Page 55 of Beehives and Broken Heroes

Brandon gave him a quick rundown.

“Dang, that’s quite a pickle you’re in,” Andy said. “Why did you tell her Alana was Chris?”

Cuz he was stupid. “I don’t know.”

“Brandon,” Andy said. “You’ve never liked lying. That’s why it always amazed me when you’d use lies so flawlessly in our cases. Of course, then you’d get tension headaches, like you have now, and would be cranky for days. This is the same and different.”

He hated when Andy got all philosophical on him. “Just tell me what you mean.”

“You hate lying and it makes you sick, but now the stakes are higher—higher than anything you’ve faced before,” Andy said. “Why? Because you love this woman. But there’s a way to fix it. The rules are the same now as they were when you were planning on proposing to Maryanne—only now you don’t have to worry about coming home and finding her married to Dick.”

“Rick,” Brandon said. “Stop calling him that.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Andy grinned.

The rules he referred to were what you could and couldn’t tell certain people. No top-secret information could be shared with friends or extended family, even parents and siblings. But a fiancée or spouse could be told certain things. A little thrill of hope surged in him, but he stamped it down. The idea was absurd. They’d only known each other for seven or eight months—had only been dating for two. “It’s too soon.”

“But you do love her, don’t you?”

He did, but the first person he said it to was going to Allie, not Andy. That little speck of hope he’d tried to squash just wouldn’t stay down. What he’d done was stupid, and his pride was hurt that she couldn’t trust him, but it didn’t matter. He did love her, and he wasn’t going to just let her push him away. He’d fight for her. He’d give her space now, he’d catch Grant, and then he’d win her back.

Brandon turned back to the barn. “If Grant wants revenge against me, then he won’t be leaving the area—he’ll be sticking close. He wouldn’t have driven a vehicle onto the property, just in case someone came by while he was here; more likely, he’s been watching from a distance, figured out when I wouldn’t be home. So what we need to do is look around the surrounding area and see if we can find any trails. Maybe it’ll lead us to where he’s hiding, or at least to where he parked his car. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the town, it’s that everyone’s a gossip. If he parked a vehicle anywhere within the city limits, there’s a good chance someone saw it.”

Andy clapped Brandon on the shoulder. “And he’s back.”

Brandon shook his head at his friend. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

Chapter 18

“When your trust in someone is broken, you will inevitably experience shock, denial, anger, and sadness, feelings that are, in many ways, akin to the mourning process following a death.”

- Dr. Jane Greer

Around of several knocks sounded on Allie’s bedroom door. She ignored them and burrowed deeper into her quilted blankets, under soft fabric, tissues, and candy wrappers.

“Allie,” Jo called. “It’s been three days. Come on, you have to let me in.”

Allie grabbed a pillow and put it over her head, pressing it until she could hardly breathe. At least, she thought that was what she was doing. It was hard to tell, since she’d felt like she could barely breathe since she’d stormed out of Brandon’s life. It didn’t matter. Breathing was overrated anyway.

More knocks came. “Why won’t you talk to me?” Jo asked. “You’ve never kept anything from me in our entire lives.”

That was true, but she just couldn’t bring herself to talk about Brandon—to tell her sister he’d lied to her, possibly cheated, that she’d given him a chance to come clean and he’d refused. She was so done with liars, had at last learned her lesson, but giving up on Brandon was more painful than anything she’d felt before in her life, even worse than when her dad had died.

In a way, she felt like she was losing a piece of herself, and she was furious over it. When she’d found out that Tony had almost ruined her company, she’d been ticked, and sad for a minute, but nothing like this. She’d done what she always did when guys messed with her and had gone into her I-need-to-make-a-change mode, first with her attempt to cut her hair, and then with her podcasts, rules, and lessons.

She didn’t have any of that desire now. All she wanted was to wallow in misery, cram chocolate down her gullet, and be left alone.

Honey snorted in his sleep from his place at the end of her bed. Well, she could be left alone except for Honey. He could stay. He fell asleep on her feet, and she hadn’t moved him because he was keeping her toes warm.

She put her hands down but left the pillow on top of her head.

Muffled voices came through the door.

“Let me try,” a quiet female voice said.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Jo said.

“I don’t care what you think.” The voice got louder.

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