When Snow Falls (Whiskey Creek #2)(86)
Author: Brenda Novak

Loose change jingled in the bottom of Presley’s purse, but there were no bills. She never carried much money. She spent whatever she had, on friends if not on herself.

Besides the coins, Cheyenne found various kinds of makeup, mixed with a host of snack wrappers, notes and old gas receipts. Presley didn’t keep her purse any cleaner than her car—

She heard a door shut behind her and twisted around to see that Dylan had circled back. He was walking along the shoulder to her car, coming up on her left.

With a sniff, she wiped her tears and rolled down her window.

“You okay?” he asked.

She managed a watery smile at the sympathy in his voice and nodded.

He slid his hands into his pockets and hunched against a biting wind. The rain they’d gotten last night had stopped, but the wind was stronger than ever. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I just…” She gestured at the items in her lap.

“Were the police right?” He knew they were, of course. But he seemed to understand why she’d feel the need to check for herself.

“Yeah.” She was piling everything back inside Presley’s purse when a business card fluttered out from a handful of wrappers and other garbage. She almost picked it up and shoved it back in without looking at it. Cheyenne didn’t expect Presley’s trash to reveal anything useful. But the name on the card caught her eye. Eugene Crouch, Private Investigator.

Presley had told Cheyenne she’d thrown his card away. So what was it doing in her purse? And how had the police missed it or deemed it irrelevant?

Turning so Dylan could see, she squinted up at him.

“Looks like Crouch is going to be even easier to find than we thought,” he said.

* * *

Dylan wanted to contact the P.I. as soon as they got home from picking up the Mustang, to see if that would confirm their suspicions about Cheyenne’s background, but Cheyenne asked him to wait until after her mother’s funeral. She said the next week would be hard to get through as it was, especially if Presley didn’t come home, and he knew she was right. He needed to give her time to adjust to all the changes in her life. They were hitting so hard and fast.

In the meantime, he had his own challenge to face—preparing Aaron for rehab. And Eve was home from her cruise. She’d called Chey almost as soon as they walked in the door to say she was coming over.

When Cheyenne brought out a wrapped gift in preparation for her friend’s visit, Dylan faked a yawn and stood. “Jeez, is it that time already? I’d better head home. See what everybody’s up to.”

She rolled her eyes at his facetious tone. “Let me guess. You don’t want to be here when Eve arrives.”

“Why would I mind?” He pressed a hand to his chest in mock innocence. “That confrontation with Riley was so much fun. I laugh whenever I think of it.”

She smiled at his antics, so he pulled her into his arms. “Come over later,” he said, burying his face in her neck. He loved the smell of her, the feel of her. He was pretty sure he loved her. It seemed like he’d always loved her, that he’d just been waiting for her to finally notice him. But it was frightening to acknowledge the strength of his feelings.

“I wish you’d stay and meet Eve,” Cheyenne said.

“Eve and I already know each other.”

“No, you don’t.”

“She’s convinced I’m pond scum, Chey. I think it would be smarter to wait. Let her settle into the idea that you have a boyfriend first. We’ll tackle the fact that it’s one she hates later.”

“Hates?” Cheyenne leaned back to look in his face. “She’ll like you, Dylan. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

“What has you so convinced?”

She took his hand. “I like you, don’t I?”

“Things have been different since your friends left. We had a brief time when they didn’t figure in. Now that they’re back…you could change your mind.”

“Never.”

He kissed the side of her mouth, her cheek, her temple. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because I could be pregnant with your baby, and if I am, I’d be okay with it.”

He jerked his head up. Was she trying to tell him something? Or… “Are you testing me?”

“Testing you?”

“To see if I’d be upset?”

Her chest lifted as she drew a deep breath. “Maybe. There was that one time, at the inn….”

“I know.” He’d been worried about a possible pregnancy after that encounter, but he’d lulled himself into believing it couldn’t really happen.

“So…would you be upset?” she asked.

He thought about it as he ran a thumb over her bottom lip. “No.”

“What would you say?”

The image of her, big with his child, brought a flicker of excitement and a wave of possessiveness. Was that how a guy knew when he’d met the right woman? When it was time to settle down? “I’d say, ‘Will you marry me?’”

The smile that broke across her face was the most beautiful smile she’d given him yet. “You wouldn’t be afraid of making a commitment like that?”

“A little,” he admitted. “But there isn’t anyone I’d rather take a chance on.”

She kissed him tenderly. “I’m glad you propositioned me in the park.”

“I’m glad I found the nerve to show up after you called and didn’t really say anything,” he told her. “I knew if I didn’t, I’d probably never have another shot. But knocking on your door that night wasn’t as easy as it looked. I never dreamed you’d really let me in.”

“I’m not sure how you have convinced everyone you’re so tough,” she said. “You’re a teddy bear.”

“Only with you.”

They were kissing when the knock came. He was the first to pull away. “Damn. I didn’t get out of here fast enough.”

She laughed. “It’s going to be fine. Stop acting like I’m shoving you in front of a firing squad.”

He caught her by the arm as she slipped away. “Just do me one favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Tell her I quit smoking.”

“You think that’s going to help your cause?”

“It’s all I’ve got.”

* * *

Eve wasn’t pleased to see Dylan at Cheyenne’s house. But not because she was planning to say anything else about him—at least not anything negative. It was more that she’d missed her best friend after being gone so long. She was dying to catch up, and having someone else there felt awkward.