Was that a loaded question? “No.”

Excitement building, Mandy went out to the garage and entered through the side door. The two-car space was crowded with sporting equipment stored for guest use. Snowshoes, cross-country skis, and croquet sets were stored in tubs along the wall. Fly rods and reels hung above them. Mandy tripped. She righted herself with a hand on a wooden shelf and glanced down. The ugly pot of flowers and odd branch huddled behind a horseshoe set. Goosebumps rose on her biceps. Who had put those in the garage?

Danny. Had to be. She hadn’t told Jed about the flowers.

She rubbed her arms and turned away. One afternoon. That’s all she was asking. One afternoon to recharge. Maybe if she cleared her head for the next few hours, she’d think of other options to deal with the mess her life had become.

And figure out how to identify her blackmailer.

The tall cabinet that held her personal outdoor gear stood in the rear corner. Mandy twirled the combination lock and opened the doors. She selected two rods, grabbed her fly box and a few other odds and ends, and loaded it all into the back of her wagon. By the time she’d finished, Danny came out the back door, cooler in hand. With a wistful glance at his convertible, he climbed into the passenger seat.

Mandy started the engine. “No offense, but your car doesn’t look like it would handle going off-road.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t. The car is more sentimental than practical. My brother Conor and I rebuilt it together when I was in high school.”

“Sounds like you two are close.”

“We are. He and Pat, he’s the oldest, tried to fill in for my parents as best they could.”

Danny’s life had been filled with hardship, too. No easy road for him or his siblings. But the Sullivans seemed determined to bask in whatever sunlight they could find during the lulls in the darkness. She envied their strength and their bond.

Could Mandy learn to squeeze lemonade out of the rotten fruit life threw at her?

She drove out of town. With all the work that waited and all the happenings, was she crazy to be taking a day off? And spending it with Danny, no less. The one man she should be avoiding. But instead of doing what she should, she was driving off into the woods alone with him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Danny got out of the car. Mandy had parked at the end of a rutted lane of weeds and dirt. The rush of water dominated the soundscape, with a backdrop of chirps, tweets, and rustles. Twenty yards in front of the car, the river swept through the forest. Clumps of boulders ranging in size from basketball to Buick broke up the flow. Water eddied around them in frothy swirls.