“So you want to give them a better shot at you? And maybe that’ll be what it is next time, a shot. I’m surprised they haven’t tried already, if this is big enough to set them on you five years later, just because you asked for help with an old file.”

“Excellent point,” Quinn said.

“So what am I supposed to do?” she asked. “Just hide in the house until...what, we figure out what that file’s about?”

“Excellent idea,” Adam said, echoing Quinn’s word.

“I won’t live like a prisoner,” she said, realizing she sounded almost sulky and a little foolish even as she said it. When she saw Adam’s mouth twitch slightly, she knew he was thinking exactly that. “Something you want to say?” she said with an edge in her voice.

“Just that your dad also said you could be a bit... obstinate when your mind was set on something.”

“Calling me stubborn?”

“That’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s the only thing that gets you through.”

At those words her irritation vanished. Because the truth of it rang in her mind, all the long, awful days when sheer determination had been the only thing that had allowed her to put one foot in front of the other. And what she hadn’t known until now, the kind of determination, and yes, stubbornness, that it must have taken for him to recover and adapt as well as he had, sparked that newly born admiration she’d found for him again.

And she smiled at him.

He looked surprised. No, more than that, he looked startled, and quickly shifted his gaze back to his now empty plate.

“I don’t think we need to resort to that yet,” Quinn said. “We’ll consider it when Hayley and I get back. In the meantime, Liam will be around—he’ll take the night watch, Adam, so you can stay here and focus on that file. And he’s got a Foxworth phone, so the red button will reach him live.”

Adam nodded, but he didn’t look up. Quinn went on.

“You’re probably going to have at least one deputy at least in the neighborhood on a regular basis, if I know Brett Dunbar. So more help won’t be quite so far away. Although Adam and Cutter are clearly capable of handling the likes of those two who showed up Monday night.”

Yes, they were. Amanda knew she’d never forget the feeling of relief that had flooded her when she’d realized they were coming, when she’d heard Cutter’s frightening snarl and seen Adam running straight for them.

“If this trip was anything else,” Quinn began.

“I understand. You absolutely have to be there for this wedding. And I’ll be fine,” Amanda assured him. She looked at Adam. He’s a good man. I trust him completely. “I have complete faith in that.”