“Good for you.” Satisfied, Ripley shifted to let Nell in. “He’s up on the back deck, brooding through his telescope and drinking a beer. But before you go up and say whatever you have to say to him, I’m going to tell you something. He could’ve looked into your background, picked the pieces apart. I would have. But he’s got standards, personal standards, so he didn’t.”

The guilt that had settled on her since he’d walked out her door took on more weight. “He would’ve considered that rude.”

“Right. I don’t mind being rude. So you square this with him, or deal with me.”

“Understood.”

“I like you, and I respect someone who takes care of business. But when you mess with a Todd, you don’t get off free. Fair warning.”

Ripley turned toward the stairs leading to the second floor. “Help yourself to a beer on the way through the kitchen. I’ve got to finish my reps.”

Nell skipped the beer, though she’d have relished a tall glass of ice water to ease the burn in her throat. She walked through the comfortably untidy living room, through the equally untidy kitchen, and took the outside steps up to the deck.

He sat in a big chair faded to gray by the weather, a bottle of Sam Adams nestled between his thighs and his scope tilted starward.

He knew she was there but didn’t acknowledge her. The scent of her was peaches and nerves.

“You’re angry with me, and I deserve it. But you’re too fair not to listen.”

“I might work my way up to fair by tomorrow. You’d be smarter to wait.”

“I’ll risk it.” She wondered if he knew how much it meant—how much he meant—that she would risk it. “I lied. I’ve lied often and I’ve lied well, and I’d do it again. The choice was between honesty and survival. For me, it still is, so I’m not going to tell you everything you need to know. Everything you deserve to know. I’m sorry.”

“If two people don’t trust each other, they’ve got no business being together.”

“That’s easy for you to say, Zack.”

When he shifted his gaze from the stars to hers, and the heat of it scorched her, she stepped closer. Her heart throbbed. She didn’t fear that he would strike her. But she did fear that he’d never want to touch her again.

“No, damn it, it is easy for you. You’ve got your place here. You’ve always had it, and you don’t have to question it, or fight for it.”

“If I’ve got a place,” he said in careful, measured tones, “I’ve had to earn it. The same as anyone.”