“You sound bitter.

“Why, because I dont confuse sex and love? Nick didnt consider himself bitter, just uninterested. As far as he was concerned, there was no payoff in love. Just a lot of wasted time and emotion.

“Maybe youve never been in love. She pressed her hand into his fly. “Maybe youll fall in love with me.

Nick chuckled deep within his chest. “Dont count on it.

Chapter Two

The morning after the funeral, Delaney slept late and narrowly escaped a meeting of the Charitable Society of Truly, the small towns equivalent of the Junior League. Shed hoped to lie around the house all afternoon and spend some time with her mother before leaving that evening to meet her best friend from high school, Lisa Collins. The two had plans to meet at Morts Bar for a night of margaritas and gossip.

But Gwen had different plans for Delaney. “Id like you to stay for the meeting, Gwen said as soon as she walked into the kitchen, looking like a catalog model dressed in powder blue silk. A slight wrinkle furrowed her brow as she glanced at Delaneys shoes. “Were hoping to buy new playground equipment for Larkspur Park, and I think you could help us come up with creative ways to raise money.

Delaney would rather chew on tinfoil than get sucked into attending one of her mothers boring meetings. “I have plans, she lied, and spread strawberry preserves onto a toasted bagel. She was twenty-nine but still couldnt bring herself to purposely disappoint her mother.

“What plans?

“Im meeting a friend for lunch. She leaned her behind against the cherrywood island and bit into her bagel.

Tiny creases settled in the corners of Gwens blue eyes. “Youre going into town looking like that?

Delaney glanced down at her white sleeveless sweater, her black jean shorts, and the thin patent leather straps of her Hercules sandals with the rubber wedgie soles. Shed dressed conservatively, but maybe her shoes were slightly different by small-town standards. She didnt care; she loved them. “I like what Im wearing, she said, feeling like a nine-year-old again. She didnt like the feeling, but it reminded her of the biggest reason why she planned to leave Truly quickly the following afternoon after Henrys will was read.

“Ill take you shopping next week. Well drive down to Boise and spend the day at the mall. Gwen smiled with genuine pleasure. “Now that youre home again, we can go at least once a month.

There it was. Gwens assumption that Delaney would be moving back to Truly now that Henry was dead. But Henry Shaw hadnt been the only reason Delaney kept at least an entire state between herself and Idaho.

“I dont need anything, Mother, she said and polished off her breakfast. If she stayed more than a few days, there wasnt a doubt in her mind that Gwen would have her in Liz Claiborne and turn her into a respectable member of the Charitable Society. Shed grown up wearing clothes she didnt like and pretending to be someone she wasnt just to please her parents. Shed killed herself to make honor roll in school, and shed never so much as received a fine on a library book. Shed grown up the mayors daughter. That meant shed had to be perfect.

“Arent those shoes uncomfortable?

Delaney shook her head. “Tell me about the fire, she said, purposely changing the subject. Since shed arrived in Truly, shed learned very little of what had actually happened the night of Henrys death. Her mother was reluctant to talk about it, but now that the funeral was over, Delaney pressed for information.

Gwen sighed and reached for the butter knife Delaney had used to spread preserves. The heels of her blue pumps clicked on the red brick tiles as she moved toward the kitchen sink. “I dont know anything more now than I did when I called you last Monday. She set down the knife then gazed out the big window above the sink. “Henry was in his tack shed and it caught on fire. Sheriff Crow told me they think it started in a pile of linseed rags hed left by an old space heater. Gwens voice wavered as she spoke.

Delaney moved toward her mother and put her arm around Gwens shoulders. She looked out at the backyard, at the boat dock swaying on gentle waves, and asked the question shed been afraid to voice, “Do you know if he suffered very much?

“I dont think so, but I dont want to know if he did. I dont know how long he lived or if God was merciful and he died before the flames got to him. I didnt ask. Everything that has happened this past week has been hard enough. She paused to clear her throat. “Ive had so much to do, and I dont like to think about it.

Delaney turned her gaze to her mother, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt a connection to the woman whod given her life. They were so different, but in this, they were the same. Despite his faults, they had both loved Henry Shaw.

“Im sure your friends would understand if you canceled your meeting today. If youd like, Ill call them for you.

Gwen turned her attention to Delaney and shook her head. “I have responsibilities, Laney. I cant put my life on hold forever.

Forever ? Henry had been dead less than a week, buried less than twenty-four hours. She dropped her hand from her mothers shoulders, feeling the connection snap. “Im going outside for a bit, she said, and walked out the back door before she could give in to the disappointment. A late morning breeze rustled the quaking aspen, filling the pine-scented air with the whisper of leaves. She took a deep breath and moved across the back patio.

Disappointment seemed the best word to describe her family. Theyd lived a facade, and as a result, theyd been doomed to disappoint one another. A long time ago shed come to terms with the fact that her mother was superficial, far more concerned with appearance than substance. And Delaney had accepted that Henry was an over-the-top control freak. When shed behaved as Henry expected, hed been a wonderful father. Hed given her his time and attention, taken her and her friends boating or camping in the Sawtooths, but the Shaws had lived a life of reprimand and reward, and shed always felt disappointed that everything, even love, had been conditional.

Delaney walked past a towering Ponderosa to the large dog run on the edge of the back lawn. Two brass name plates tacked above the door of the kennel declared the Weimaraners inside were Duke and Dolores.

“Arent you pretty babies? she cooed, touching their smooth noses through the chain link and talking to them as if they were lap dogs. Delaney loved dogs, having been raised with Dolores and Dukes predecessors, Clark and Clara. But these days, she moved too often to have a goldfish, let alone a real pet. “Poor pretty babies all penned up. The Weimaraners licked her fingers, and she lowered to one knee. The dogs were well-groomed, and since theyd belonged to Henry, no doubt well-trained. Their long brown faces and sad blue eyes silently begged her to set them free. “I know how you feel, she said. “I used to be trapped here, too. Duke let loose with a pitiful whine that tugged at Delaneys sympathetic heart. “Okay, but dont go out of the yard, she said as she stood.

The kennel door swung open and Duke and Dolores threw themselves forward, shooting past Delaney like two streaks of lightening. “Damn it, get back here! she yelled, turning just in time to see their stubby tails disappear into the forest. She thought about letting them go with the hope theyd return on their own. Then she thought of the highway less than a mile from the house.

She grabbed two leather leashes from inside the kennel and took off after them. She didnt feel any attachment toward the dogs, but she didnt want them to end up as roadkill either. “Duke! Dolores! she called, running as fast as she could, carefully balancing her weight over a pair of wedgie sandals. “Dinnertime. Steak. Kibbles and Bits. She chased them into the forest and on old trails shed roamed as a child. Towering pines enclosed her in shadows and shrubbery slapped at her shins and ankles. She caught up with the dogs at the old treehouse Henry had built for her as a child, but they took off just as she made a grab for their collars. “Milk-Bones, she called out as she pursued them past Elephant Rock and through Huckleberry Creek. She might have given up if the two animals hadnt stayed within spitting distance, teasing her, taunting her with their closeness. She chased them under low-hanging aspen branches and scraped her hand as she hoisted herself over a fallen pine.