him as little as possible. I definitely don’t chat with people about him.

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