“Hell, yes. A splash of whiskey would be welcome as well.”

  Frankie held out her almost empty mug so he could refill it.

  “You said you were staying with Piper. Where is she?”

  “Home still asleep. She was up late last night meditating to calm her mind.”

  Zack had never meditated in his entire life, but perhaps he should try it sometime.

  “And don’t tell her that I stopped off at the grocery store bakery,” Frankie said, shaking a piece of donut at him. “She’ll freak out. She says that these baked goods might have additives or chemicals or something like that.”

  “My lips are sealed. Has she changed her mind about the wedding? Is she going today?”

  “No, and I’m not either, so don’t bother asking me.”

  “You can’t make me go alone,” Zack said. “I came home so we could all spend time together.”

  “Then blow off the wedding and we’ll go do something fun. And you won’t be alone. Tate will be there, and Sam, too. Oh, and Lucy Gilbert. I saw the way you were looking at her. I think she likes you, too.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  The words came out automatically, but now that he’d said them, he wasn’t so sure they were true. He did like Lucy. It had been a long time since he’d been so attracted to a woman. It was just…his life was in chaos at the moment. It didn’t seem fair to pull someone into it when he didn’t know what he was going to do or where he was going to do it.

  “Whatever. You know I don’t like to get involved with affairs of the heart. You do you.”

  “Sometimes I think our parents’ crappy marriage was harder on you than anyone,” Zack observed. “It’s made you cynical at a young age.”

  “They did have a crappy marriage, and it doesn’t make me want to settle down with a white picket fence and a couple of kids. I like being single. I think you like it, too.”

  Six months ago Zack would have vehemently agreed. Now, he wasn’t as sure. Sharing his life with someone didn’t sound as awful as it once had.

  “There were good times,” he replied. “They weren’t always unhappy. Hell, they had six kids, so they had to have gotten along every now and then.”

  Frankie leaned forward, a smile playing on her lips.

  “Personally, I’m going with the theory that we were all hatched or brought by the stork. Piper said the other day that she hopes our real father is the mailman or maybe the tennis pro at the club. Either way, you know she thinks Dad had something to do with Mom’s disappearance.”

  Piper had never kept that thought to herself. Everyone knew it, including their father.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think our dad is a total asshole,” Frankie declared. “And I bet the family firm isn’t all that law-abiding. I think our dad bends the rules, and that he thinks he’s entitled to because he’s rich.”

  “Did you ever bend the rules?”

  Zack already knew the answer. Frankie had been a rule-follower since the day she was born. She’d never cut in line, cheated at Monopoly, or probably even told a white lie. She was a straight shooter that had never had a parking ticket.

  “No,” Frankie shot back, slapping her coffee cup down on the table so that some of the liquid sloshed out. “Because you can’t do that in competitive tennis. The rules are the same whether you’re ranked number one or one thousand. It’s a meritocracy. If you’re good, you get rewarded. If you suck, you suck. It’s that simple.”

  Zack held up his hands in surrender.

  “I get it. I do. It was just an idle question to fill the time.”

  Using a napkin to wipe up the spill, Frankie gave him a narrow-eyed look.

  “So what are you doing here?”

  That was a weird question.

  “I’m here for Dad’s wedding.”

  “Cut the shit,” she replied with an eye roll. “I know you, big brother. You don’t like being here anymore than I do. What’s going on? Is that big fancy life in the Big Apple not bringing you joy anymore? Are you getting older and the supermodels younger? That’s not a good look, by the way. It makes you seem creepy at some point.”

  “When is that point?”

  “I’m not sure the exact age, but Leo DiCaprio has passed it.”

  “You make me sound like a total jerk.”

  “You’re not a jerk, but you’ve been lost for a long time. I noticed it last time I saw you.”

  That was a few years ago when Frankie had been playing in the US Open.

  “You think you know me so well, but we haven’t spent that much time together. You might be wrong.”

  She wasn’t, but she didn’t know that. Frankie liked to be right. When she said something, she truly believed it in her heart.

  “I’m not wrong. And you know why? Because it takes one lost soul to recognize another one.”

  Before Zack could reply, Frankie stood and walked over to the sink, tossing out what was left of her coffee.

  “Cooper should be home any minute, and I need to get back to Piper’s. I’ll see you later.”

  “At the wedding?”

  Frankie leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

  “Not an ice cube’s chance in hell. You can have the rest of the donuts, but save one for Cooper. He gets testy if you eat them all.”

  Zack heard the front door close softly behind his sister as he still sat at the table, thinking about what she’d said.

  He was lost, and that was a fact. That she could see it so easily was disturbing. He hadn’t planned to dump his issues on his family while he was home. He’d always been the type to keep his own counsel.

  Okay, I’ve been close-mouthed about my life.

  But she’d said that she was lost, as well. Was there something going on with Frankie? He’d help her if he could, but she’d have to tell him about it.

  That was something that probably wasn’t going to happen. The one thing the Winslow family wasn’t comfortable with was revealing their problems and accepting help. After all, they were supposed to be the perfect family, veritable pillars of the community.

