52. One Day until the Next Murder

CHAPTER 52

ONE DAY UNTIL THE NEXT MURDER

A ndi awoke early. She hadn’t been able to sleep anyway. Not with everything going on.

Instead of tossing and turning in bed, she quietly got up, threw on a sweatshirt and some slippers, and padded out into the living room.

She wasn’t sure where Juniper had slept during the night, and she didn’t want to disturb her in case she was on the couch.

Andi spotted Juniper sitting in front of the fire staring at it. Tundra raised his head above the back of the couch to look at Andi as she walked into the room.

Juniper glanced over her shoulder, her hair piled high in a messy bun.

“Good morning.” Her voice didn’t sound as perky as it once had. As a matter of fact, it sounded a little raw and hoarse as if she’d been crying again.

Andi took a hesitant step closer. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”

“I’ve just been sitting here thinking. I welcome a distraction from my thoughts.”

Andi quietly walked toward her and lowered herself on the other end of the couch. She gave Tundra a quick rub on his back before turning to Juniper. “How are you doing?”

“It’s really hard to say.” Juniper shrugged. “On one hand, I’m still devastated about everything that happened. But on the other hand, getting to know Simmy has been pretty amazing.”

“I didn’t realize it until you said something, but now that I know you could be related, I can see the resemblance. Simmy is a wonderful woman.”

Juniper absently began to pet Tundra again. “She seems amazing. I didn’t want to say anything at first because I just wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what she’d be like or if I’d want to tell her. But now I’m glad I did.”

“You’re going to love getting to know her better,” Andi said softly.

“I’m sure you’re right. For the past year, I’ve been consumed with guilt. I’ve wondered if my secrets played a role in my parent’s deaths. I lied to them about what I knew, about what happened to the money.” She paused. “Having this guilt in my life a terrible way to live.”

Andi thought about her own life. About the guilt she’d felt because of her own issues.

In her quest to protect Duke, she may have ended up hurting him more instead.

She absolutely hated that thought.

She looked back at Juniper. “Living requires taking risks. Sometimes we don’t know if our decisions are right or wrong. In some cases, there is no right or wrong. It’s just one way or another. Often, we won’t know the consequences of our choices until after the fact.”

Juniper glanced at her. “You sound like you understand.”

“I do.”

Something about the conversation made it clear to Andi that she needed to talk to Duke. She needed to let him know what was going on in her head.

Because if anything ever happened to her, she hated to think about him being unsure concerning where she stood on her feelings for him. It wouldn’t be fair.

Now she just needed to find the right moment to tell him.

Duke heard people murmuring in the other room. But he waited until his alarm showed that it was 7:00 a.m. before he got out of bed.

Instead of headed right into the living room, he took a quick shower, enjoying the warm water. The cabin had gotten cold last night despite the heat being on. That was what happened when it was below zero outside. They hadn’t even seen the worst of winter yet.

Today was a new day.

The day they needed to find some answers—a task that sometimes felt impossible.

He opened the door and saw Andi and Juniper talking on the couch. His heart lodged into his throat at the sight.

He wished he could get past the walls Andi had put up. He wanted to believe he could. But he’d rather she let them down on her own terms than him breaching the walls himself. like an overeager rescuer.

However, a question had hit him last night: What if he tried to break past them but couldn’t?

He didn’t want to think about it, but it was a possibility.

However, being here right now at this cabin didn’t seem like the time or the place to address any of those issues. Too much was going on already.

The women heard him step out, and Andi called, “Good morning.”

“You ladies okay this morning?” Right away, he headed toward a window at the front of the cabin.

They’d drawn the shades last night, so he had no idea what it looked like outside right now. But if forecasters were right, the snow was supposed to have stopped a few hours ago.

“I’m feeling much better today,” Juniper said. “I’m glad everything is out in the open—even though I was terrified about it.”

“Secrets can be big burdens to carry.” Duke shoved the curtain aside.

A layer of snow was plastered against the window, not allowing him to see anything beyond it.

He moved to a couple of other windows, but they were all the same.

Finally, he went to the front door. He mostly wanted to see how deep the snow was so he could figure out a plan for today.

But as soon as he opened the door, something on the porch caught his eye.

It was a snowman. Four feet high. Freshly made.

Dread pooled in his stomach as he muttered, “It looks like we’ve got company.”