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  She had certainly been instrumental in Alex’s decision to move to Black Rock. When his wife, Linda, had died eighteen months ago, Alex had tried to be a good and present single parent, but with his work schedule as a lawyer in a big firm Emily had spent more time with babysitters than with him.

  It had been an unacceptable reality for a little girl reeling from her mother’s death. Here in Black Rock not only did Alex have a new occupation that he found far more rewarding than what he’d been doing and allowed him more time with his daughter, but Emily also had a loving grandmother who only lived a block away from their house and was available to babysit day or night.

  “Then I guess ice cream it is,” he agreed and laughed as Emily clapped her hands together and then did a little dance to show her pleasure. “I have to go tell Lady Bear. She’ll be so happy.” She dashed from the room and up the stairs toward her bedroom.

  “You’ve done such a good job with her, Alex,” Rose said with a smile. “And I’ll never be able to thank you enough for moving here so I can be a part of her life.” Her smile wavered slightly and she placed a slender, wrinkled hand over her heart. “When we lost Linda I was afraid that I’d lose you and Emily, too.”

  “Don’t kid yourself, this move was as much for me as it was about you and Emily,” he replied. “I was more than ready for a change of lifestyle and I think this is going to be a great place to raise Emily.”

  “Did you get the job?” Rose asked as she pulled on the white cardigan sweater she’d brought with her when she’d arrived to watch Emily.

  “I did. If all goes well, starting tomorrow morning I’ll be working on a deck at Brittany Grayson’s house.”

  Rose frowned. “That poor girl. I can’t imagine her having the courage to move back to her house all alone after what she’s been through. She’d got to be one of the strongest people I know.”

  “She definitely seems ready to move on with her life,” he replied.

  “Speaking of moving on, I’d better get out of here,” Rose said, as she picked up her purse from the sofa.

  Alex walked to the bottom of the staircase. “Emily, Grandma is leaving. Come down and tell her goodbye.”

  Emily came down the stairs, her favorite pink stuffed bear in her arms. “Lady Bear wanted to say goodbye, too.”

  “By all means, I wanted to say goodbye to Lady Bear,” Rose replied as she shook the bear’s pink paw.

  Alex watched the goodbyes exchanged between Rose and Emily and Lady Bear and tried not to worry that Emily’s attachment to the stuffed animal bordered on obsessive.

  The bear had been a gift from a friend attending Linda’s funeral and Alex had a feeling that all of Emily’s love for her mother had been transferred to the stuffed animal.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you home?” Alex asked Rose when the goodbyes were finished and Emily had gone back upstairs to her room.

  “No, thank you. A little exercise is good for me, and besides, it’s only a block. You’ll call me later and let me know what the schedule is for tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, but I should be able to work it so that I’m home when Emily gets off the school bus,” he replied. “If something changes I’ll let you know.”

  A few minutes later he stepped out onto the porch and watched as Rose walked up the sidewalk. Rose had lost her husband in a car accident five years ago and then had lost her only child, Linda. There was nobody Alex admired more in the world than his mother-in-law, who, despite the tragedies she’d suffered, continued to not only put one foot in front of the other but seemed to seek out happiness whenever and wherever she could find it.

  She’d been by Alex’s side when Linda had died, and he knew the anger she’d felt toward her daughter, an anger that still burned inside Alex when the grief wasn’t filling him up. But Rose had hidden her anger well as she’d tended to her daughter in Linda’s last days.

  When Rose disappeared from his sight he turned and went back into the house. As he climbed the stairs to Emily’s room, he checked his wristwatch. It was only a little after four.

  He found Emily sitting at the child-size table and chairs in her room. Lady Bear sat in the chair opposite her and there was a coloring book open not only in front of Emily, but also in front of the bear.

  “Hi, Daddy. We decided to color you a picture,” she said as Alex folded his long legs and sat in the little chair next to hers.

  “You know how much I love your pictures,” he replied. In fact, the front of his refrigerator was laden with Emily’s artwork. He watched for a few minutes as she colored a blue sky and a pink house. When she started in on the yellow sun he spoke.

  “You know, I was thinking, maybe since you were such a good girl for grandma while I was gone, we might have ice cream before dinner.”

  Emily’s green eyes opened wide and the yellow crayon rolled out of her small hand and across the table. “Before dinner? Like right now?”

  “Like right now,” he replied. He laughed as Emily was out of her chair with Lady Bear in her arms before he could blink his eyes.

  “Now, that’s a good plan,” she exclaimed.

  “But only one scoop. I don’t want to completely ruin your appetite for dinner.”

  “Okay, maybe one scoop before dinner and one scoop after,” Emily replied, making Alex laugh.

  Ten minutes later they were headed down the sidewalk to Main Street where Izzy’s Ice Cream Parlor had quickly become their favorite shop in town. He’d managed to convince her that Lady Bear didn’t need to come with them, that she’d much prefer some pretend honey when they got home than an ice cream cone now. As they walked Emily regaled him with stories about her day in school.

  Thankfully, Emily had adjusted well to changing schools, loved her teacher and had already made new friends. She also loved having a backyard and had begun making noises about getting a dog. So far she’d adjusted to the move far better than Alex.