  It was all a lie.

  It was a beautiful day for a wedding. It was a warm, but not enough to make everyone sweaty in their best clothes. There was a slight breeze, too, and the sky was bright and blue, without a cloud in sight.

  As if it would dare to rain on a Winslow wedding.

  The ceremony and reception were being held in the largest building in town which was Winslow Hall on campus. It was an old building built after World War II, a bit stiff and formal for Lucy’s taste, but it could hold the hundreds of attendees without any issues.

  The ceremony hall was decorated with more flowers than Lucy had ever seen in her entire life. They had to have cornered the market on white and pink roses to fill this room, and then also the reception area which was even larger.

  Swags of ivory and pink fabric hung from the ceiling and framed the floor-to-ceiling windows. Tens of thousands of twinkle lights were strung everywhere, and a flower-filled arbor was at the front of the room where the happy couple would exchange vows.

  Lucy had been to many weddings but never one this swanky. She’d never imagined anything like this for her own nuptials. She would have been happy with a barbecue on the beach, plus close family and a few good friends. When she was young, she’d dreamed of many things like going to Narnia and driving a flying car, but she’d never dreamed about a big wedding with all the trimmings.

  It was lovely, though, and clearly Kim had put a great deal of effort into the day. The woman had excellent taste. Lucy could barely put a skirt and sweater together. Her family had joked that she only had four colors in her wardrobe, but that way they all would go together without having to put too much thought into it. Her mother had picked out her dress for today, and Lucy was wearing it with pride.

  She felt a touch at her elbow, and startled, turned swiftly to see who it was.

  Zack. Looking devastatingly handsome in his monochromatic black tux with a black shirt. The way it clung to his wide shoulders and tapered at the waist it was surely bespoke. His shoes were polished to a high shine, and it looked like he had perhaps put a bit of product in his wavy hair. His jaw was freshly shaven, and he smelled like delicious shampoo and body wash.

  In other words, he was to die for, and she was probably drooling in front of Winslow Height’s citizenry. But then, who could blame her? Even old lady Carter was giving him a lustful once over. If she’d been forty - hell, thirty - years younger, she would have pushed Lucy aside and propositioned the poor guy.

  “I thought you’d be helping your dad before the ceremony.”

  “He’s got his best friend and his brother,” Zack said. “He’s fine. How about we get a drink? There’s still a bit of time before the ceremony.”

  “I don’t think the bar is open until after.”

  “That is a real shame.”

  “Do we need to drink today to get through this?”

  She wouldn’t blame him if he did.

  “No, but it might help.”

  The wedding coordinator was bustling around, shooing people into their seats. It was almost time.

  Zack held out his hand to Lucy.

  “How about we go sit down?”

  She was tempted, but…

  “Don’t you have to sit with your family at the front? Sam and Tate are in the second row. They’re probably saving you a seat.”

  From what she could see from her vantage point at the back, Sam and Tate were saving several seats in an incredibly optimistic move. They were hoping that their brothers and sisters would all show. Sadly, they were going to be disappointed. Lucy hadn’t seen Cooper, Frankie, or Piper, and she wasn’t sure about the first two, but Piper wasn’t attending. She’d been quite vocal about it.

  Sighing, his arm dropped to his side, his expression stormy.

  “I suppose so. But I’ll catch up with you at the reception.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m saving you a dance. I can’t wait for my feet to get stomped on. It will be the highlight of my day.”

  “I’m just the man for it,” Zack replied cheerfully. “I will see you later, Lucy.”

  With that promise, Zack strode up the aisle and took his seat next to Tate, who looked relieved that at least one brother had arrived.

  Lucy took a seat near the back. She wasn’t family, and she wasn’t sure she could really call herself a friend of the Winslows. She’d gone to school with a few of them, and she had chatted with Kim on occasion. But she couldn’t remember a time when she’d spoken to Joel Winslow. Her parents, Gail and Stuart, had though, and she turned to crane her neck to see if her parents had shown up yet. Her father, bless him, hadn’t been feeling a hundred percent this morning with a nasty headache, but in the end, they’d decided to come.

  She gave them a wave when she saw them, and they smiled back, making a beeline for the seats she’d saved them.

  “I was worried we would miss it,” her mother Gail said. “We had to park way down the street, and I’m wearing heels.”

  The music started and everyone hurried into their seats as Joel Winslow and his brother Rick took their places at the front with the officiant. A lone bridesmaid walked down the aisle followed by a little flower girl that looked familiar. Lucy was sure she’d seen her in the bookstore at some point.

  A slow crescendo had all heads turning as Kim appeared at the end of the aisle, wearing an off-the-shoulder white silk dress with a beaded bodice. She was holding a bouquet of pink roses and wearing a happy smile. It was hard to be cynical about this couple when the bride looked so gosh-darn thrilled to be getting married.

  Lucy stole a glance at Zack who was sitting at the front, and he’d turned to see his aunt only briefly. Her heart ached, knowing that this had to be so hard for him and his siblings. They were watching their father marry their aunt while not knowing what had happened to their mother. It was a little Jerry Springer, to be honest, but she had to give Joel and Kim props. They didn’t care what had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. They were going to have their blowout wedding and everyone else be damned.

