Hank sat on the old couch, watching her, decided he’d give her a chance to dig a deeper hole for herself.

Then he’d pounce.

He wasn’t sure of much when it came to the lovely Dr. Winter, but he knew whatever was wrong, it wasn’t just him, it wasn’t just his friendship with the man who’d pulled the rug out from under her sister. They were a part of why she hadn’t confided in him, perhaps, but he doubted they were much more than that. Still, he knew he had to proceed cautiously. Antonia was a woman used to dealing with her problems on her own. He was aware of the baggage he carried. There had been days, many days, when he’d thought he’d break under the weight of it, but he hadn’t. And he wouldn’t.

He’d been attracted to Antonia the minute he’d met her in Cold Ridge last fall, but Tyler’s subsequent behavior toward Carine had put a damper on their own budding romance. When they started seeing each other again a few months ago, he’d never meant to go beyond having a drink and raking Ty over the coals with her—he’d had a family once. A wife, a daughter. He’d loved them with all his soul and didn’t think he wanted to make that kind of commitment again. Have fun with Antonia. Enjoy her company. Keep his emotions on the surface. Don’t go deep, he’d told himself a thousand times.

But here he was, with her because she was in trouble—because, he thought, he was already in deep with her.

“You’ve left out a few details of this island vacation of yours, haven’t you?” he asked.

“I’m working on a difficult article. I needed solitude.”

“Medical journal articles make you jumpy and pale? It’s not me, is it?”

She shook her head, rinsing off a plate. “No.”

He knew it wasn’t but thought it was a way to get her talking. But she didn’t go any further, and after a moment, Hank gave up. “Carine thinks you’re more like Gus and Nate.” Their uncle was an outfitter and guide in the White Mountains, their brother a U.S. Marshal in New York. “You like the thrill of adventure.”

“My life’s much more ordinary than Carine thinks it is.”

“Everyone’s life is more ordinary than Carine thinks.”

Antonia wiped her hands on a ragged dish towel. “That’s because she only has a theoretical idea of what an ordinary life is, never having lived one herself. She’ll survive Tyler North—she is surviving him. She was so in love with him, though.”

“She’ll never admit it. She thinks she was possessed by demons.”