"She was here," Misty replied. "She brought me a piece of cake and some iced tea, but I think she's back in the kitchen now."

  "Fine." Dahlia took a step but then hesitated. "I wasn't aware that you were returning to the house."

  "It was a last-minute decision. My husband Jared drove down here to talk to Sheriff Eli."

  "Oh." Dahlia looked confused. "What about?"

  "Adam's death."

  Now the other woman was more confused than ever.

  "What about Dad's death? The case is closed."

  "He's not so sure that your mother murdered your father."

  Staggering back, Dahlia grabbed onto a chair for support. "Are you kidding? Don't tell me that this is some sort of joke."

  "It's not a joke. He's quite serious about this. He doesn't think that Sandra did it."

  Dahlia pressed her hands to her cheeks, looking ready to cry. "I kept saying that I didn't think my mother could do something like this. I kept saying that there was something more."

  Misty nodded in agreement. "Jared thinks that she was covering for someone."

  "Covering for someone," Dahlia echoed, her brow furrowed. "Who on earth would she be covering for?"

  "That's a good question."

  Misty was watching the other woman's reactions closely. What did she know? Was she covering up as well?

  Dahlia sagged and grabbed the back of a chair again. "Oh dear, not...David?"

  "You think your brother did this?"

  "I don't want to," Dahlia replied, her voice faint. "I know he can get angry, though. He and Dad fought a lot."

  Misty didn't get a chance to reply. Eli had stepped out onto the patio wearing an all-business expression.

  "Ladies, can you please join us in the living room? We're about to get started."

  "The living room? What's getting started?" Dahlia asked.

  Misty had already been briefed. She placed her cake and iced tea down on the small side table and stood.

  "Eli has questions for all of us."

  Eli and Jared had gathered the entire family - Lydia, David, Taylor - and now Misty and Dahlia. Misty went to sit in an armchair close to where Jared was standing, and Dahlia sat next to Taylor. David was standing near the liquor bar and Lydia was sitting near the empty fireplace.

  Eli glanced at Jared before beginning.

  "We have a few more questions about the night Adam was murdered," Eli announced. "We're hoping that you can help us."

  "What sort of questions, Sheriff?" Lydia asked. "I thought this case was solved."

  "They think that Mother didn't do it," Dahlia piped up. "They think she's covering for someone else."

  "Someone else?" David repeated. "Like who?"

  "Like you," Dahlia shot back. "You had more motive to kill Dad than anyone here. You hated him."

  "I may have hated him, but I didn't kill him," David said defensively. His hand automatically reached for the whiskey bottle and an empty highball glass. "I would never kill my own father."

  "So you think our mother did?"

  Clearing his throat, Eli continued. "Can we ask the questions, please?"

  Jared pulled out some notes from his shirt pocket. "Now let's go through that evening again. The party broke up and...Lydia?"

  "I went upstairs," she said. "I watched some television and then fell asleep. When I woke up, Adam wasn't there so I went downstairs to check on him. That's when I found him."

  "And David? What did you do?"

  "I had some more to drink and blacked out on the back patio on a lounge chair. I didn't see my father after he went into his office with Tom."

  "Right. And Dahlia, you also went upstairs to bed, correct?"

  The woman nodded. "I went to speak with the kitchen staff. That lasted about thirty minutes and then I went upstairs. I read a book and then went to bed about eleven-thirty."

  Jared checked something off on his list. "Now Misty and I also went upstairs, watched some television, and then fell asleep."

  This is it.

  Misty shook her head. "That's not all. Remember what you saw when you looked out our bedroom window? Right when we were settling down to watch television."

  Tapping the paper with his paper, Jared nodded his head. "Right, right. When I looked out the window, I saw Tom and Dahlia kissing on the back patio."

  Taylor leaped to her feet, her eyes wide and her face red. "What? You were kissing Tom? Oh my God, Mother. Why did you kiss him? How long have you been kissing him?"

  "Calm down, Taylor," Lydia jumped in before Dahlia could reply. "They were two adults kissing. It's no big deal. Why are you so upset?"

