Chapter 1

Chapter One

Blythe

S tanding in front of the historic red brick building felt like stepping back in time. It looked exactly the same as it had in my childhood. In fact, most of downtown Hope Valley looked just as it had when I used to live here. Sure, some of the shops and restaurants had changed names, and the building that once housed a title company was now a drycleaner, but other than that, it was as if not a day had passed since I’d last been there.

The glass on the massive windows was so clean it gleamed in the sunlight. The sign hanging above the door still had the familiar AO symbol in thick black letters, only it had clearly been touched up to keep it looking fresh.

Alpha Omega was owned and operated by a close family friend, Lincoln Sheppard. Linc had always been such a great guy. I had enjoyed spending time with him and his family. His wife, Eden, was my mother’s best friend, so we’d spent a ton of time together growing up. I hadn’t spoken to either of them in a really long time and missed them both like crazy. I always thought I would enjoy reconnecting with them. I just never imagined it would be like this .

With a heavy sigh, I reached for the handle. My hand trembled as I pulled the heavy glass door open. Anxiety made my throat tight and my heart kick into high gear as I stepped inside the building. I couldn’t believe this was happening, that I’d had to resort to this .

If you had asked me six months ago, I would have told you I was living my very best life. I had my kids, my dream house, and a husband I loved who, even though the honeymoon phase was long over, still doted on me. I was happy. We were happy. Or at least that’s what I’d thought. I used to point out to Elliott how so many of the couples we’d been friends with had gone through contentious divorces and we were still going strong, and his response was always to kiss me and say, “It’s easy to have a good marriage when you know how damn lucky you are.” I’d always blushed at that, thankful that my husband could still make me swoon after three kids and nearly fifteen years of marriage.

Then, in the blink of an eye, that happiness was ripped away, and I’d been left questioning how much of what we had was real. I wasn’t sure anything was worse than losing the man you loved, only to discover he wasn’t the person you thought he was.

That was why I was here. I wanted answers. I needed them. Not knowing had eaten at me until I barely recognized the wilted, hollowed shell of a woman staring back at me when I looked in the mirror.

The girl behind the front desk looked up at the sound of the rubber soles of my shoes squeaking on the pristinely waxed tile floors. She smiled widely, her doe eyes growing even bigger as she greeted me. “Hi,” she said cheerfully. “How can I help you?”

I could have gone to my stepfather, Trick, for help. He’d spent years working his way up through the police force before retiring a few years earlier. He still had all his connections, including his former partner and best friend, Hayes Walker, who was now the captain of the Hope Valley police department, and if there was anyone who could find the answers I was looking for, it was him. But the thought of having to peel off that particular Band-Aid to him and my mother was something I couldn’t bear. I was heartbroken and angry and sad and betrayed. I couldn’t handle feeling like a fool on top of everything else. And if I had to see the pity in their eyes when they discovered what I feared was the truth... well, I wasn’t sure I could take that.

Trick was the closest thing anyone could wish to have as a father since he and my mom got together when I was just fourteen years old. He filled the gaping hole left behind by my biological father after he got tangled up with some really bad people. He’d gotten into drugs, selling and using, and that had resulted in my little brother and me being taken by the guy he’d screwed over. It had been one of the most terrifying events of my life, one that still gave me nightmares from time to time. Trick had been the one to save us. To love us. To heal us and help put us and our mother back together when it was all said and done.

The man loved me like I was his own flesh and blood, treating me the same as his own children, Hannah and Shawn, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to admit to my parents what had been weighing on me for the past few months, ever since Elliott died in that crash. This was something I needed to do on my own.

There was something about the receptionist I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Something about her big eyes and bright smile rang familiar to me, but I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t realize I’d been staring until she cleared her throat and tried again, only this time more awkwardly. “Uh, hello. Do you need something?”

I blinked and gave my head a shake. “Yeah, sorry. It’s just... you look?—”

I was interrupted when a door to my left opened and a giant of a man stepped out. “Naomi, honey, you get that invoice for the Parker case scanned and emailed over?”