  The ceremony didn’t take long, and soon they were all in the reception hall sipping cool, bubbly French champagne and eating gourmet hors d’eouvres carried on silver trays by impeccably dressed passing waiters.

  A string quartet played quietly in the corner, and the town hobnobbed while the happy couple had their picture taken by a photographer who kept shouting instructions, looking harassed and tense.

  “He’s staring at you.”

  Her mother had leaned in to whisper in Lucy’s ear.

  “Who?”

  Her mother nodded to the left where Zack was talking with his uncle Rick and his wife Elaine.

  “Zachary Winslow. He’s staring at you. Whatever the conversation is, he’s not listening at all.”

  Lucy turned to look and their gazes collided, causing heat to creep into her cheeks. He lifted his glass in a toasting motion, a playful smile on his lips. His aunt and uncle noticed the behavior and were looking at Lucy oddly, probably wondering what was going on.

  “I promised him a dance.”

  It sounded awkward because it was awkward. She hadn’t told her parents that she and Zack had met up, mostly because she was an adult, and she didn’t tell her parents every detail of her life anymore. She had her own place, and she paid her own bills. They only knew what she told them, or what they learned through gossip. Not that Lucy led a life interesting enough for people to talk about it.

  And I’m just fine with that.

  “Really? A dance? That’s…interesting.”

  “It’s not interesting at all,” her father said with a laugh. “Leave her alone, Gail. Nothing good will come from sticking our noses into Lucy’s business.”

  Stuart had always been good about respecting Lucy’s privacy. Her mother wasn’t terrible, but she wanted the details far too often. Lucy simply wasn’t going to talk about her love life with her mother. It never turned out well.

  “She’s our daughter—”

  “Who is all grown up.”

  Unexpectedly, Gail’s eyes began to glitter with tears, and she rummaged in her purse for a tissue.

  “I’m so grateful we got to see you grow up. I keep thinking about Sarah and her poor parents. How devastated her mother was when she disappeared, and now that she’s been found. It must be like losing her all over again. You two were friends, weren’t you?”

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Lucy said, patting her mother on the shoulder. “It is sad, isn’t it? I knew Sarah and we were in the same friend group, but I wouldn’t call us close friends. We weren’t sharing secrets or anything, but we were around each other a lot.”

  “What if Sarah was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Gail sniffled. “What if you had been there instead of her? We could have lost you. This is all so disturbing. The sheriff needs to find out what happened to that poor girl. I’ve been reading about human trafficking in the news. Maybe that’s what happened to her.”

  “I think when they do that, they take them away from their hometown, sweetheart,” her father explained gently. “It might have just been a terrible accident. They haven’t said anything yet about how she died.”

  Lucy wanted it to be an accident, but she’d watched too much news to be confident that it would be the actual outcome.

  “I hope it’s an accident, too,” Lucy said. “But we need to be prepared for it not to be.”

  “I don’t want there to be a killer in our town,” Gail replied tearfully. “That would be too much for all of us.”

  “There may not be a killer in our town,” Stuart said. “Maybe it was someone passing through. Like a student. They could be long gone.”

  Lucy loved living in a university town. It always felt vibrant and alive, with a freshness that came every fall when the new students arrived. But there were downsides as well. One of them was that the full-time citizens often blamed things on the students.

  A car crash on the edge of town? It must have been students.

  Vandalism at the middle school? It must have been students.

  A friend from high school was found dead? Students.

  “We don’t know that any student was involved in this,” Lucy replied. “It could be anyone.”

  “She probably had an older boyfriend at the university,” Gail said, getting into the spirit of student bashing. “Maybe she broke up with him and he didn’t take it well. This is why I never wanted you to date college boys when you were in high school.”

  The reason her parents hadn’t wanted her to go out with older guys was because they were afraid she would have sex. That wasn’t a guess either because during the teen years Gail Gilbert had done everything but take out an ad in the local paper telling Lucy to stay away from penises.

  “Mom, you may be watching too much Dateline.”

  “Those shows are based on true stories.”

  Lucy didn’t want to get into the odds of being offed by a serial killer.

  “Did Zackary Winslow date Sarah?” Gail asked, her gaze wandering to where Zack was still chatting with a few attendees.

  “I don’t think so. He was dating Angel through most of high school.”

  “I think she’s here today,” Gail said, her gaze scanning the room. “They always made such a beautiful couple. I always wondered why they broke up.”

  “They were just a couple of kids, Mom. Why are you so interested in Zack’s love life?”

  Gail rarely even mentioned the Winslows, let alone Zack, who had been gone from town for years.

  “Because of the way he’s looking at you, dear.”

  Yes, he was still looking. She could feel the heat of his gaze even from this distance.

  Normally, she would have looked away, blushed, and acted like she didn’t see it or that it was no big deal. But Zack Winslow was far from normal or every day. And the butterflies in her belly were something she hadn’t felt in a long time. This time she was going to do something completely out of character. Something she would usually never do.