“Or work whatever the trouble is to your advantage,” the gruff voice said.

Slatter grinned and shook his head when he turned to see his longtime friend, Devin, approach. They’d been friends forever and if he trusted anyone the most it was Devin. He was a big, burly Scot with features so plain that they would never catch and steal a woman’s heart, which was why everyone wondered how Devin snagged the sweet, tiny May as his wife.

Devin pulled Slatter into a hug and gave him a slap on the back, then looked to Walcott with a grin that spread from ear to ear. “I see you’re still your usual smiling self.”

Walcott shook his head. “When you’re done taunting me, please talk some sense into him.” He pointed to Slatter.

“First, what are you doing here?’ Slatter asked.

“A visit to see how things go,” Devin said.

“Not as I’d like,” Slatter admitted.

“He has a wife,” Walcott announced.

Devin’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “Did you say wife?”

Walcott nodded. “I did. He wed one of the Macardle sisters.”

Devin looked to Slatter. “With Sorrell wed to Lord Ruddock that leaves either Willow or Snow. Don’t tell me you wed the blind one.”

Walcott answered with a shake of his head.

“Willow then.” Devin shrugged. “I heard she has become a good healer, following her mum’s path, sensible too. But you know it can’t work. Why ever did you wed her in the first place?”

“It was either that or let Beck keep her,” Walcott said and went on to explain the whole ordeal to him.

“Naked, you say, in a hole in the ground with her?” Devin asked with a laugh. “However, do you get yourself into these things?”

“Fate hates me,” Slatter said and Devin laughed harder. Walcott didn’t crack a smile.

“Then my original advice holds. Use this unforeseen union to your advantage,” Devin said.

“She is an innocent in this, I won’t use her,” Slatter said adamantly, leaving no room for negotiation.

“Then if she is no use to you, be rid of her, unless…” Devin let his unfinished remark hang in the air.

“What are you implying, Devin?” Slatter asked with a touch of annoyance.

Not averse to sharing his opinion, Devin said, “Maybe your wife means more to you than you want to admit.”

“I barely know her,” Slatter snapped.

“You were naked in a hole in the ground with her. I’d say you got to know her well enough,” Devin said with a chuckle.

“I’ve had enough,” Slatter said. “I will not discuss Willow with either of you.”

“That’s not an option, my friend, and you know it,” Devin said. “This has to be resolved and quickly. You need to concentrate on finding him. This mess has gone on far too long.”

“I almost had him,” Slatter said and looked away, shaking his head, annoyed he had failed.

“Let’s discuss it and see what might be done,” Devin suggested.