Chapter Three

      She drove over the bridge three times and saw no lights, nor any sign of life for that matter. And while she may have been crazy enough to go down there in the middle of the afternoon, after dark there was no way she’d pull over, much less scale the slick embankment.

      She wasn’t sure what she expected, nor was she sure what she might have done had she found Hill there, but when her side trip came up nil, it swiped at her suddenly waning energy. At the next intersection—a four-way stop that to the right would take her home or to the left to her friend’s family restaurant—she merely sat. Contemplating.

      Cherry or sleep. She waffled for a moment. When her SUV crept into the intersection, she hadn’t made up her mind, but at the last minute she made a left and headed out to the far edge of town to see her friend. Sleep was highly overrated.

      Marissa’s stomach rumbled in happy relief as the scent of baked bread and grilled meat engulfed her the moment she stepped through the door of Calista’s Bistro. The young girl standing behind the host stand smiled brightly when she saw Marissa.

      “Hey, sweetie.” Marissa enveloped Cherry’s youngest sister in a hug.

      “My mom’s been wondering when you were coming by.” Violet made a notation in the book on the stand. “Come on back. How’ve you been?”

      “Good. Busy. How are the desserts selling?” Once a week, Marissa sent over a few dozen cupcakes for the restaurant’s Sunday brunch. She was pretty sure that Mrs. Humphries only ordered them to help her business along. She wasn’t going to complain, though.

      “Usually gone before we can sneak one.” Violet winked at her as she guided Marissa to the kitchen where the staff was bustling about. At the back of the kitchen, at a sturdy wooden door, Violet paused to rap her knuckles quickly, but didn’t wait for a response. “Knock, knock. Momma, look who I found out front.”

      Mrs. Humphries and Cherry had their heads bent over a computer and looked up together. The two women smiled broadly and stood.

      “Marissa.” Mrs. Humphries held open her arms for a hug. She smelled of Chanel No. 5 and bread. It was one of the most familiar scents from Marissa’s childhood.

      Marissa’s own mother had run off when she and Marlie were only two years old. It was six months later that the Humphries moved in down the street. Glen Llewellyn, at his wit’s end trying to raise two boys and twin girls, had jumped at the chance to set playdates for his girls with the Humphries children. Mrs. Humphries hadn’t hesitated to give Marissa and her sister a mother’s love despite having three girls of her own. She and her husband Chuck had been surrogate parents when her father was bogged down with work.

      Marissa and Cherry and Marlie had been glued at the hip all through grade school and even into junior high. Marissa was the one who kept them all grounded when Marlie and Cherry tried their best to get them into trouble. She had always wanted them to be good, so they didn’t end up like her mother.… Once they reached their teens, though, Marlie drifted off into her own little world of high school fashionistas and Marissa simply tried to blend into the woodwork with Cherry nudging her out of her social sequestering from time to time.

      Still, over all the years not a week had gone by in which she hadn’t spoken to Cherry—more often than not in person. She gave her friend a little extra squeeze. Just seeing her friend released several knots of tension she hadn’t realized had built up in her shoulders.

      When all the small talk was exhausted, Cherry finally pulled her aside. “We’re going to eat, Momma.” Cherry looped her arm with Marissa’s. “Sorry, my mom’s been on a family bent since Lily moved away.”

      Marissa nodded. She remembered when her brother, Tanner, had moved away from Oak Hollow she’d cried for days. To this day, she still got a wobbly pull in the pit of her stomach at her brother all the way in Iowa.

      Cherry gave her a quick pat on the arm before motioning to the family’s booth. “You look like crap.”

      “You always know just what to say.” Marissa gave her a wan smile. “I’m just tired. Didn’t get much sleep last night.” She told her about the break-in and Hill but left off her growing suspicions about his living arrangements. “But I don’t think he was trying to steal anything.” Besides the smallest amount of food.

      “Hon, why would someone break in without the intent to steal?”

      “I don’t know.” She wiped her hand across her face. “I think my brain’s too tired. My judgment’s off. When I saw Hill this afternoon I ran after him down the street. Hell, I even got in my car and chased in the direction I thought he went.”

      “Hill? You know who he is?” She frowned. “Why does that name sound familiar?” She waved her sister over after she seated a couple. “Vi, why do I know the name Hill? He’s a teenager?” She looked at Marissa, who nodded.

      Vi tilted her head and tapped her index finger to her pursed lips. Finally she snapped her fingers. “There was a woman who worked here a few years back. Patricia Hillman. She had a son, I think. I think they called him Hill.”

      Cherry nodded. “I remember her. She died, didn’t she? Seems like it was a car accident.”

      “Aw man.” Marissa slumped back in her seat. “What about his dad?”

      Her friend shrugged. “Sorry. Don’t know.” She sipped from the water the waitress set down in front of her. “Did you tell the police you know who it was?”

      “I didn’t know ‘til later. Oh.” Marissa widened her eyes. “Do you know who the new police chief is?” She fanned herself and gave a low whistle.

      “Do I know? He’s eaten here every night this week. I think he’s—” Cherry twisted around in her seat “—here right now. Yeah, there he is over near the bar.”

      Jax Carlisle was sitting alone eating his dinner. He wasn’t dressed in his dark uniform, but had on jeans and boots and a tan button-down shirt. As if he knew they were talking about him, the new chief of police shifted his gaze in their direction. A quick smile spread across his mouth and he nodded hello.

      “Well, isn’t that pretty interesting.” Cherry straightened in her seat and waggled her eyebrows. “When did you and Jax hook up?”

      Marissa choked on her water. “Hook up? I’ve seen him exactly one time since he moved back. I didn’t