it is.” She glanced up at him, and once again he felt the impact of her unsettling gaze, the contrast of her almost black hair and her intensely blue eyes. She had been pretty when she was younger. Now she was stunning, and as he shook her hand, the loneliness that lingered since Denise’s death made him hold it longer than was proper.
“Glad you could make the funeral on time,” he said.
Her mouth curved in a faint smile and the ghost of a dimple appeared in one cheek.
“All thanks to you,” she said. “I appreciate getting out of the ticket.”
He frowned, glancing around. “Don’t say that too loud. I have a reputation to uphold.”
Jodie laughed, catching the attention of a few people. “Well, according to Shakespeare, reputation is a burden, got without merit and lost without deserving...or something like that.”
That made Finn smile. “Did you remember that or did you make that up?”
“Google it and find out.”
He held her eyes a moment, surprised at how easy it was to fall back into the give-and-take that had attracted him the first time he talked to her. Then he caught himself. He was at a funeral, and this was Jodie. A girl more like his absent mother than his beloved fiancée. How could he forget that?
“I also want to give you condolences from Sheriff Donnelly,” Finn continued, finally pulling his hand away. “He would have come but he was busy, so he asked me to represent him, as well. Donnelly always said your father was a good sheriff. Tough, but fair.”
Jodie’s smiled faded. “Yes. That was Dad. Keeping the world safe for carbon-based life forms.”
Finn wanted to smile at her quip, which was the same thing Keith McCauley had always said, but the bitterness in her voice quenched that. He didn’t know what to make of it.
“Anyway, I’m sure you and your sisters will have lots to deal with in the next few days,” he continued. “Will you be staying at the Rocking M, I mean your father’s ranch?”
“I will be for a couple of days. Hopefully we can get everything sorted out by then and I’ll be on my way,” Jodie said. She shifted her weight, as if moving away from him, and Finn got the hint. She hadn’t changed, he told himself. Jodie McCauley, on the move.
Ever since he’d watched her drive away a few hours ago, he’d found himself thinking of their past, of how Jodie had meant something to him.
When he was eighteen, it had taken him weeks to work up enough courage to ask out the daughter of his mentor, the sheriff.
He finally had and to his surprise she had accepted. They’d had a good time. He’d thought they’d connected. But she’d always insisted on meeting in Mercy, a small town thirty miles down the valley. Finn hadn’t liked sneaking around, but she’d been insistent.
On their dates they would talk about their plans for the future—he wanted to start his own ranch, she wanted to play piano professionally. They would share jokes, laugh and make other plans to meet.
He’d thought things were getting serious, but then she’d stood him up one night.
The next day he’d been shocked to see her in town. She was supposed to have been leaving for Maryland that morning for an audition for the Peabody Institute, a music conservatory. Instead, she’d been hanging on the arm of Jaden Woytuk, local bad boy, laughing about the bandage on her hand that kept slipping off.
Later Finn had found out she’d gone to a party at Jaden’s place the night of their date. She’d stood him up to hang out with that rough crowd.
The rest of the summer Jodie’s reputation as a wild girl just got worse. And when she’d left to go home to Knoxville, that was the last he’d seen of her.
Until today.
She stood by her sister now, talking with Monty and Ellen, from Refuge Ranch. Her smile softened her features and then, to his surprise, she glanced his way. Their eyes met and he felt again that old quiver of attraction.
“Finn Hicks. I need to talk to you.”
Finn dragged his attention away from Jodie to the man standing in front of him, a mug of coffee in one hand, a chocolate brownie in the other. Vic Moore was easily as tall as Finn, but blond where he was dark, his shoulders broader. And his face was the kind that Finn knew women found attractive, with slashing eyebrows framing deep-set eyes, full lips and a strong chin. Good thing he was like a brother to Finn or he might not like him as much as he did.
“Hey, Moore.” Finn poured himself some coffee, then grabbed a brownie, which would have to do until he could get a decent meal. “What can I do for you?”
“First off, good eulogy.”
“Thanks, though it didn’t seem to say enough. I’ll always be grateful for the support and guidance Keith gave me.”
“You had a good relationship with him.”
“I did. I’ll miss the guy.” Finn felt a touch of guilt. The past few years, he and Keith had drifted apart. Finn had gotten busier with his job as sheriff’s deputy and his growing business as a farrier and horse trainer.
“Do you have time to come over tomorrow and help me round up the horses I have pastured at Keith’s ranch?” Vic asked.
“Donnelly has me on a light schedule this week but I’ll figure it out.” For Finn, any time spent with horses was a good day.
“Dean and I hoped to do some riding,” Vic continued. “My brother needs some distraction, and the physiotherapist cleared him to ride. But I first have to get the horses together. I figured it would be best, now that Keith is gone, to get my horses off the ranch.”
“I’ll make it work.” Because he was still establishing his farrier and training business, Finn tried to fit in any potential job.
Suddenly he heard a burst of laughter, which was odd considering the circumstances, and sought out the source. Jodie stood beside Drake Neubauer, Keith’s lawyer, smiling at something he had just said.
“She’s even prettier than when she lived here, isn’t she?” Vic said.
Finn startled, feeling as if he’d been caught doing something illegal. “What do you mean?”
“Keith’s girl. Lauren.”
Guess Vic was too busy scoping out the older sister to notice Finn doing the same with Jodie.
“Yeah. She is,” he conceded. With her blond hair and blue eyes, Lauren reminded him of Denise, but the comparison ended with the stern lines on her face. Truth to tell, of the three sisters, Jodie had always intrigued him the most. The combination of her smart mouth and her troubled expression when he’d stopped her car today created a disconnect with the Jodie from his past, one that piqued his curiosity. She looked as if life had thrown her some hard curves since she’d left Saddlebank.
“Funny how those girls can be sisters, but each be so different,” Vic said, taking another sip of his coffee. “Jodie still seems to have that reckless air.”
