Chapter 1

Her dad neededsomething to live for, or Maddie Vale was going to lose him.

She glanced over at her dad, Huck Vale, as she pulled into the parking lot of Winslow"s Garden Center for supplies for their florist shop, Vale"s Flowers. Huck was wearing navy sweatpants, a Vale"s Flowers tee shirt, and old sneakers. His Diamond Lake hat was faded from the sun and the wind, and his salt-and-pepper hair was curling out from under it. He looked like he"d chosen all his oldest clothes, crumpled them for a few extra wrinkles, and then dragged them onto his weary, too-lean frame.

His physical therapy had gone fine today, but he didn"t care.

She could see it in the slump of his shoulders, in the way he stared out the passenger window, seeing, but not seeing at all.

Her dog, Violet, a huge, rescue pit bull who looked terrifying but was actually the gentlest cupcake ever, was sitting between them, her chin resting on Huck"s leg.

Maddie parked her pickup truck at the end of the lot, in the shade. "I was thinking that it might be fun to sell baked goods at the shop. There"s a woman in Birch Crossing who makes great cupcakes. I think it would be good—" She stopped when her dad looked over at her. "What?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You"re trying again."

She grinned. "I am. You"re just so damned dull these days. I think getting you a sugar high would be great."

He cocked his brow. "Maddie, I"m an ex-FBI agent. I"m a complete badass. The level to which I don"t need my adult daughter worrying about me is almost undefinable."

She laughed. "Emphasis on "ex," Pops. You"re sitting in that seat like an old man."

He sat up taller, as she knew he would. "I"m not old, and I"m taking away your allowance for saying I am."

She raised her brows. "You never gave me an allowance in my entire life."

"And you"re welcome. You"d be some wimpy girlie girl if I"d handed you money." He shot her a grumpy look. "You could thank me, you know."

She burst out laughing, so happy to hear him teasing her. It had been so long. "You want me to thank you for making me seal driveways when I was six so I would have enough money to buy cookies at the grocery store?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I"m waiting. Just once, to hear a thanks, one little thanks for anything, would be great."

Her smile faded. "Dad?—"

"Oh, shit. No." His smile dropped off. "You know I didn"t mean that. Don"t ever thank me for that. You"re my daughter. End of story. That"s it."

She bit her lip. "I know you gave up a lot for me---"

"Nope. Conversation over. I"m not doing that." He folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. "I"m taking a nap. Go get the dirt."

Dammit. She"d lost him again. She"d been trying to get past the wall of melancholy that had cloaked him since the car accident that had wrecked his knee and ripped his active life away from him. She was trying, but she kept failing.

He was her only family. She needed him. "I"m worried about you?—"

"I can"t hear you. I"m already napping. Snore. Snore. Snore."

She laughed and punched him lightly in the shoulder as she got out of the truck. "Men," she said. "Absolutely impossible."

His lips tightened. "Is that why you and Adam broke up?"

Her smile faded, and her stomach tightened. "Adam?"

He opened his eyes to look at her. "I"m not blind, Maddie. I know he hasn"t been around, and you haven"t been wearing your engagement ring. You want to talk about it?"

She pressed her lips together. What a fiasco her engagement had been. She"d trusted the wrong man with her heart, and she was still trying to put it back together. "Just sorting things out, Dad. It"s good." Her dad had adored Adam, and she didn"t want him to know what had happened. The choice she"d made. How both she and her dad had been fooled.

Her dad turned his head to look at her. "Lies," he said softly. "You know I'm trained in lies, right?"

She laughed. "I do know that."

"What happened with Adam? Do I need to shoot him? I haven"t shot anyone in a long time. Might be fun."

Her dad and Adam had been great friends. Adam had been one of the lights in her dad"s life. She"d tried to stay with Adam for her dad, but Adam had made that impossible. She couldn"t make herself break her dad"s heart by telling him what had happened. "No shooting necessary," she said as she got out of the truck. "We"re working on things."

"Lies again."

She paused. "Dad. I"m not ready to talk about it, but I"m fine, okay?"

It was all she would give him. There was no way she was stealing what little joy her dad had by telling him what had happened with the man she"d dated for four years and agreed to marry last year. Four years, and she hadn"t seen the truth about Adam, until it was almost too late.

But she had seen it before she"d married him, so three cheers for her.

Her dad sighed. "I"m here for you, Maddie. You don"t have to handle this alone."

She grinned. "I have my friends. I"m never alone." Piper, Tori, and Keira were the funniest, silliest best friends a woman could have, and they"d been by her side the whole way. Their strength and support had enabled her to protect her dad, and she would always be grateful for them.

"Your friends?" He looked skeptical. "The ones you never go out with anymore because you"re working at the shop twenty-four seven?"

She shrugged. "Someone has to keep all the brides in flowers," she teased. "If you got off your lazy butt and started coming to the shop, I could go party." But he wasn"t entirely wrong in his concern. She did love their flower shop, and business had really taken off over the last year. It was great, but life was chaos right now, and she felt like she was struggling to stay afloat.

Which was fine. She could handle it, and she would handle it for as long as it took. She rolled down the windows and then turned off the truck. "I"m leaving the keys in case it gets too hot." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, Dad."

He closed his eyes again and settled back in the seat. "I love you, too, Peanut."

Her throat tightened at the nickname he"d given her as a little girl. He hadn"t called her that in a long time. It scared her, like he was putting all his affairs in order before calling it quits on life.

She paused to look at him, napping in the truck. How did she get him to want to live again? He was only fifty-five. So much time, if only he decided he wanted it. She hit her palm on the door frame in frustration. "Come on, Violet."

