just try to get through each day.” She sat silent for a moment. “It still seems so unreal. I’ll never forget the day I received that phone call from the Louisiana authorities telling me that Ruth and Michael’s plane had crashed into Lake Pontchartrain.”
Cole nodded. “I know. Michael had been so excited about taking Ruth on that weekend trip to New Orleans. I couldn’t believe it ended so tragically. What’s the latest with the investigation?”
She sighed and rubbed her hands over her eyes. “Nothing. They found the plane, but Ruth’s and Michael’s bodies weren’t inside. No one has been able to find any trace of them. I had thought...maybe once we found them and had a funeral, I could get some closure. But now—” Her last words ended on a sob, and he reached out and grasped her hand.
“Don’t think about that, Holly. Just be thankful the twins weren’t with them.”
She brushed the tears from her cheeks and straightened her shoulders. “You’re right. I thank God every day that the twins were with me in Nashville for that weekend. If they’d been on that plane, they would have died, too. But I’m also thankful that Ruth and Michael had me in their will to be guardian if anything happened to both of them.” Her eyes teared up again. “But who would have thought they’d die together?”
A sharp pang pierced his heart at the thought of Michael Whitson, his best friend ever since he could remember, and Michael’s pretty wife, Ruth. He’d often wondered what they’d experienced when they knew their plane was going down. He swallowed and cleared his throat.
“When they recovered the plane, could they tell the cause of the crash?”
Holly shook her head. “No. The plane didn’t have a black box to record anything, and they couldn’t detect anything wrong with it. They haven’t released the official findings, but I’ve been told they’re leaning toward pilot error.”
“What?” Cole exclaimed. “Michael was the most thorough pilot I’ve ever known.”
“I know. It just seems so unreal. In the meantime, I’m trying to take care of the twins and prepare for my tour that’s coming up this fall.”
“Getting this place ready to sell must be another load of responsibility on top of that. Why bother with it now?”
“Maintaining the ranch when I don’t live here would be a bigger responsibility. Something has to go, so it’s going to be the ranch. I live three hundred miles away, and I’m too busy to keep things running here.”
A flash of anger flared in him, and he pushed to his feet. “Yeah, I know. When you left Jackson Springs, you left for good. Now, with Ruth and Michael gone, there’s nothing here for you anymore.”
She rose and faced him. “I cut my ties with this place ten years ago.”
The look on her face defused his anger, and he let out a long breath. “Yeah, you did. I guess I know that more than anybody, Holly. I’m sorry if I let old memories intrude on an official police call. I promise I won’t do that again.” He slipped the notepad back in his pocket. “Our department will do whatever it takes to keep you safe while you’re here.” He stopped and frowned. “It just dawned on me. You’re here alone. Where is your security team? And your personal assistant?”
“I needed to get away from the press and just spend a few days by myself going through everything and deciding what needs to be kept for Emma and Ethan. I thought I could slip into town and fly under the radar without my security team. Mrs. Green, Ruth’s housekeeper, has been helping me out with the children. My assistant is in Knoxville visiting with her family.”
“We’ll try to keep your presence under wraps, but it’s clear now that someone knows you’re here. Also, our report will be public record, so I imagine paparazzi will show up here tomorrow. Better get your security people on the job as soon as possible.”
She nodded. “Thanks, Cole. I’ll do that.”
He wanted to say something else to her, but he couldn’t find the words. Finally, he turned and headed for the door. Before he walked out, he turned to her. “Lock up well before you go to bed, and keep your cell phone handy in case your visitor comes back. I’ll have patrol drive by here throughout the night to keep an eye out. You can call nine-one-one if you need anything.”
He started to head to the door, but she called out to him. “Cole, it was good to see you again.”
He wanted to turn back to her and tell her the same, but he couldn’t. The words she’d spoken ten years ago were burned in his mind. She’d broken his heart and walked away as if he meant nothing to her.
Now all he could do was nod. Then he opened the door and walked out into the night. He stood on the porch after he’d closed the door on her—just as she had done when she tossed aside the love they shared and walked away from him.
He didn’t think he could ever forgive her for that.
An hour later, the last police car had left, and Holly locked the door. She used to feel safe in this house, but that was when she was a child and her parents were still alive. Now, with Ruth gone, too, the house was a sad reminder of what had once been a happy home. She doubted if she would ever experience the feeling again that she’d had growing up here.
The house she’d bought in Nashville had proved to be just that—a house, not a home—since she was seldom there. She had a maid, a cook and a gardener who took care of everything, and sometimes it seemed more like a hotel than a place where she belonged. Then there was her security team who hovered over her everywhere she went and a driver who was well trained in tactical driving that helped to avoid fans intent on following her.
At the thought of her security team, she grimaced. Bert Conley, the head of the team, had been upset that she’d insisted on going to Jackson Springs by herself. He’d wanted to send some men with her, but she’d refused. Now she wished she’d given in. At least she wouldn’t have felt so alone.
Thoughts of Cole hit her, and she closed her eyes. She hadn’t expected to see him tonight. Of course, Ruth had told her that he was now a detective with the sheriff’s department, but she was surprised that he’d come instead of letting someone else take the report.
For a few minutes, she stood there thinking about the man she’d known ever since she could remember. Cole Jackson, whose ancestors had founded Jackson Springs in the early 1800s, had been a part of her life since he declared himself her boyfriend in first grade. Through the years, that bond had grown into love that came into full bloom during high school.
Everybody in town had expected them to get married as soon as they graduated, but she’d had other plans. The country-music band that she and Cole had started had whetted her appetite for something bigger than local one-night gigs, and she’d wanted them to go to Nashville and try to make it. Cole, however, had no interest in leaving Jackson Springs. He had told her he expected to spend all his life there. That was when she knew they had different goals for the future, and she’d left to make it on her own.
And make it she had. Now she was at the top of the charts and booked on another tour. All she had to do was keep convincing herself that she’d gotten what she wanted. She’d thought she had, until Ruth’s death made her realize how important family was. She missed her sister