  Misty knew why she was so upset. So did Eli and Jared.

  "Because...because this is the first I'm hearing of it."

  "He's not going to be your stepfather or anything," Dahlia said in a soothing tone. "We were just casually seeing one another. It's not even going on anymore. He's left the company and has a new job."

  This was obviously the first that Taylor was hearing about that. Now she was openly pacing, her fingers pressed to her temples.

  "When did this happen? Why wasn't I told?"

  Frowning, Dahlia stood as well. "Why would we need to tell you? And why are you getting so upset?"

  "I'm not upset," Taylor denied, although her body language was telling a different story. "I'm just surprised, that's all. I need to go make a call."

  Before Taylor could exit the living room, Eli stepped into the teenager’s path. "Wait, I'm not done yet."

  "I need to make the call now, Sheriff."

  "You can call Tom later, but I doubt he'll pick up the phone," Jared said softly. "He's already moved to Texas with his wife and kids."

  "I wasn't–I mean–I don't–"

  Tears were welling up in Taylor's eyes and for a moment Misty felt sorry for the young woman.

  Just for a moment. Then she reminded herself why they were there.

  "What are you talking about, Sheriff?" Dahlia demanded, her own cheeks red. "Tom isn't married with children."

  Eli grimaced. "Actually, he is. It was a secret he was keeping from the family, and everyone in town. He had a lot of secrets, didn't he, Taylor?"

  The teenager stopped pacing and looked up at Eli, her chin visibly trembling. "I don't–I don't know what you mean."

  "I saw you," Misty said quietly. "When I went to the restroom in the downstairs hallway that night. I saw you and Tom."

  Dahlia's head whipped around, her sharp gaze now on her daughter. "You and Tom? What were you doing in the hallway with Tom?"

  Taylor's mouth opened and closed several times before her words came out like a wail.

  "We love each other, Mom. We want to be together."

  It was clear that Dahlia didn't have a clue about what her daughter and Tom had been up to. She looked about to faint from shock.

  "You love each other," Dahlia repeated, her tone incredulous. "You're too young to be in love with anyone. Did you–did you sleep with him?"

  "We love each other," Taylor said again as if her parent wasn't very bright. "I'm going to marry him. I’m going to be his wife."

  "Apparently, he already has one of those," Dahlia replied tartly. "Not that he told me that. He told me that he loved me. Did he tell you that too?"

  "He did tell me. And I love him too."

  There was no confidence like the confidence of a young woman in love. Taylor had pronounced it proudly, full of bravado while Dahlia looked like she wanted to crawl away in shame.

  "Then he lied to both of us," her mother said, a few tears falling down her face. "He lied to you and he lied to me. He lied to everyone."

  "I have a feeling that someone knew the truth," Jared said, stepping forward. "Taylor, your grandfather knew about you and Tom, didn't he?"

  It was a shot in the dark. Misty, Eli, and Jared had talked about this, going around and around and it was the only thing that made any sense. Adam must have known. Somehow. Since he was a man who didn't like modern technology, he must have done it the old-fashioned way with eyes and ears - the staff - all over the estate.

  "No–Yes–I mean–"

  Taylor choked up, tears streaming down her swollen cheeks, her eyes red.

  "He told you to stop seeing Tom, didn't he?" Eli said, stepping closer to Taylor. "Adam knew about you and Tom."

  There was a long silence when not one person spoke, the only sounds Taylor's sobs. She'd buried her face in her hands and strangely her own mother wasn't comforting her. Dahlia was crying too but she kept shaking her head as if to deny what was going on right before her eyes. That it couldn't possibly be the truth.

  "He told me that morning that he was going to send Tom away," Taylor eventually yelled at the top of her lungs. She was more angry than sad. "He was going to fire him and tell him to leave. He said that if Tom ever came near me again, he'd make sure he didn't work anywhere else ever again. He'd ruin him. I couldn't let that happen."

  Here we go.