The big, black rescue pittie hopped out of the truck, her therapy dog license and vest giving her the freedom to go into the store. Violet trotted next to Maddie as they headed across the lot, then suddenly, Violet froze and lifted her head, staring ahead.

Maddie"s heart jumped, and fear clamped down on her as she set her hand on Violet"s back. "What is it, girl?" She"d been so much more relaxed since she"d adopted Violet, being able to trust the huge dog to tell her when danger was near. Violet was her radar, and it had enabled Maddie to finally start to let down the constant vigilance that had consumed her for so long.

Violet was stock-still, staring at a man leaning against the side of the building. He was in the shadows, and he had a cowboy hat on, so his face was hidden. He was wearing jeans, a loose tee shirt, and cowboy boots. He was tall, muscled, and ripped, and fear caught in her throat.

"Is he dangerous?" she whispered to her dog.

Violet didn"t move. She just kept staring at the man. Not growling, but alert.

Maddie tightened her fingers on Violet"s leash. There was no way anyone could get to her with Violet by her side. She knew that. But she couldn't stop the rising fear, the raw terror that she hadn"t felt for so long.

It was a busy Saturday afternoon. Plenty of people around. No one would grab her from a crowded garden store parking lot while she was accompanied by a dog who could kill an attacker in a split second.

Regardless of the man"s intentions, she was safe.

And yet, her feet seemed to be stuck to the hot pavement. She couldn't make herself keep going. She glanced at the store, only a few yards away. Air-conditioned, safe, crowded.

He looked down at his phone and began typing onto it, not giving any indication that he was even watching her, let alone planning to abduct her.

And yet… "Come on, Violet. We"re going back to the truck." She tugged her dog"s leash, and began backing toward her truck.

Violet whined and tucked herself against Maddie"s leg as Maddie turned and hurried back to her truck. She checked over her shoulder a few times, and he wasn"t watching her. But still…a chill ran down her spine.

She needed to get out of there. Right away. She could feel it in her bones.

She was almost running by the time she got back to the truck. She opened the door and Violet jumped in. Maddie hurled herself into the front seat, started the engine, and rolled up the windows. Fast. Fast. Fast.

Her dad didn"t wake up, which was both a relief and scary. Where was the FBI agent who would have known in his gut that something was wrong? She wanted to grab her dad and shake him awake, demanding he get his gun, but she didn"t.

Because she didn"t want him to see her scared.

She put her hands on the steering wheel, but they were shaking too hard to grip it.

Violet whined and wiggled onto her lap, pressing her face into Maddie"s chest. Maddie wrapped her arms around the dog and rested her forehead against Violet"s ear. "I"m still running scared, Violet," Maddie whispered. "I thought it would stop when I was eighteen, but it never will."

Her phone buzzed, startling her. She grabbed it and looked at it, half-expecting to see a text from an unknown number.

But it was a text from her friend, Piper Townsend. Don"t forget tonight! We"ll pick you up from the shop at eight!

Girls" night. She"d forgotten that Piper had invited them to a viewing of a band she was considering for one of her bridal clients. It was a black-tie event, and the foursome were making it a high-class girls" night, like the ones they used to have when they were all in their early twenties, broke, and sharing a loft. The nights where they"d pretended that they"d made it, that they had become the women they"d dreamed of being.

And yet, they were still having those nights, because none of them had become the women they"d planned to be, with the lives they"d intended to have.

Yet.

Yet.

It was the magic word. The word that kept them all going. They hadn"t gotten there…yet.

Maddie took a breath. She didn"t want to go out. She wanted to drop her dad off, then go to the shop with Violet, and work until she was too tired for fear and nightmares.

But she"d made a promise to herself that she had to start living. Her dad"s response to the accident had showed her what her path would be if she gave up on fully living. Which meant she had to go.

She texted back. Violet can come, right?

There was a pause. You"re having one of those days, sweetie?

Sudden tears filled Maddie"s eyes, and she was so grateful for the friends who had never given up on her. She decided not to tell Piper about the man. She was probably imagining things, and she didn"t want to be that woman anymore. The scared woman. The one who had lived with three other women so she didn"t have to live alone.

She took a breath and quickly replied. I never have one of those days. I just want to turn Violet loose so she can knock over the dessert table, terrify small children, and shed all over the bride"s dress.

Hah! Perfect. Bring her along, then. She"s one of us, baby, and we accept everyone as they are. Sending you hugs to tide you over until we can give you one in person tonight!

Maddie smiled and set her phone on the dashboard. "All right then, Violet. Let"s go find you a gown for tonight." She glanced at the man in the cowboy hat as she shifted into drive.

He was staring right at her, his phone down by his side.

Chills shot down her spine again. "He must have noticed how I exude girl power," she said to her dog. "He"s in awe of my awesomeness. Makes sense. I have that effect on people."

But as she pulled out, she was careful to stay at the far end of the parking lot so he couldn"t get her license plate number.

Just in case.

Her tires bumped over the curb, jolting her dad awake. He sat up with a start. "Finished already?"

She didn"t look at him, in case he saw the fear in her eyes. "Nope. Just getting started, Dad."

He frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

She glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw the man with the cowboy hat watching her drive away. Did she tell her dad? Would it give him life or overwhelm him to know that a man had been watching her? A man she didn"t know. A man who could be connected to the past they"d both been worried about since she was six.

She could use her dad"s help.

But she needed him alive even more.

"Nothing," she said. "Nothing at all."

She was going to have to handle this herself.

Her and Violet.