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But then she laughed Clay was as vigilant as ever Not that she was really surprised He’d always been The Guardian

“What? Ya’ll don’t know your own sister any’s shadow

“Grace?” The barrel of the hunting rifle dove toward the ground and he twitched as though te Grace felt a similar response, but made no move toward him Their relationship was too…complicated

“God, Grace It’s been thirteen years since you left I barely recognize you You could’ve gotten yourself shot,” he added gruffly

She said nothing about that brief cowardly impulse: One bullet could end it all

“Really?” she nized you anywhere” Maybe it was because she thought of hied much He still had the same thick black hair—even darker than Grace’s—that swirled up off his forehead The light, enigmatic eyes that looked so much like her own That same determined set to his prominent jaw He’d put on a few more pounds of muscle mass, maybe, which made her feel small at five-five and a hundred and twenty pounds But his bulkier size was the only difference

“I expected you to be asleep,” she said

“Saw your car pull up out front”

“Wouldn’t want to let just anyone go creeping around out here”

If he heard the taunt in her voice, he didn’t respond to it Except to glance furtively toward the copse of trees that served as a rave

After a stilted silence, he said, “Living in Jackson ood”

She’d been doing quite well in the city Until George E Dunagan, Attorney-at-Law, had asked her to marry hih they both knew she wanted to, he’d finally broken off the relationship He’d told her he didn’t want to hear from her until she’d seen a therapist and resolved the issues of her childhood

She’d tried visiting a therapist—but counseling hadn’t helped There were too many realities she didn’t want to examine Others she wanted to share but couldn’t, not with a therapist or anyone else, including George Although George had recently relented and started calling her again, Grace’s problems still stood between them

She hoped that wouldn’t be true for er Either she’d overcome the past or the past would overcome her She couldn’t knoould all end She could only promise herself that she wouldn’t return to her life in Jackson until she’d come to terms hat had happened in Stillwater