“I suppose it does.”
“Is that a yes?” The cab was pulling up to the curb in front of the terminal.
“It’s a yes. And I plan to hold you to it.” She flung her arms around him for a long, passionate kiss. “Call me tonight, okay?”
With that, she climbed out of the cab, retrieved her suitcase, and, with a wave and a smile, vanished into the terminal. Sam settled back for the ride to the next terminal, a smile on his freshly kissed lips. Jasmine was passionate,generous, impulsive, and a trifle spoiled. Life with her was bound to have its ups and downs. But it would never be dull.
Lila hugged her daughter goodbye and watched her board the Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Fort Worth. Gemma had been a devoted nurse, but she was eager to get back to school. Except for a slight pang of motherly regret, Lila was not sorry to see her go.
Lila’s own flight to Abilene, where she’d left her car, wouldn’t be boarding for another couple of hours. She took her time walking down the concourse to the numbered gate. As she settled into a seat, a wave of exhaustion swept over her. The past week had been an emotional roller coaster—first the incident with the trailer and Millie’s tragic loss, then the attack on Gemma, Darrin’s death, and the shocking resolution to Frank’s murder. Would there ever be an end to it all?
She’d hoped to be with Roper, celebrating One in a Million’s flawless second-place performance. But Roper was so devastated by his mother’s arrest that nothing else seemed to matter—not even the proof of his own innocence. Celebrations would come, but no time soon.
If Roper was crushed, his family—brothers, sister, and invalid father—would be equally stricken. For her, she realized, being there for Roper would mean being there for all of them. She would open her home and her heart to the McKennas. When she married Roper, they would become her family, too.
Mariah wouldn’t be happy about that. Lila remembered their conversation and the cook’s threat to quit the first time a McKenna set foot in the house. Now the time was at hand. Soon Lila would know whether Mariah’s threat had been a serious one.
Calling ahead might be wise. That would give Mariah time to prepare for the changes. If she chose to leave, that would be her decision. But hopefully she just needed a reminder that she wasn’t the one in charge.
Lila scrolled her phone to the house number and placed the call. The phone rang several times and went to voicemail. That was fine, Lila told herself. Leaving a message would be less confrontational than speaking with Mariah directly.
At the tone, she began to speak.
“Mariah, I’m at the airport now. I’ll be home tonight. There’ll be no need to fix anything for me. But tomorrow I want to take some food to the McKennas and maybe have them over later for a meal. They’ve lost their mother, and they’re going to need our support and friendship.
“You’ve expressed your feelings about this issue, and I understand. But if you’ll do your job without complaint and give the McKennas the respect they deserve, I’m prepared to offer you a twenty percent raise in salary. We can discuss this tomorrow after breakfast. There’ll be some changes ahead, but I hope you can accommodate them with good grace. We’ll talk later.”
Mariah replayed Lila’s voice message, her expression hardening into a determined scowl. So that’s how it was to be. The line had been drawn. She could accept the new conditions or leave.
None of this came as a surprise. She’d expected it—even the offer of money. She’d hoped to have more time to prepare, but it was what it was.
She’d spent the past few days cleaning the house from top to bottom, polishing every surface to a gleam. It was a final act of love for the home that had been hers, yet never hers, much like its owner. For years, this place had beenher pride and joy—the Culhane house, the finest in the county. But those days were over. The Culhanes as a family were no more. When Lila remarried, which was bound to happen, even the name would be gone.
It was time.
She finished packing her suitcase and carried it out to her car. It surprised her, the small number of possessions that were worth taking. She had money in the bank. She could buy whatever she needed and go anywhere she chose.
Only one thing remained to be done.
Starting with the master suite upstairs, she visited each room. In either hand, she carried a can of gasoline. Walking swiftly but carefully, she spilled enough of the flammable liquid on carpets and furniture to leave a trail behind her, all through the house.
The trail ended on the front porch.
After moving her car to a safe distance, Mariah struck a match and touched it to the gasoline. She stepped back to watch as the flame caught, flared, and raced through the open front door into the house.
Within minutes, the Culhane mansion had become a roaring inferno. By then, Mariah was in her car, driving up the road.
She didn’t look back.
EPILOGUE
Late April, eight months later
The northern Wyoming prairie swept like a vast sea of grass on both sides of Cheyenne’s new Ford F-250 truck. Swards of fresh native green, dotted with early-spring wildflowers, rippled in the cool morning breeze. Northbound flocks of migrating ducks and geese etched their V-shaped formations across the azure sky. In the distance, forested hills rose above the prairie, topped by the rugged Bighorn Mountains.
Cheyenne touched the brake as a family of pronghorn antelope bounded across the road and flashed out of sight. She had seen deer, elk, coyotes, and bison since starting out from Casper after breakfast. But she still had a long drive ahead of her—north on Highway 25 all the way to Buffalo, then a sharp right and a sixty-mile drive through the mountains to Ten Sleep and her new home.
In the eight months since she’d decided to join Buck in Wyoming, she’d done a lot of growing up. During that time, the two of them had exchanged countless texts and phone calls, and Buck had even managed a few visits when he was competing at horse events in Texas. By now, theywere comfortable together, and their passion was as strong as ever. She felt secure in her decision to start a new life in a new setting with the man she loved.