Note to Readers
The moment Fiona found the letter in the bottom of Chase’s sock drawer, she knew it was bad news. Fear squeezed the breath from her as her heart beat so hard against her rib cage that she thought she would pass out. Grabbing the bureau for support, she told herself it might not be what she thought it was.
But the envelope was a pale lavender, and the handwriting was distinctly female. Worse, Chase had kept the letter a secret. Why else would it be hidden under his socks? He hadn’t wanted her to see it because it was from that other woman.
Now she wished she hadn’t been snooping around. She’d let herself into his house with the extra key she’d had made. She’d felt him pulling away from her the past few weeks. Having been here so many times before, she was determined that this one wasn’t going to break her heart. Nor was she going to let another woman take him from her. That’s why she had to find out why he hadn’t called, why he wasn’t returning her messages, why he was avoiding her.
They’d had fun the night they were together. She’d felt as if they had something special, although she knew the next morning that he was feeling guilty. He’d said he didn’t want to lead her on. He’d told her that there was some woman back home he was still in love with. He’d said their night together was a mistake. But he was wrong, and she was determined to convince him of it.
What made it so hard was that Chase was a genuinely nice guy. You didn’t let a man like that get away. The other woman had. Fiona wasn’t going to make that mistake even though he’d been trying to push her away since that night. But he had no idea how determined she could be, determined enough for both of them that this wasn’t over by a long shot.
It wasn’t the first time she’d let herself into his apartment when he was at work. The other time, he’d caught her and she’d had to make up some story about the building manager letting her in so she could look for her lost earring.
She’d snooped around his house the first night they’d met—the same night she’d found his extra apartment key and had taken it to have her own key made in case she ever needed to come back when Chase wasn’t home.
The letter hadn’t been in his sock drawer that time.
That meant he’d received it since then. Hadn’t she known he was hiding something from her? Why else would he put this letter in a drawer instead of leaving it out along with the bills he’d casually dropped on the table by the front door?
Because the letter was important to him, which meant that she had no choice but to read it.
Her heart compressed into a hard knot as she carefully lifted out the envelope. The handwriting made her pulse begin to roar in her ears. The woman’s handwriting was very neat, very precise. She hated her immediately. The return address confirmed it. The letter was from the woman back in Montana that Chase had told her he was still in love with.
Mary Cardwell Savage, the woman who’d broken Chase’s heart and one of the reasons that the cowboy had ended up in Arizona. Her friend Patty told her all about him. Chase worked for her husband, Rick. That’s how she and Chase had met, at a party at their house.
What struck her now was the date on the postmark. Her vision blurred for a moment. Two weeks ago? Anger flared inside her again. That was right after their night together. About the same time that he’d gotten busy and didn’t have time, he said, to date or even talk. What had this woman said in her letter? Whatever it was, Fiona knew it was the cause of the problem with her and Chase.
Her fingers trembled as she carefully opened the envelope flap and slipped out the folded sheet of pale lavender paper. The color alone made her sick to her stomach. She sniffed it, half expecting to smell the woman’s perfume.
There was only a faint scent, just enough to be disturbing. She listened for a moment, afraid Chase might come home early