  Although he’d been ready for the change, looked forward to a new occupation, a new lifestyle, he hadn’t expected the loneliness.

  In Chicago there had been business dinners, fundraisers and late nights at the office to keep the loneliness at bay. Here most evenings existed of a bottle of beer and the sound of crickets from outside the window. He definitely hadn’t expected this kind of aching loneliness.

  But he didn’t intend to ever marry again, and was reluctant to even date. The last thing he wanted to do was invite a string of women into Emily’s life, women who would never be more than temporary.

  As they walked by Brittany Grayson’s house his thoughts returned to her. According to the local gossip she’d been strong and courageous during her captivity, and the other women who had been held captive had given her credit for keeping them sane.

  If he did ever decide to marry again, which he seriously doubted he would, he would choose a strong woman. He’d loved Linda, but it hadn’t taken him long into the marriage to realize she was childlike in her fears of life and that fear was ultimately what had led to her death.

  Still, even though he told himself he had no desire to get involved with any woman right now, he couldn’t help the anticipation that swept through him as he thought of seeing Brittany again.

  He couldn’t help but wonder if she was the fearless heroine everyone called her or just a damaged victim of a heinous crime.

  Chapter 2

  “Maybe you moved back here too soon,” Brittany’s eldest brother, Tom, said to her the next morning. He’d stopped by on his way into work as sheriff of Black Rock. He was a handsome man in his khaki uniform, but he had that stern big-brother look on his face that drove Brittany crazy.

  “I mean, if the sight of a balloon threw you for a loop, then maybe you weren’t ready to be out on your own,” he added.

  “It was time for me to get out of Benjamin and Edie’s place. They’re newlyweds and need their own space and it was time for me to get on with my life.” Brittany got up from the table to refill her coffee mug. “Besi
des, it didn’t throw me for a loop. I just wondered who had tied it to my mailbox and why.” She topped off her coffee and then rejoined him at the table. “It was just natural curiosity.”

  Tom smiled at her knowingly. “Most people’s voices don’t quiver when expressing their feelings of natural curiosity.”

  “I’m sorry I even mentioned it,” she retorted ruefully.

  “You know you could always stay with us if you aren’t ready to be out on your own. Peyton wouldn’t mind having you with us.”

  Love for her brother surged up inside Brittany. He and his wife were newlyweds, as well, and had Peyton’s little daughter, Lilly, to dote on. Besides, Brittany didn’t want to live with any of her brothers anymore. She wanted…needed to be out on her own.

  “Thanks, but I’m fine here. In fact I’m having a new deck built.”

  “Chad doing it?” he asked.

  Brittany shook her head. “He was busy so he recommended a friend of his, Alex Crawford.”

  Tom frowned. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”

  “He’s only been in town about six weeks. He moved into the Walker house.”

  He nodded. “Have you given any thought to coming back to work?” he asked.

  Before her kidnapping Brittany had also been a member of the Black Rock law-enforcement team. She’d worked beneath Tom as a deputy along with her other brothers Benjamin and Caleb. Her brother Jacob had worked for the FBI in Kansas City, but during the time Brittany had been kidnapped he had returned to Black Rock and was now also a deputy for the town.

  “I’m not ready yet,” she replied. “I hate to leave you shorthanded but to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I want to return.” The words formed a lump in the back of her throat.

  Tom lifted an eyebrow in surprise. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes studying her. “You don’t have to come back if it doesn’t feel right, and don’t worry about leaving me shorthanded.”

  “But isn’t Benjamin leaving in a week or so?”

  “Two weeks.”

  Brittany’s brother Benjamin had for years divided his energies between the jobs of working as a deputy and ranching on the family homestead. He’d finally decided to ranch full-time and was quitting his duties as deputy.

  “Have you given any thought to what you’d rather do if you don’t come back?” Tom asked.

  “Not really. I thought I’d take some online college classes and keep my options open.”

  “What about money? Are you okay?”

  Brittany smiled. “I’m fine. I had some savings and I’m using some of my inheritance for the deck.”

  “I figured you’d already spent all that money on shoes and purses,” Tom said teasingly and then checked his watch. “I’ve got to get out of here. If I don’t check in soon, Caleb will be sitting in my chair with his feet up on my desk.” He downed the last of his coffee and then got up from the table and carried his cup to the sink.

  Brittany walked him to her front door where he turned and touched her lightly on the tip of her nose. “You’ll be okay. Go shopping, buy yourself something completely frivolous. That’s always made you feel better in the past.”

  She watched him as he walked toward the path to his patrol car parked at the curb. She knew he meant well. All of her brothers did, but they all interacted with her as if she were the same person she’d been before the kidnapping, and she wasn’t.

  She closed the door and locked it, then returned to the kitchen and grabbed her coffee cup. She walked to the back window and stared out at the patio.

  A little over eight months ago, before she’d been taken captive, she’d been a spoiled, indulged princess. She’d loved hanging out with her friends at Harley’s Bar, a rough-and-tumble tavern that boasted live music on the weekends. She’d loved shopping and lunch out and dating men that weren’t necessarily husband material.