  "So you asked Cara to trade jackets with you that night," Jared said. He didn't pose it as a question because it wasn't. They already knew this for a fact. "You had her drive your brand-new car out of the front gate while you and Brent stayed behind. Somehow you'd convinced him to help you, possibly because he was already mad about his cousin being fired."

  Taylor was wringing her hands and chewing on her bottom lip. "No, no, no. That's not how it was."

  "We have the video that shows Cara driving out of the front gate," Eli said. "We know that you never left the estate that night, Taylor. Did you and Brent hide somewhere? In the garage, maybe?"

  Jared held up the little plastic evidence bag with the button. "This button came from Cara's sweater and we know she wasn't wearing it because she had your jacket on. You were wearing the sweater when you went into your grandfather's study through the French doors. There's a palm print on the window. I'm guessing it will match either you or Brent."

  "We hid in the garage."

  The words were so soft Misty could barely make them out, unsure she'd heard correctly.

  "You hid in the garage," Eli echoed. "And then what, Taylor? You waited for everyone to go to bed?"

  "Yes," she nodded. "I watched until the lights all went out, but I knew my grandfather would be up. He likes to work late."

  Dahlia came out of her trance and grabbed Taylor's arm, giving it a hard yank. "Shut up. Just shut up. Don't say anything else."

  David, who had been unusually quiet, started laughing loudly as if the scene unfolding was utterly hilarious. "For once, it isn't me that's fucked up."

  "Shut up, David," Dahlia said angrily. "Just shut up and have another drink."

  Her brother reached for the whiskey bottle. "I think I will. This is getting quite interesting."

  Dahlia shook Taylor by the shoulders. "Don't say another word, do you understand me? Just shut up."

  "Cara and Brent have already given their statements," Eli said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a pair of handcuffs. "You might want to call a lawyer, Dahlia. I have to take Taylor in."

  "No, not my baby." Dahlia wrapped her arms around Taylor who was fighting off the embrace. "You can't take her."

  It was Lydia who stepped forward, insinuating herself between mother and daughter. "Call an attorney, Dahlia. Right now."

  "She didn't do this. She couldn't do this," Dahlia said. "She loved her grandfather. He adored her. He would have given her anything."

  "He was a mean old man and he thought he could control everyone," Taylor spat out as Eli cuffed her hands behind her. "I'm not sorry he's dead. He didn't care what any of us wanted. He only cared about himself."

  David raised his highball glass. "I'll drink to that."

  This time it was Lydia who replied. "Shut up, David. No one wants to hear what you think."

  He turned his attention to Misty, raising his glass in her direction. "You're lucky you didn't grow up in this house. You would have ended up just like us."

  Eli led Taylor out of the house and into his SUV while Lydia helped Dahlia dial her phone. Jared sat down on the arm of the chair Misty was sitting in.

  "You know that never would have happened."

  "Living in this house?"

  He shook his head. "No, turning out like them. There's no way you would have ended up like them. You have far too much heart and compassion inside of you."

  She reached for his hand, her strong fingers wrapping around her smaller ones, making her feel loved and secure.

  "I have to admit that at the moment I'm glad that Adam ignored me my whole life."

  Leaning down, Jared brushed his lips across her forehead. "He never deserved you. You're too good for this family."

  Was it better to have no family than a bad one? She'd probably never know the answer to that one. She'd only had a father less than twenty-four hours.

  "Thank you for not giving up on this case."

  "I'd do anything for you."

  He would too. She'd do the same for him. That was family. She might not have grown up in much of one, but she had one now. Jared, the kids, his brothers, and their good friends like Rayne and Dare, Jason and Brinley, Logan and Ava, Reed and Kaylee. And more. People that would always be there whenever needed.

  Family wasn't just blood or DNA. It was deeper than that, heart and soul. It was people she'd chosen and trusted. People she could count on and they could count on her. She'd be there for them hell or high water. Family.

  And it all started with this man. This amazing, wonderful man that she'd married. He'd helped teach her to trust and to love.

