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Chapter Two
Carrie Palmer planted her shoulder against the back door of her cold-treats shop and, with a grunt, gave it a good shove. The latch could be tricky and required a certain touch. Humidity always caused the solid wood door to swell. It was August in south-central Texas, with the threat of rain hanging in the air. She twisted the key and listened for the snick of the lock.
The heat combined with a successful annual week-long festival had brought another day of fantastic sales to Carrie’s Cold Treats. Aside from an annoying festival worker who seemed bent on dating her, this year’s AquaPlay Festival and Cattle Run had gone off without a hitch. People were laughing again, and everyone in Cattle Barge needed the distraction. The town could use a sense of normalcy after being turned upside down for the past couple of weeks following the murder of a prominent family’s patriarch, Mike Butler, a.k.a. Maverick Mike.
The man who was notorious for living large and on his own terms had made national news after being found gunned down on his beloved ranch.
Every time she thought about his son, Dade, her heart squeezed. She’d heard that he’d been discharged from the military recently and had only been in town a few weeks. She could only imagine what her childhood friend was going through. Not only had his father been killed in a bizarre manner that had caused a media frenzy and an attempt had been made on his sister’s life, but an adult child no one had known about had been summoned to town, bringing with her a murderous ex-boyfriend. Carrie shuddered, because after her recent breakup with Brett Strawn had blown up, he’d made terrible threats—threats she knew in her heart he couldn’t mean. Before she would’ve chalked them up to him being emotional, a temporary reaction to the disappointment of a relationship ending. Now, she worried.
With Brett, it probably was just the heat of the moment that had him saying words she knew he’d regret when he had some time to think about them. And yet her problem was nothing in comparison to Dade’s. Her heart went out to him as she watched his worst nightmares play out in the news, wishing she had some way to contact him. Even at nine years old, he’d had the most serious blue eyes beneath thick, curly, sandy-blond hair.
Theirs had been an unlikely friendship. His family was one of the most prominent in Texas, while she had no parents, moving from group home to a distant relative’s house and then back into foster care through the early part of her life. Funny how little kids never noticed how much or how little money another kid’s family had. Interesting how much that changed later in life. By the time she’d returned to the same high school after being relocated and bounced in and out of another home, everything had changed. Dade had grown into his athletic frame. He’d become popular and, outside of a few glances in her direction, she was sure he didn’t even remember her name.
It was dark outside. She normally closed at dusk, but the AquaPlay Festival broke down at sunset and she’d agreed to stay open late to accommodate all the children not quite ready to wind down on a summer night. At least her business was working for her, even though it seemed like everything else in her life was standing on shaky ground. She’d hoped to find a home in returning to Cattle Barge to open her store. But she felt just as much an outsider here as she had everywhere else she’d lived since college.
The overwhelming feeling that someone was watching caught Carrie off guard. This feeling was a little too familiar since her relationship with Brett had ended a couple of weeks ago, and she often thought she could feel him watching her.
She tried to shake it off, figuring her heightened emotions had to do with the breakup, the words that had been spoken out of anger. And the dozens of apology texts that she had yet to read all the way through, let alone answer.
“Beautiful night,” a male voice boomed from behind, startling her. He was close, and she hadn’t heard him walk up.
“What are you doing back here, Nash?” A chill raced through her and her fingers tightened around her key ring as she pulled the key out of the lock. She whirled around and had to back up against the wooden door to put some space between her and the tall, thick-around-the-middle festival worker. He brought his hand up against the door, trapping her on one side. His long hair was soaked with sweat after breaking down and loading up the rides. He wore a stained tank top underneath a button-up denim shirt that had half the sleeves cut off. Threads frayed over thick forearms used to lifting heavy equipment.
“Festival’s over. Thought you might like to spend some time together before I leave town.” The smell of alcohol on his breath assaulted her as he leaned closer. She held her breath. He’d stopped by three times over the course of the weekend to ask her out. Each time she’d declined. She’d been crystal clear. There was no doubt in her mind that he hadn’t somehow misinterpreted her
