The truth was, she needed to get over her anger at him. Whether she liked it or not, her parents were going to be working with him. If Mike acted like a temper-tantrum-throwing toddler and refused to deal with him, it would be unpleasant for everyone. She could hear Vera now. “Do you think I’ve liked even half the jerks I’ve had to work with? And I’m not including the despots I’ve had to interview. You suck it up and get on with the job!”

Mike didn’t want to think how Hayes would view this. Certainly as a betrayal. But her father’s advice, to not plead for forgiveness, came to her. For a second, she thought of her and Hayes. Is this what love was? To make yourself over to what the person you loved wanted you to be?

“Are you okay?” Griff asked.

“Sure. I’d like to see the carnival, too.” She stood up. “I’ll see you there. Lock the door. Strangers are in town today.”

Before he could say anything, she was out the door and he heard her Jeep start.

Griff stayed there for a moment, looking around the long, narrow room. It was obvious that one side was for Miguel and the other for Vera. He envied them. All his travels were alone, or with a temporary crew. When the job was over, he went back to his hotel or camp or wherever, alone. Of course there’d been women in his life, but none of them could stand the way he lived. They wanted a man who’d be with them every day. Backyard barbecues. Kids’ birthday parties. All the normal things.

When Griff had started researching, he’d assumed Vera Exton’s daughter, who’d lived most of her life in Kansas, would be like other women. But when he’d seen the dates that Vera had done dangerous investigations, it hit him that her daughter must have been with them. It had been exciting to think there was a young woman who knew what was needed to get a true story. He began to think that maybe he and this woman could work together.

But that didn’t appear to be true. She wanted exactly what other women did. That’s why she had a boyfriend like Hayes. Griff could imagine the future between Hayes and Michaela: big house, three kids, cocktail parties on the lawn.

When he’d first seen Mike, he was astonished at the sexual attraction he’d felt for her. He hadn’t counted on that. He’d seen a few photos of her but they didn’t convey the energy that came from her. Her with that bow! She was magnificent.