with him. But I knew he was more interested in getting his

hands on my land than on me—although that didn’t stop him

from trying.”

Duncan glanced over sharply. “Did he get aggressive

with you?”

Peg dropped her gaze and shuddered. “A bit,” she

whispered. She turned in her seat to look out the rear

window again and saw Chris trying to pul around them as

Duncan veered to the center of the road. “I never thought

he’d do something this bold, or get so fired up over a stupid

resort. He and Aaron must be drunk.”

“This isn’t about the resort, Peg,” Duncan said quietly.

“It’s about you. Not only did you reject him twice, the

bastard’s seeing you making money off land he thinks

should be his.” He glanced at her briefly before going back

to watching his rearview mirror and the road, and shook his

head. “He’s likely the one who burned down your house.

This has nothing to do with the resort,” he repeated.

“Ohmigod, I never—” She snapped her mouth shut when

the SUV lurched forward with a violent shudder and

fishtailed slightly before Duncan brought it under control,

Peg’s scream lost in the sound of Chris’s pickup slamming

into the back of them. “No!” she cried, bracing her hand on

the dash when Duncan slammed on the brakes, which

made Chris ram into them again.

Tires screeched and she smel ed burning rubber as

Duncan kept braking despite the deafening rev of the

pickup’s engine as it continued trying to push them down

the road. Duncan final y brought them to a stop and slipped

the SUV into reverse, hit a button on the dash, and stepped

on the gas. “Face forward,” he snapped as he grabbed the

back of her seat to look behind him. “And hang on.”

“Duncan, no! Just try to outrun them. Please, we’re

almost to town.” But the screeching tires drowned out her

petition as the SUV relentlessly backed up, first slowly and

then with increasing speed as it pushed against Chris’s

truck.

“He might have more engine but we’re heavier,” Duncan

growled just as he let up off the gas. “Cover your face with

your hands.”

He then stepped on the accelerator again as he cut the

wheel and rammed into the pickup behind them, the sound

of crunching metal slamming through the interior of the truck

as its tires continued to grasp for purchase on the

pavement. Peg heard what sounded like glass breaking

and slouched down in her seat to peek through her fingers

at her outside mirror to see the tail ights of Chris’s truck

sticking out past their rear fender, and she realized Duncan

was pushing him sideways down the road.

She then saw smoke rol ing up over the front fender of

the SUV and realized he had it in four-wheel drive. She

moved her hands to cover her ears against the deafening

screech, but then quickly covered her mouth to catch her

scream when they suddenly stopped and she watched in

the mirror as Chris’s truck rol ed into the ditch onto its side.

Duncan hit the button on the dash and pul ed the gearshift

down and floored the engine again, snapping Peg back

against the seat when the truck lurched forward and once

again sped toward town. She turned to look back between

the seats and just caught a glimpse of Chris jumping out of

his truck and hopping into Aaron’s before Duncan pushed

her back around.

“Face forward,” he growled, glancing in the rearview

mirror. “It’s not over.”

Peg buried her face in her hands again and mumbled

something.

“What was that?” he asked in another growl.

She dropped her hands, then used the sleeve of her

jacket to wipe her eyes. “I … I said I’m glad I didn’t insist on

driving tonight.”

He snorted. “Not as glad as I am.” He reached over and

actual y patted her arm. “Now do ye see what I meant about

this truck being safe?”

“I … It’s al but totaled,” she whispered, looking at the

crumpled front fender as the trees sped past in a blur

again.

“I’l buy ye a new one.” He blew out a harsh breath and

seemed to relax slightly. “The other truck doesn’t have the

bal s to catch us, so we should make it to town okay.” He

glanced over at her, then back at the road. “I believe I’l park

behind the church,” he said, apparently voicing his plan as it

came to him. “And we’l go for a walk on the docks behind

Ezra’s store to calm down instead of going to the Drunken

Moose.”

“Works for me,” Peg said, releasing at least some of her

tension with her sigh. God, her clothes were soaked with

sweat and she was worried she might have peed a little.

She sucked in another shuddering breath and covered her

face with her hands again even as she wished she kept a

diary. Because honestly, as sort of first dates went, this one definitely needed to be recorded … somewhere.

Duncan pul ed her hands down and held on to the one

nearest him, giving it a gentle squeeze before rubbing his

thumb on her knuckles. “Ye did good, Peg. I only heard one

little scream,” he said, smiling over at her.

She pul ed in another steadying breath and brushed

nothing off her jacket with a trembling hand. “You just

couldn’t hear al of them over the screeching tires and

smashing metal.” She final y found the nerve to glance over

her left shoulder, then quickly looked forward again, but it

had been long enough for her to see the back hatch was

folded in, the rear and both side back windows were blown

out, and the third brake light was flapping in the breeze as it

dangled from the top of the mangled back door.

“You do know that even though your mom signed the title

over to me Friday, that I haven’t had time to register or

insure the truck yet, don’t you?”

He gave her hand another squeeze. “It’l be covered

under her policy, and I was the one driving.”

“There’s a good chance the sheriff wil be at the meeting

tonight because of the controversy,” she said, “especial y

since the fire marshal decided my house fire was arson.

We can tel him what happened tonight and he can arrest

Chris and Aaron. I definitely recognized them. Um, but let’s

not tel him about my van, okay?”

“Why?” he asked, slowing down because they’d reached

the edge of town.

“I don’t think it’s al that legal to push a vehicle into a

flooded quarry pit.” She final y felt relaxed enough to smile.

“Although they’d probably have to sift through a bunch of

other vehicles looking for it, along with al sorts of other stuff

people have wanted to disappear. I read where the state

sent divers down in a quarry south of here several years

back, and they found over twenty cars and trucks, several

motorcycles, lawnmowers, tractors, snowmobiles, and even

a skidder; anything a person could file an insurance claim

on was down there.”

Duncan gave her one last squeeze and put both hands

on the wheel as he gave the rearview mirror a glance, then

slowed to an idle as they came into town. “I’m glad it’s dark

enough that no one wil notice the condition of the truck,” he

said, pul ing into the church parking lot and driving down

past it. “We real y don’t need an audience,” he added as he

pul ed around the back of the church and eased the nose of

the truck into the bushes. He shut it off, unfastened his seat

belt, and turned to her. “Are your legs steady enough for a

short walk, lass?”

Peg unfastened her seat belt. “What, you think that little

carnival ride rattled me?” She opened her door and slid