  She’d often been late to work, knowing that her brothers would cover for her, and living each moment without thought for the next had been her specialty.

  She wasn’t that woman anymore, but her brothers had failed to see that although her life had been spared, the immature, irresponsible girl she’d been had been killed, leaving her floundering to discover exactly who she was now.

  She rubbed her eyes, feeling the grit of exhaustion. The balloon had been gone when she’d gotten up that morning, but the sight of it had kept her awake far too long the night before. She hadn’t been able to shake a sense of foreboding that in the light of day seemed rather silly.

  She jumped as her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, but picked it up and answered.

  “Brittany, it’s Alex.”

  His deep voice washed over her with a welcome heat and she reminded herself that he was a married man. “Hi, what’s up?”

  “I thought I’d let you know that the supplies should be delivered around noon today and if you don’t mind I’d like to be there when they drop them off.”

  “No problem. I just can’t wait for the project to be done.”

  “Then I’ll see you just before noon.”

  She hung up and smiled ruefully. It was just her luck that after everything she’d been through the first man who sparked any kind of interest in her was totally off-limits.

  Reminding herself that the last thing she needed at this moment in her life was a man, she set about making herself breakfast.

  It was about midday when she looked out her back window and saw Alex seated in one of the chairs on her patio. She opened the back door and stepped outside.

  “You should have told me you were here,” she said as he smiled at her and stood.

  “I didn’t want to bother you. They told me the delivery would be around noon, but that usually means anywhere between noon and four.”

  She waved him back down and sank into the chair opposite his and tried not to notice that he looked just as handsome today as he had the day before. “Would you like something to drink?” she asked.

  “No, thanks. I’m good.”

  He was better than good, she thought. “It’s a gorgeous day to start the project,” she said.

  He smiled. “Nothing better than a perfect spring day for a little work outside.”

  “Have you had a chance to explore Black Rock?” She just wanted to make conversation, to have a reason to remain sitting across from him and enjoy the view.

  “We’ve definitely discovered Izzy’s Ice Cream Parlor. I think it’s going to be our favorite hangout until winter comes.”

  “When winter does arrive then you’ll have to go out to Mathew’s pond on the north side of town. If the temperature is right he sets up fire barrels around the edge of the pond and half the town shows up there on the weekends to ice-skate.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “How’s your wife coping with small-town life?” she asked, needing to remind herself that that he was a married man and then maybe that thousand-watt smile of his wouldn’t have so much power over her.

  “Actually, I lost my wife almost two years ago. Being a single parent was part of my reason for changing careers and deciding to move here. My wife’s mother lives here and I thought my daughter could use the support of a loving grandmother.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Brittany said, knowing the simple words weren’t adequate for the depth of loss he’d suffered. Her heart went out to him. He had not only lost the woman he loved, but apparently had made the choice to leave his career behind and move because in his mind it was the best thing he could do for his daughter.

  Someplace in the back of her mind she realized this meant that Alex was a single man. Not that it mattered to her. No matter how hot he was, she just wasn’t ready for a man in her life.

  All she wanted from Alex was a deck where she could have her friends and family over for barbecues and good times. Beyond that she knew what she needed most was time to heal, and that was something she had to do all alone.

  “It’s all right,” he replied. “Time passes and life goe
s on. My main goal is just to make sure that Emily is okay. Emily is my six-year-old daughter.”

  Now she understood why he didn’t work weekends and worked relatively short days. “You mentioned that your wife’s mother lives here. Would I have known your wife?”

  He shook his head. “Linda never lived here in Black Rock. Her parents, Rose and Harry, moved here after Linda and I got married.”

  “Rose Tyler,” Brittany said.

  “That’s right.”

  Brittany smiled. “She’s a nice lady. She does a lot of charity work here in town.”

  “She’s the greatest,” he agreed. “And best of all she’s a babysitter who never complains about long hours.”

  “What about your parents?” she asked.

  “They live a wonderful life in Italy. They weren’t exactly what you’d call doting parents and so I knew not to turn to them when Linda died.”

  At that moment the conversation was cut short as the truck from the lumberyard arrived. Brittany stood to the side and watched as it was unloaded. The truth of the matter was she watched Alex as he helped Ed Burton from the lumberyard unload. She watched in fascination as his T-shirt stretched taut across his back with each load he lifted.

  She’d found the tidbit of information about his parents intriguing but told herself she didn’t want to know more intimate details of his life.

  Even if she were ready for a man in her life and even though she found Alex incredibly sexy, she still wouldn’t want to have any relationship with him.

  Brittany wasn’t sure she wanted children of her own. There was no way she’d want to take on somebody else’s. She still needed to work on herself and wouldn’t have the time or energy to deal with a grieving child.

  No, she would be happy to admire Alex’s taut body over the next couple of days but there wouldn’t be anything more between them, not that he’d made any sign that he was even remotely interested in her.

  Within twenty minutes everything was off the truck and stacked neatly on one side of the yard and Ed Burton drove away. Brittany was surprised when Buck Harmon and another young man appeared in the backyard.