“Let’s go in the kitchen.” She walked through the doorway, flipped the wall switch, and blinked at the bright overhead light. “You’re sure you’re all right?” She scanned him from blackened sneakers to bloodshot eyes.

Danny hacked again. “Fine.”

Mandy filled him a glass of water. “Here.”

“Thanks.” He downed half of the liquid. “Looks like I burned down Reed’s house with the woodstove, though I’m not sure how it happened. I need a place to stay.”

No.

She didn’t want him here. She wanted Danny to go home to Philadelphia so she could forget about Nathan and whoever didn’t want him found. A threat had followed Danny’s arrival. If he left, would that be the end of it? Could she go back to pretending to be normal? She wanted everything to go away, including the emotions and desire Danny stirred up inside of her. She couldn’t miss what she’d never had. But once she let that heat build, how would she go back to the cold?

She opened her mouth to tell him the inn was full. The door to the family quarters opened.

“Of course we have a room for you.” Leaning heavily on a cane, Mandy’s mother walked in. Pain lines around her eyes and the deliberation in her gait tightened Mandy’s chest.

“I’m sorry I woke you, Mrs. Brown.” Danny held out a hand.

“I wasn’t asleep.” Mandy’s mother took his hand in both of hers. Gratitude shone from her pale face. “You saved my daughter. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”

“I’m just glad I was there to help.” Danny smiled, but concern flashed across his face. He’d noticed her mother’s fragile appearance.

“Mom, why don’t you sit down?”

“I’m not an invalid, Mandy,” her mom protested, but she was two-handing the cane. She shuffled to the medicine cabinet, unlocked it, and squinted at a prescription bottle of pain pills. She swallowed a tablet with tap water and gave them a weak smile. “Please excuse me. I’m going to go back to bed. I’ll see you later, Danny. Let us know if you need anything. Mandy will take good care of you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Let’s get you checked in.” Mandy faked a smile and led Danny back into the foyer. At the registration desk, she pulled out a new guest card, slid it across the counter to him, and then booted up the inn’s laptop.

Danny filled out the empty boxes and handed her the card. “Is she all right?” he asked in a low voice.

She typed his name and address into the system. “My mother hasn’t been feeling well.”

“I hope it isn’t serious.”

Mandy tapped computer keys. “She had a heart attack over the winter.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. She’s on the mend?”