always thought searching for it gave him an excuse to be up on the mountain, but he was serious about finding it. He took A.J., Rose and me up a few times, but most of the time, it was Elijah. They butted heads all their lives, but they understood each other.”
“I think in his own way, your father understood all four of you, even if he didn’t always approve of your choices.”
“Maybe so.”
Sean felt the familiar rush of grief mixed with guilt, anger and regret when he thought about his father and how he’d died, but he allowed it to wash over him and didn’t, this time, drown in it. He wanted to get his hands on whoever had hired the two killers to leave an old man to die alone in the cold. He wanted it as much as he’d wanted anything in his life, and he wasn’t a man easily deterred once he’d put his mind to getting something.
Hannah stared out her window without speaking for a couple miles.
“How’s law school?” Sean asked when her silence finally got to him.
She shrugged. “I’ve finished.”
“Studying for the bar?”
“Yes.”
“Any job prospects?”
She continued to sit rigid in her seat without glancing at him. “Not yet. I’m looking into a clerkship. With Toby inCalifornia for a few months…” She paused. “I’ll have time on my hands.”
What would she do when she found out Devin was heading to California, too? Sean tried not to think about how alone she’d be. She had her friends, the café, her budding law career, and she’d just be irritated if she thought he was feeling a little sorry for her.
“You can manage the café and a clerkship?” he asked.
“I managed law school and the café.”
The late December sun was very low in the sky. An arc of bright, harsh afternoon light hit the windshield. Then it was gone, disappearing behind the hills as he took a tight turn down close to the river, just a few small pools of clear, fast-moving water not yet frozen in the winter cold.
Sean assumed Hannah’s short answers were a clue she didn’t want to talk, but he didn’t care. He wanted to know more about her reasons for going up the mountain so suddenly on her own. “The café seems to be doing well,” he said.
She smoothed a finger over the soft fabric of his scarf. “It is, thanks.”
“Holiday season was busy?”
“Yes.”
“A.J. says reporters and investigators made up for the drop-off in tourists at the lodge after the violence. I imagine it was the same at the café.”
She nodded again. “It was.”
“Hannah…” Sean turned onto Cameron Mountain Road, which would take them up from the river to the long, picturesque ridge where Black Falls Lodge was located and where he and his brothers and sister and the Harpers had all grown up. “You know, I wouldn’t have to ask so many questions if you’d work with me here.”
“Maybe I’m tired after my long hike and don’t want to talk.”
“You could just say so.”
She turned to him finally and smiled. “I’m tired after my long hike and don’t want to talk.”
He grinned at her. “Could have told me eight miles ago.”
She seemed to relax slightly. “I guess I could have.”
Not that she hadn’t made it obvious. He’d just ignored her signals.
He passed his sister’s little house and continued down to Harper Four Corners, the oldest settled section of Black Falls, where Cameron Mountain Road and Ridge Road intersected. On the corner to his right was a former early-nineteenth-century tavern, rumored to be haunted. To his left was an abandoned post-and-beam barn. On the corners directly across the road were a cemetery and a small, white-steepled church.
Sean turned right, onto Ridge Road, heading past snow-covered fields and stately, bare sugar maples that grew along stone walls constructed by long-ago farmers who’d cleared the rocky, inhospitable land.
He resisted the temptation to push the private, guarded woman next to him about her reasons for hiking up to the cabin—what they
“I think in his own way, your father understood all four of you, even if he didn’t always approve of your choices.”
“Maybe so.”
Sean felt the familiar rush of grief mixed with guilt, anger and regret when he thought about his father and how he’d died, but he allowed it to wash over him and didn’t, this time, drown in it. He wanted to get his hands on whoever had hired the two killers to leave an old man to die alone in the cold. He wanted it as much as he’d wanted anything in his life, and he wasn’t a man easily deterred once he’d put his mind to getting something.
Hannah stared out her window without speaking for a couple miles.
“How’s law school?” Sean asked when her silence finally got to him.
She shrugged. “I’ve finished.”
“Studying for the bar?”
“Yes.”
“Any job prospects?”
She continued to sit rigid in her seat without glancing at him. “Not yet. I’m looking into a clerkship. With Toby inCalifornia for a few months…” She paused. “I’ll have time on my hands.”
What would she do when she found out Devin was heading to California, too? Sean tried not to think about how alone she’d be. She had her friends, the café, her budding law career, and she’d just be irritated if she thought he was feeling a little sorry for her.
“You can manage the café and a clerkship?” he asked.
“I managed law school and the café.”
The late December sun was very low in the sky. An arc of bright, harsh afternoon light hit the windshield. Then it was gone, disappearing behind the hills as he took a tight turn down close to the river, just a few small pools of clear, fast-moving water not yet frozen in the winter cold.
Sean assumed Hannah’s short answers were a clue she didn’t want to talk, but he didn’t care. He wanted to know more about her reasons for going up the mountain so suddenly on her own. “The café seems to be doing well,” he said.
She smoothed a finger over the soft fabric of his scarf. “It is, thanks.”
“Holiday season was busy?”
“Yes.”
“A.J. says reporters and investigators made up for the drop-off in tourists at the lodge after the violence. I imagine it was the same at the café.”
She nodded again. “It was.”
“Hannah…” Sean turned onto Cameron Mountain Road, which would take them up from the river to the long, picturesque ridge where Black Falls Lodge was located and where he and his brothers and sister and the Harpers had all grown up. “You know, I wouldn’t have to ask so many questions if you’d work with me here.”
“Maybe I’m tired after my long hike and don’t want to talk.”
“You could just say so.”
She turned to him finally and smiled. “I’m tired after my long hike and don’t want to talk.”
He grinned at her. “Could have told me eight miles ago.”
She seemed to relax slightly. “I guess I could have.”
Not that she hadn’t made it obvious. He’d just ignored her signals.
He passed his sister’s little house and continued down to Harper Four Corners, the oldest settled section of Black Falls, where Cameron Mountain Road and Ridge Road intersected. On the corner to his right was a former early-nineteenth-century tavern, rumored to be haunted. To his left was an abandoned post-and-beam barn. On the corners directly across the road were a cemetery and a small, white-steepled church.
Sean turned right, onto Ridge Road, heading past snow-covered fields and stately, bare sugar maples that grew along stone walls constructed by long-ago farmers who’d cleared the rocky, inhospitable land.
He resisted the temptation to push the private, guarded woman next to him about her reasons for hiking up to the cabin—what they
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