in and out of the house...
“Good morning!”
The middle-aged couple who greeted Carter on the landing was a perfect example. Avid cross-country skiers, they’d dressed the part in matching ski pants and soft-shell jackets in a blinding shade of tangerine.
“Morning.” Carter paused to let the couple descend the stairs first and was about to follow when the sound of a giggle—a slightly muffled but very familiar giggle—snatched the breath from his lungs.
How many times had he warned Bea not to venture into the guest wing alone? It was the first rule Carter had established after they’d moved into the inn and one she’d never broken. Until now.
He strode toward an open door halfway down the hall, all of his focus directed on finding his daughter...
There.
In a chair by the fireplace. Dressed in her favorite red sweater and candy-cane-striped leggings. And smiling from ear to ear.
Safe.
The adrenaline surging through Carter’s veins dissipated a little—until he turned his attention to the other occupant in the room.
Aquamarine eyes locked with his and Carter felt the floor shift below his feet.
No. Way.
“This is Miss El’ry, Daddy,” Bea announced. “I gave her one of the snowflakes I made at the library.”
Daddy.
The word ricocheted through Ellery’s head as she stared at the man in the doorway.
But it was...him. The deputy she’d met on the road the night before. He’d traded his uniform for faded jeans and a long-sleeve thermal Henley, but even in casual clothes, he still managed to look intimidating.
It was the eyes, Ellery decided. Striations of silver and dark gray, the color—and temperature—of Lake Michigan during a winter storm. A muscle ticked in his jaw, the only outward sign he was as stunned as Ellery that their paths had crossed again.
She tried to push out a smile but the man’s attention had already shifted back to his daughter.
“You know this side of the inn is only for the guests, Bea.”
He didn’t raise his voice but the girl’s shoulders slumped and her sunny smile instantly disappeared. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
Given the fact this scene was unfolding in her room, Ellery decided she had the right to intervene.
“I thought it was very sweet of your daughter to bring me a welcome gift.” She held up the glitter-encrusted decoration to prove that Bea had been telling the truth. “I’m Ellery Marshall, by the way.”
The deputy didn’t look swayed by the evidence. In fact, his grim expression was identical to the one Ellery had seen on his face the day before.
A split second of silence preceded his response. And then a measured “Carter Bristow.”
“I made a snowflake for you, too, Daddy,” Bea said in a small voice. “Do you want to see it?”
Carter nodded. “Of course I do. Right after breakfast.”
His meaning was clear.
“Okay.” Bea slid off the chair, the bounce in her step noticeably absent as she shuffled out the door.
“Please don’t be upset with her,” Ellery said the moment they were alone. “Bea was the one who showed me to my room last night, so I didn’t think it would be a problem if I invited her in.”
Ellery’s explanation didn’t seem to satisfy Carter Bristow. Just the opposite, in fact.
“Bea showed you to your room?”
Way to go, Elle. Now she’d probably gotten Karen Bristow in trouble, too.
It explained the innkeeper’s hesitation when Ellery didn’t object to Bea accompanying her upstairs. Karen knew someone who would.
Carter Bristow might help out at the inn, but it was obvious he didn’t embrace Karen’s “enter as friends, leave as family” motto.
He stepped out of the doorway and into the room, which immediately seemed to shrink in size.
“I have rules in place for Bea’s protection,” he said tightly, confirming her suspicions. “She doesn’t always understand boundaries.”
Ellery hadn’t realized Carter was so tall. He was also broad in the shoulder and narrow in the waist, with a lean but muscular frame that Ellery guessed was the result of an active lifestyle, not a gym. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t on duty, either. Carter Bristow took command of his surroundings with an economy of words and motion.
And judging from the interaction Ellery had witnessed between father and daughter, it seemed he approached parenting in much the same way.
His daughter.
Ellery still couldn’t believe it. There was no physical resemblance between the two that she could see. Unlike her father, there wasn’t a hint of a cloud in Bea’s blue eyes. Her golden hair, freed from the pigtails she’d worn the night before, had framed her heart-shaped face in a riot of loose curls. Carter’s sienna-brown hair was cropped close to his head, effectively discouraging any rebellious behavior.
Ellery cast a discreet glance at Carter’s left hand. No wedding ring.
What had Bea said when Ellery inquired about her family?
Just me and Daddy...
Ellery opened her mouth, ready to apologize for her part in encouraging Isabella to break a family rule, but Carter didn’t give her the opportunity.
“The main roads will be plowed and salted by checkout time,” he said. “You shouldn’t have any trouble getting to wherever it is you’re going.”
Distracted by her thoughts, and, if Ellery was completely honest, the intriguing glints of mahogany scattered throughout the grain of stubble on Carter’s jaw—it took a moment for his words to register.
“I’m not checking out today.”
The temperature in the room immediately dropped several degrees. “I assumed you ended up here last night because of the weather.”
“No, coming to the Evergreen was always the plan.” An impulsive plan. But still.
“Why?”
The blunt question caught Ellery off guard. She could only imagine how many times Carter had employed that same tactic to extract a confession from someone.
“It’s the perfect place for a change of scenery, don’t you agree?” Ellery said lightly. For good measure, she punctuated the question with a bright smile.
Not only did Carter Bristow not smile back, some undefinable emotion crackled in his eyes, there and gone as swiftly as a flash of summer lightning.
“Enjoy your stay, then.”
Before Ellery could respond, he was gone. The door closed with a soft click behind him.
Ellery collapsed into the closest chair.
In spite of the fact that Carter Bristow had seemed all too ready to send her on her way—again—the urge to confide in him had been surprisingly strong.
He was a county deputy who lived five miles from Castle Falls. Wouldn’t he know the people who lived in the town on a personal basis as well as a professional one?
But Ellery had already broken one of the promises she’d made to Jameson.
As if on cue, her cell began to