Just Pretending

David did his best not to laugh as the elderly lady leaned forward more and more with each question. The long bright dangling beads that dripped from her ears shook with each movement, but even more amusing was the fact that his mother had just been complaining that Lily Mae had been out to the Big Sky way too much lately. Her excuse was that she was checking up on the family and the newlyweds, but Yvette was sure that Lily Mae just wanted the latest dirt on what had happened between Jeremiah Kincaid and Raven Hunter thirty years ago.

“Everyone is doing great, Lily Mae,” he said gently, all too aware that half of the lady’s nosiness stemmed from the fact that she was alone after being widowed and then divorced twice after that. She could be a wicked gossip and cruel, but at the heart of all of that was a kind of pathetic need to be the center of attention. He knew that, but it didn’t mean he was sharing any information the lady didn’t need to know. Such as the fact that his aunt was so worried about this case that lately she could be heard quietly pacing the floor on certain dark and lonely nights. “The Big Sky has its usual complement of summer customers out to view the beautiful Montana scenery.”

“You obviously love the view, too,” Lily Mae said, shaking her head. Her glow-in-the-dark temporarily red hair, unlike her earrings, was wrapped around her head and there fore immobile. “How can you stand to live in the city after growing up out here?”

“I miss it every single day, Lily Mae,” David said quietly, and he was surprised to realize how much he meant that. Not that it mattered. His work was important to him, and his work was elsewhere, but there was something about home…

“The city’s not so bad, Lily Mae.” Gretchen’s soft voice brought him out of his reverie. He turned to look into her determined green eyes over her coffee cup. He wondered if she meant what she said, or if she was trying to defend him from Lily Mae. A touching thought. Probably not true, however. More likely Gretchen Neal was simply trying to convince him that he’d be better off scurrying back to Atlanta as soon as possible.

“Well, you grew up in the city and yet here you are,” Lily Mae argued. “Although I hear you’re taking a trip to Helena soon.”

Gretchen froze. A small, almost imperceptible groan slipped through her lips, and she had an undeniable urge to reach across to Lily Mae’s table and shove the words back into her mouth. How had the woman found out? And why did she care that Lily Mae knew?

“A bridesmaid again?” the woman was saying, shaking her head sadly. “How many times does that make now?”

Gretchen looked into the eyes of her friend Emma who was waiting on the next table. “I’m sorry,” Emma mouthed, and was instantly forgiven. Gretchen knew all too well how good Lily Mae was at worming secrets out of people.

She somehow managed to smile at Emma and shrug her shoulders. But it was difficult. She knew Lily Mae’s condescending tone too well. She’d heard it from any number of people lately. As if everyone thought she couldn’t get a man of her own. As if they didn’t understand that she just didn’t want to get married. Ever.

“I’ve rather lost count of how many weddings I’ve stood up at, Lily Mae,” she said, telling the truth. “I guess I’m just lucky, though, to have so many friends who love me enough to want me to be a part of their weddings.”

She managed to keep the defiance out of her voice. She managed to keep from even looking toward David. It didn’t matter that it was her own choice not to wed. People looked at the fact that she had stood up at so many weddings as somehow humiliating. She didn’t feel that way. She loved celebrating with her friends and family, but she hated that pitying tone people like Lily Mae sent her way. She hated knowing that even those closest to her worried about the fact that she was a perpetual bridesmaid well on her way to living her life alone forever.

“I’m sure you’re right, dear,” Lily Mae said, patting Gretchen’s hand. “But it’s a shame you haven’t gotten married yourself, Gretchen.”

“Lily Mae,” David drawled. “Bite your tongue, sweetheart.” David’s voice was low and sexy as he leaned forward, close enough so that Gretchen could feel the warmth of his skin next to hers. “If Gretchen had gotten married, she would have ruined the night time dreams of half the men in this town.”

Gretchen sucked in a deep breath of air. She saw Lily Mae’s eyes go wide. The woman leaned closer. “What do you mean, David Hannon?”

He gave the lady a slow, sexy smile. “I mean, Lily Mae, that there are a substantial number of male animals in this town who moan in their sleep over restless dreams of Gretchen Neal. There’s just something about a woman who’s good at her job, who knows what she wants and doesn’t want, and who happens to be beautiful, as well, that makes a man feel kind of crazy on a dark and lonely night. Something irresistible. It gives a man a goal, something to warm himself with in the winter and hold close to him in the summer. The way I look at it, Gretchen is performing an important civic duty by keeping the hopes and dreams of all of us single males alive. It makes a man sit up a little straighter and behave a bit better if he knows that a woman like Gretchen may pass by at any moment. If she were already married, well, she’d be some other man’s woman and we wouldn’t care so much. I’m sure the crime rate in town might take a small leap or two.”

Gretchen realized that the whole café had gone quiet and that Lily Mae still hadn’t answered. It was the first time in a long time that anyone had stunned the woman into silence.

“Now if you’ll excuse us, Lily Mae, Gretchen and I have some important business to attend to. The woman is leading a criminal investigation, you know. She doesn’t have time today to think about getting married.”

“No, of course not,” Lily Mae finally said, placing her long, ring-covered fingers against her chest. “Gretchen’s going to find the murderer who still might be on the loose. I only mentioned marriage because I thought Gretchen would make some man very happy.”

