Page 95 of The Lost Book of First Loves

“Thank you both for indulging me,” June said. “As I was telling Beck earlier, I have no idea why everyone here in Wyoming has been so kind to me but I’m deeply grateful for it. I don’t want to sound like a cynic, but in my experience, people almost always have an ulterior motive. It’s so refreshing to find people who are kind simply for the sake of being kind.”

Beck turned to look straight at Ali with such a meaningful, unmistakable expression on his features that she knew she couldn’t put this off any longer.

She drew in a deep breath and faced the other woman.

“Don’t pin any medals on me, June. Ididhave an ulterior motive. I’ve just been afraid to tell you the truth.”

Chapter 31

Juniper

June looked between Beck and Alison, nerves suddenly jumping through her like grasshoppers in tall grass.

What might her ulterior motive be? Random thoughts, each more outlandish than the previous one, raced through her mind in the few seconds it took her to marshal a response.

Maybe she had brought Juniper here to this remote Wyoming ranch so they could harvest her organs or something. Too bad, since she had a wonky heart.

“What ulterior motive?” she finally asked when the silence dragged out.

“You had better sit down,” Alison said.

June sank down onto a kitchen chair. “What are you talking about? What possible ulterior motive might have compelled you to invite me here?”

“It actually goes back longer than that,” Alison admitted, shifting in her own chair. “I had an ulterior motive before I ever applied for the internship at Move Inc.”

Those nerves jumped even harder. What was this all about?

Beck eased toward the door. “This is between the two of you. I’ll get out of your way and head back to my place.”

June speared him in place with a look. “Do you know what this is all about?”

When he didn’t answer, she knew he must. He had been keeping secrets from her. She shouldn’t feel this sense of betrayal, but she couldn’t seem to help it.

“Stay,” she said. “I have a feeling you’re part of this.”

Alison nodded. “Stay, Beck. Please.”

With clear reluctance etched on his features, he returned to the table and sat down.

Ali folded her hands together so tightly, June could see veins in her knuckles. “It’s a really long story. I’m not quite sure where to start.”

June’s sense of foreboding only increased. “Why don’t you start by telling me why you applied for an internship with me?”

Ali hesitated then met her gaze. “You know my dad died in December. I was home from school on break when it happened. We had just shoveled after a snowstorm and we were both changing into dry clothes. Grandma had already gone into the bookstore since they were extra busy in the weeks leading up to the holidays.”

She fell silent and Beckett reached out and squeezed her clasped hands. She sent him a grateful look before returning her attention to June.

“His cardiac arrest came on fast. The widow-maker, a blockage in the left anterior descending artery, which supplies fifty percent of the heart’s blood supply. I heard him collapse from my room and ran in to find him on the floor.”

“That must have been terrifying.”

How astonishing that Ali had experienced a similar medical emergency twice in a matter of months.

“I didn’t remember how to do CPR at the time. I had been trained when I was younger as part of a babysitting class I took in Girl Scouts, but I had never refreshed my skills or anything. As I remember, they mostly talked about doing the Heimlich on a choking kid and stuff like that. Not on a fully grown adult man who weighs twice as much as you do. I didn’t know what to do for him.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Beckett said gently. “We’ve talked about this, Al. You know he was gone before he even hit the floor.”

Her chin trembled slightly and she took a few breaths to compose herself before she continued.

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