Prologue

      “There’s nothing more to say, Mother. Nick Clayton is Jimmy’s father and he has to pay for deserting Mamie when he found out she was pregnant. You’re not going to talk me out of it. I’ll be leaving for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, first thing in the morning.”

      Lexi quickly concluded her phone conversation, then went into the living room where her five-year-old nephew had plopped down in the middle of the floor to watch television. She studied him a moment as she pulled her long blond hair into a ponytail and fastened it with a rubber band. He had his mother’s looks—Marnie’s light brown hair and blue-gray eyes. Friends and family had always said if it hadn’t been for Mamie being six years older than Lexi, the two girls would have looked enough alike to have been mistaken for twins. Both girls were tall and slender, and they wore the same size clothes.

      Mamie had been a good mother. What she and her son lacked in material possessions Mamie had made up for in love and attention. It was almost as if she had searched all her life for someone who needed her, someone to whom she could give her love, and she had found what she’d been seeking when her son was born. Mamie’s death had created a tragic upheaval in Jimmy’s life and left a void that Lexi tried hard to fill. A touch of sadness washed over her, but it boosted her resolve to see things through to the conclusion.

      “Jimmy?” The little boy looked up at the sound of her voice. “I have some business that I need to take care of . . . out of town. You’ll be staying with Grandma for a little while. And while you’re there, she’s going to take you to the zoo.” Lexi forced an encouraging smile and tried to make her voice sound upbeat and casual, as if nothing were wrong. “Won’t that be fun?”

      Lexi set about packing a suitcase for Jimmy and then packed for her own trip. She was determined and her mother was opposed and that’s the way it had been from the moment Lexi first mentioned the idea four months ago, immediately following her sister’s death. Neither of them had budged from their positions and Lexi had decided to proceed with her plan. She needed to secure Jimmy’s future while trying to make sense of what had happened.

      Even though Marnie’s death was technically an accident, Lexi still held Nick Clayton responsible. Mamie had been forced to take on a second job to provide for her son. It was on her way to that second job, driving through a deluge when everyone had been warned to stay off the roads, that she had been caught in a flash flood and drowned. Now Lexi had to raise her sister’s five-year-old son. Lexi loved Jimmy as much as if he had been her own child, and she was prepared to confront the man Mamie said had gotten her pregnant, then refused to accept any responsibility. She was going to demand that this unprincipled man contribute to Jimmy’s upbringing and see to it that the little boy received a good education. Yes, indeed—Lexi fully intended to confront Nick Clayton.

      Then the nagging little thought surfaced again—the one that questioned if it was possible for this to be yet another of Mamie’s exaggerations. Lexi shoved the disturbing notion aside. Surely Mamie wouldn’t have lied about something this important... surely not.