Page 4 of Dangerous Secrets
She sighed.It shouldn’t be such a bigdeal, and she knew damn well James wouldn’t’ve wanted a big deal.There’d been plenty of times when they’d both escaped events at thefarm.They’d head to his workshop where she’d sit on a stool,sometimes in the hated dress, and watch as he’d operate the latheor belt sander, working his magic on a piece of wood until it fitperfectly with another to form a chest of drawers or a displaytable for the store.
The beautifully crafted mule chesthe’d made of quartersawn oak and gifted her on her sixteenthbirthday was her most prized possession.
But this time it would be hercoconspirator who’d be dead and in the ground.
Taking a shuddering breath, she wipedher cheeks.
James had taken his last breath withhis grandsons holding his hands, and Delaney was intensely gratefulhe’d died peacefully at home.Then Clara had climbed the stairs tothe second floor, and Delaney had heard the decisive click of thebedroom door as her grandmother had closeted herself alone with hergrief.
Delaney had sat with Sawyer and waitedwith his grandfather’s body until the mortuary had come to collecthim.Walker had already slipped out, and a short while later she’dseen the taillights of his old pickup heading down the road.He wasprobably halfway back to Alaska by now.Either that, or he was onhis way to Easy Money, a bar and local hangout in town.
Maybe he’d become an alcoholic and wasworking on drowning his sorrows.Then she remembered the sharpintelligence coupled with that look of iron control when he’d stoodin the doorway and couldn’t reconcile that man with being adrunk.
The swell of anger that’d risen whenshe’d seen him shouldn’t’ve surprised her, but at least she hadn’tgone with the urge to haul off and slug him.That would’ve been anice release to eight years of pent-up anger.She’d remindedherself she was an adult and instead kept the fury bottledup.
She would’ve thought what with Walkerbeing gone for so long, her feelings for him would’ve faded.Butthey hadn’t, not even a little bit.Her sigh was ripe withfrustration.
She wandered the yard in the silverymoonlight.
James had taught her to make a plan todeal with problems, so she’d make a plan to deal withWalker.
Step one was keeping all those hotemotions in check.If she didn’t, they’d burn to the surface andincinerate her like the wildfires that were all too common in themountains around her home.
Slugging him might work in the moment,but it wasn’t a long-term solution.
Step two was realizing Walker didn’towe her a damn thing.Years ago, they’d been together, and while ithad taken her a stupidly long time to realize his feelings hadnever matched hers, she got it now.
He’d never meant the words he’duttered when he’d been her first lover, words whispered in thenight that she was his, and he was hers, forever.
She’d been crushed by the heartbreak,but the rejection was made even worse because not only had hedetermined they were no longer together, he’d also decided theyweren’t friends.
He hadn’t wanted her to stand up forhim when he’d been accused of a heinous crime.He’d never onceresponded to the letters she’d sent while he was in prison, andhe’d refused to call her, even though he’d called James and Sawyerregularly.
Regardless, she’d worked with hisgrandfather and her grandmother to go through the slow, grindingprocess of having the DNA reexamined, and then having the lawyerfile the motions and deal with the DA before finally, a judgeissued a dismissal and cleared Walker of all charges as if they’dnever existed.
He’d been released from prison, andthen he’d taken off, leaving her behind with the rest of his past.Understanding his feelings hadn’t run as deep as hers helped keepher mind clear and focused on her plan.
Step three was to wait him out.Withapple season following soon after the looming berry season, Godknew she had enough to do to occupy her brain.She’d keep busy andwait until he took off again, then she’d settle down to her life,one that would hold a bit less shine without James.
Thinking about Walker wasn’t easy, butit was a diversion from her grief.
She’d figure out a way to deal withhim while he was home.The current situation should be easier tobear because, to a degree, she got it.
As a teenager and young man, he hadembraced the freedom and wildness of the outdoors, and beingrestricted to a prison cell must’ve been a blow to everything thatmade him who he was.
She guessed hitting the road had beena way of reclaiming his life.In the same circumstances, maybeshe’d have done the same.He’d kept in touch with James and Sawyer,and both men had visited him, one time traveling to Wyoming whenWalker had been working at an oil field, and another time to Oregonwhen he’d been at a logging camp.
What she didn’t get was why he’ddecided she was no longer his friend.Whatever he’d felt for herduring that one summer they’d been together hadn’t been strongenough to withstand the hard blow fate had struck him.His way ofdealing with it had been to cut out her and everyone else in hislife, except his immediate family.
Fine, he hadn’t wanted to continue arelationship with her.He was entitled to his feelings.But that hecould barely bring himself to look at her made her want to give hima solid kick in the ass.Angry he’d so carelessly discarded herfelt better than grief.He’d hurt her, but she’d be damned if she’dlet him see that.
A great horned owl called from thebranches of the huge stone pine standing sentinel near the longdriveway at the front of the house.The quiet hoo-hoo soundedmournful and she wondered if he was another lonely heart lookingfor a mate.
With her hands shoved in her jacketpockets, she stepped off the stairs, Callie a comforting presenceat her side.
Walker and Sawyer had come to livewith James when she was eight.Walker was two years older than her,and Sawyer older still, but she’d never been made to feel like shewasn’t welcome.It wasn’t so much they’d let her tag along, butthat without question, she was part of the group.
Then sometime in high school thingschanged.She’d developed an all-consuming, spine-tingling crush onWalker and hadn’t known what to do with herself.On top of that,they’d started butting heads, constantly bickering, arguing overthe smallest things.
