He stared at her, his mouth a little open. Then he just nodded, his mouth turning into a grim line.
He got in the driver’s seat and shut the door.
She folded her arms against herself and stepped back as the truck roared away, tires spraying gravel, until his taillights disappeared into the gathering dusk.
Fine.Whatever.
Really. She was doing fine on her own, thank you very much.
But she stared at the pewter gray sky and wished she wasn’t lying to herself.
“STOP LOOKINGat me that way.” Jericho glanced at Orlando in the front seat, the way the dog kept eyeing him, with those sad brown eyes. “I know I’m a jerk, okay?”
He should turn the truck around—and it only occurred to him then that he’d abandoned his brother at the scene about three miles down the road.
He’d been impulsive and angry and ... scared.
But okay, maybe his words had stirred up from a truth inside—she didn’t need him to protect her.
But that wasn’t how he was built.
Snow peeled from the sky by the time Jericho pulled into the resort drive, fat flakes catching in the headlights. He sat there, engine running, staring at nothing. Orlando whined, nose pressed against the window.
Overhead, the sky had darkened—they’d have fresh snow on the mountain tomorrow. Light spilled from the kitchen window of the lodge.
The urge to run pulsed through him. Wow, he was eighteen again. He banged his hand on his steering wheel, then got out.
Orlando followed him, then ran ahead to the kitchen as Jericho pulled off his boots.
“You guys get the boiler fixed?” Sully stood at the stove when Jericho walked in, frying up what looked like venison burgers.
Kennedy mashed potatoes at the counter, the smell reaching out to pull him the rest of the way into the kitchen.
Jericho went to the fridge and opened the door, found Orlando’s food. Then he filled his bowl.
Orlando chomped it down.
“Yeah,” Jericho said. He walked into the small half bath off the kitchen to wash his hands.“I can’t watch this. I can’tdo this.”
He stared at himself in the mirror, shook his head.
She’d looked stripped as he drove away.
Great job,Jer.
He grabbed a towel, wiped his hands, then came out of the bathroom.
“Hud called. Asked if you were all right.” Sully plated the burgers and grabbed a bag of buns. “Want to talk about it?”
Jericho slid onto a booth. “Did he mention that he was at a crime scene? Pete Barrow is dead. Harley found him.”
Kennedy put the bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. “She okay?”
“Yes.” His word emerged clipped. “Fine.”
She raised an eyebrow and glanced at her husband.
Sully brought the burgers, now nestled into buns, over to the table. “And that’s ... a bad thing?”