“Thank you, Lily Mae,” Gretchen said, going along because she knew deep in her heart that the woman didn’t really mean to be cruel. “I’m sure you’ll make some man happy again, too, someday. You’re a much better cook than I am. That’s for sure.”

The woman beamed. She didn’t even seem to notice that David and Gretchen, her audience, had gotten up and were walking toward the door.

Gretchen was all the way back to the car and seated before she turned to David. “Thank you for saying all that, even if it was a little embarrassing and absolutely untrue.”

He turned to her and smiled that melting smile. She was almost getting used to the way her breath came too hard and fast by now.

“It was the least I could do for my partner,” he said quietly, brushing aside her gratitude.

“I did feel like I had a partner back there,” she admitted.

“You do.”

“Yes, I guess I do,” she said, starting the car and pulling out into traffic. “And, Gretchen?”

“Yes, David?” She kept her eyes on the road and the contented smile on her lips.

“For the record, I meant what I said back there about you not letting other people influence what you do. You’re a strong, independent woman and you know your own mind and what you feel is best for you.”

“Thank you, David. I’d say you’re rather strong and independent, too.”

She could almost feel his grin. “That’s been said about me. Yes, it has,” he agreed. “And Gretchen?”

She took her eyes off the road and turned to him just for a second. His eyes were narrowed, intent on her own eyes…and lips. Especially on her lips. She took a deep breath and grasped the wheel harder as she looked away.

“I meant every other word I said, too,” he repeated. “Any man who spends any time with you and doesn’t imagine you naked in his arms at night is lying.”

His words made her voice freeze in her throat. She should remind him that they were working together on a case, that he was assisting her. She should tell him that what he was saying was in appropriate for the situation.

“And any woman who looks into those bedroom eyes of yours and doesn’t see a bed at her back would be less than truthful, too,” she heard herself saying instead. But when she turned and saw the lazy intent in those very same eyes, she shook her head. “But now that we’ve both admitted that we’re attracted, David, I think we’d better also both agree that it would be all wrong for us to act on our desires. We do have to work together, after all, and I’m sure you’ve got plenty of women waiting for you back in Atlanta. You want to get this case solved, after all, don’t you?”

His smile was slow when it came, laced with sex appeal and the danger that was an inherent part of his life. “You’re a very wise and perceptive lady, Gretchen Neal. I do want to solve this case.”

“Then let’s do it,” she agreed, wishing her words hadn’t been so shaky. Because for all that she knew she was right and staying away from David Hannon’s body was the only way they could operate together, there was a part of her that had been unleashed today. She wondered how long it would take her to banish the vision that had formed in her mind, of David braced above her as he lowered himself and joined his body to hers.

“This is where Raven Hunter’s remains were found,” Gretchen said, carefully skirting the yellow police tape that protected the area from further contamination. “They had spent two weeks clearing the land when his bones were discovered. Until then no one had known exactly what had happened to him. Even now, with a bullet in his ribs, we can’t be sure whether he was killed on this site or whether his body was brought here after his death. With Storm away, we don’t know much about what happened in the last few hours he was alive.”

“But we do know that he and Jeremiah had not been on good terms. Jeremiah had tried to pay him to leave town and desert my aunt Blanche. Everyone had assumed that he’d left town right after that.”

“That part of the story is pretty well documented, yes.”

“And no other evidence was found other than the bullet wedged into the rib. No weapon. No other clues that we could use.”

“There were rocks found over the skeleton. More than there were on the rest of the site. Possibly intentionally placed there. But then, you know that already. You’ve read the file. The area’s been thoroughly searched.”

“I know. I’m just wondering what might have been damaged or missed in those first few days when the digging was going on, if there were any clues that might have been lost that could still be recovered.”

She shrugged her agreement. “We’ll keep trying. In the meantime, all we can do is wait for Storm to show up so we can inter view him.”

“How about the other site? What do you know about the Peter Cook case?”

“At this point we don’t suspect foul play. The evidence indicates that the man died in a fall at a site where he had every reason to be. And there were no witnesses that we’ve been able to locate.”

She stopped, but apparently she hadn’t stopped soon enough. David’s brows rose.

“You don’t suspect foul play, but you’re not completely sure this is a case you can close without nosing around a bit?”

She shook her head as David waited for her answer. “It’s nothing, really. Absolutely nothing that would ever matter in a legal sense. Just a strange feeling. Peter Cook was an experienced out doors man.”

Nodding, David acknowledged her doubts. “Not the kind to slip under normal circumstances?”

She shrugged. “Everyone has accidents now and then. Still, I do have a disturbing feeling about all of this.”

“Who wouldn’t? There have been a number of strange events taking place in White horn in the past few years,” David conceded. “Murders. Kidnappings. Far too many for a town this size. I thought all that was done, that all the pieces had been tied up tight, but now here we have it. A thirty-year-old murder and another death, both on Kincaid land. More trouble on the home front.”

“I’m sorry your family has gone through so much,” Gretchen said gently, and David was sure she meant what she said.

He shook his head. “Don’t feel sorry for us, Gretchen. We’re a happy bunch, for the most part. But this has got to affect Summer to some extent. She lost her mother a few weeks after she was born and thought that her father deserted her. Now there are questions about Raven to be answered and all the upheaval of reliving the antagonism between her father and her uncle, but Summer’s very happy now that she’s married Gavin. He’ll help her deal with this. It’s Aunt Celeste I’m worried about. She’s just not well. This is taking too much of a toll on her.”

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