  "I love you," she said softly, for no one's ears but his own.

  "I love you too. Forever."

  It simply wouldn't be long enough.

  25

  It was the end of summer. The kids would be going back to school next week and the family would be back in the regular routine of homework and early nights. Lizzie was excited because her best friend was going to be in her class and Nate was lamenting having to go to bed earlier again. Misty had an art showing in the spring. With all of that and the holidays, they'd be as busy as last year and then some.

  If someone had asked Jared, he would have said that he preferred the long, languid days of summer where the kids stayed up later and the pace seemed slower. There was more time to play, to read, to interact as a family. In a few years, Lizzie and Nate wouldn't even want anyone to know they had parents, but right now they were thrilled to do fun things with Jared and Misty.

  His wife had planned one last summer hurrah at the Monroe ranch and had invited everyone they knew. Some were able to make it and some weren't, but it was good to see so many friends and family all together. This had been important to Misty. Since Adam's death she'd been embracing all of their "family" more than she had before. She was right too. These were relationships worth cherishing, nurturing, although she was a hell of a lot better at it than he was.

  The kids - and there was a ton of them - were playing in the expansive backyard and there was some screaming and yelling but it was all in fun. At one point, Kyle had put a sprinkler out there and all of them had run through the cool spray, giggling and laughing. There were popsicles too, of course. Ty said it was mandatory.

  It was unusually hot for this time of year. It truly was summer's last stand. The weatherman was expecting much chillier weather to come in the next few days and that would be it. Autumn would have arrived.

  Dare popped the top on a fresh beer and leaned against the porch railing. He was wearing his usual grouchy expression, but he'd already smiled twice today so Jared had a feeling that his face had pretty much molded in that position. Thankfully, it didn't have a damn bit to do with the man's actual emotions.

  "Rayne says that you're trying to recruit the sheriff from that little town that you visited last month."

  "Eli," Jared replied. "Good man. Good cop. He'd be an asset to the firm. So would you."

  He'd been working on Dare for a while now, but the other man kept saying that he was a small-town cop at heart. Jared wasn't going to give up, though.

  Dare chuckled. "I wondered when you'd bring that up. Have you been pushing this Eli just as hard?"

  "Not quite. I don't know him as well."

  "So the case is all sewn up?" Dare asked. "That was a crazy one."

  Dare and their friends didn't even know how crazy. Jared and Misty had decided not to reveal that she'd inherited anything from Adam. Not because they would want any money or anything like that. Their friends weren't the greedy type. But because they still hadn't quite wrapped their minds around the whole thing yet. At some point, they might talk about it. Once they'd decided how they were going to distribute it. Misty was adamant that she didn't want to keep it.

  "Will you have to go back for the trial?"

  "Probably, we both will. Taylor is going for a self-defense argument."

  With a bunch of high-priced lawyers too, courtesy of her mother Dahlia.

  Taylor had taken most of their advice when she'd been taken into custody. She'd shut her mouth and hadn't said a word, letting her counsel do it for her. Her story was that her grandfather threatened her and Brent, there had been an argument, and that Brent had picked up the statue and hit Adam on the back of the head.

  Brent, on the other hand, had a different story.

  He said that he wasn't even in the study when Taylor had picked up the statue and hit her grandfather. He'd been standing outside watching. He'd also said that killing Adam had been all Taylor's idea. She'd roped him in because he was so angry about his cousin. She'd stoked that anger until he was a willing accomplice. They'd hid in the garage that night until everyone had gone to bed and then they'd snuck in the French doors of the study. He'd stayed back while Taylor argued with her grandfather. It was only then that he'd realized that she wasn't as in love with him as he was with her. He hadn't realized that she was seeing Tom.

  Angry, he'd threatened to tell on her, but she pointed out that no one would believe him over her because she was rich and pretty. He'd stayed quiet and she'd promised him college money as soon as she received her inheritance. She hadn't known that Adam had rewritten his will just a few weeks before his death. She hadn't inherited what she’d expected, and she was going to be dependent on her mother.