She realized then how little she’d known him six years ago. They’d both coasted along on attraction without digging deeper to see the real people underneath. Was he finally ready to share something about himself?

“I’m surprised a tragedy like that could remain a secret for so long.” Especially given the public interest in Alonzo Salazar over the past few months since his authorship of the bestselling novel had been revealed.

“It shouldn’t have been such a secret.” He gave her fingers a light squeeze before leading her into the house and closing the door behind them. “It’s been one of my deepest regrets in life that my father threw his political clout and money around to ensure that the story of Zachary Eldridge’s death didn’t cast a shadow on us or the Dowdon School, even though all six of the Mesa Falls partners were with him when he died.”

The bitterness in his voice was unmistakable.

“What happened?” she asked, letting Gage remove her coat, even as she realized he’d used the task to tuck behind her so his face was hidden from view. And she couldn’t blame him. Even hearing about it—about a person she didn’t know—chilled her to the core. At least his fingers provided a welcome warmth as they brushed her shoulders.

Gage led her into the sunken great room, switching on the fireplace before pulling her onto the twill sofa cushions with him. He sat forward on the seat, elbows on his knees as he looked into the flames.

“The seven of us were on a horseback riding trip. Our school had stables. We’d taken the horses out longer than we were supposed to—overnight—being rebels and not caring what kind of trouble we got into. Zach had been mysterious all week about some drama in his life, saying he needed us to ‘man up’ and be there for him.”

Elena edged closer, laying her hand on his upper arm. Stroking lightly. “What was the drama?”

“Who knows? We didn’t really ask straight-out at first. We just drank stolen hooch and forgot our collective worries, riding deeper and deeper into the mountains until we were mostly lost, but in a good way.”

She tried to imagine Gage as a rebellious teenager, before he’d diverted all of that energy into finance. After seeing the posh, fussy home of the Striker family in New Zealand, it was easy to see that his big, expansive personality would have been stifled there. She remembered him saying that his father had sent him to school in the States specifically so Gage wouldn’t embarrass their family.

“Did you ever ask? Even when you stopped for the night?”