Colton by Marriage. Marie Ferrarella

friend and meant so much to me, you came?” she asked uncertainly. That was the conclusion his last answer led her to, but it still didn’t make any sense. “Something like that.”

      But she and Duke didn’t really know each other, she thought, confused. She knew of him, of course. Duke Colton was the twin brother of the town’s only murderer. He was one of Darius Colton’s boys. Each brother was handsomer than the next. And, of course, there’d been that crush she’d had on him. But she didn’t really know him. And he didn’t know her.

      In a town as small as Honey Creek, Montana, spreading gossip was one of the main forms of entertainment and there were plenty of stories to spread about the Coltons, especially since, going back a number of generations, the current president of the United States and Darius Colton were both related to Teddy Colton who’d lived in the early 1900s. To his credit, the distant relationship wasn’t something that the already affluent Darius capitalized on or used to up his stock. He was too busy being blustery and riding his sons to get them to give their personal best each and every day. He expected nothing less.