Suddenly I understood why the girl was so familiar.

I swallowed past the ball of cotton in my throat and attempted a smile in the direction of the man. His head was down, his eyes scanning the file he was holding, so he hadn’t noticed me yet. “Hi, Linc.”

His head shot up, vivid green eyes landing on me and widening as he slapped the folder shut and dropped his arms down to his sides.

“Well, I’ll be.” His mouth curved into a wide, bright grin that made my own just a little easier as he closed the distance between us and scooped me up, lifting my feet clear off the floor and squeezing tight enough that I could have sworn I heard my ribs crack. “If it isn’t Little Blythe, all grown up.”

I let out a wheezing chuckle and gave his back a pat before he returned me to the ground.

“No way!” The girl flew around the front desk fast as lightning, her arms replacing her father’s in a hug much tighter than someone so tiny should have been capable of. “You’re Blythe! It’s been forever.”

“I nodded, looking down at Lincoln and Eden’s daughter. She’d barely been a toddler when I left for college at eighteen. Now she was all grown up, and absolutely gorgeous .

“It has. God, I can’t believe you’re an adult now. You look so much like your mom.”

She smiled happily, taking that as the compliment it was meant to be.

I felt the squeeze of Lincoln’s fingers around my forearm and then pressure as he gently guided me back around to face him.

The joy on his face quickly morphed into concern as he held me at arm’s length and took me in. I knew I wasn’t exactly at my best, but most days I had to put all my energy into piecing together some semblance of a life for my kids, who were still grieving the loss of their dad. Making sure they were okay took a lot of effort. What little I had left went into trying to lie in order to convince my loved ones I was all right. By that point, I was usually too drained to look after myself. I didn’t know for sure if the clothes I’d put on that morning were clean or not. I just grabbed the first thing off the bedroom floor that didn’t stink.

I was doing my best, but my best was sorely lacking, and on top of all that, I hated myself for failing my kids. I needed to do better for them. To be better. And the only way I could think to finally make that happen was to learn the truth. As long as these questions were plaguing me, I wouldn’t be able to move on.

“We were all sorry to hear about Elliott, sweetheart.”

I sniffled, willing the burn in my eyes to fade away. I was so tired of crying.

My voice came out in a croak as I spoke softly. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“If there’s anything we can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Actually, that’s why I’m here. I want to hire you to find some information for me.”

His forehead creased as his brows pulled into a frown. “Blythe, honey, have you talked to your dad about this? Maybe he could help you?—”

I shook my head, cutting him off with a desperate look. “I need to do it this way. I’ll pay. It doesn’t matter how much.”

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to?—”

“Please, Lincoln.” The pleading quality of those two whispered words brought the huge man up short. “Please. I just... I need to do it this way.”

I could see the indecision warring on his face, and despite the time that had passed, I knew him well enough to know he was struggling between wanting to help me and concern he might somehow be stepping on Trick’s toes. If there was one thing I knew about Lincoln Sheppard that would never change, it was his loyalty.

My heart started to sink at the thought that he might turn me away. But after a handful of excruciating seconds, he let out a heavy sigh and said, “All right.”

The relief I felt was so profound that my shoulders sagged forward, and it was a wonder my knees didn’t give out from under me.

Lincoln looked in Naomi’s direction, saying, “Can you call?—?”

“Already on it,” she assured him before he even finished his sentence, picking up the receiver on her desk and tapping against a few of the buttons.

“Come on, then,” Linc said to me, stepping to the side and extending his arm, guiding me toward the office off to the left. “Let’s talk in private.”

My legs felt wooden and stiff as I crossed the threshold and moved to one of the two chairs in front of the large wooden desk. The door clicked shut behind me just before Lincoln rounded the desk and took a seat in the leather executive chair, bracing his elbows on the arms and steepling his fingers. “As soon as my partner gets here, we can start.”

A flutter of panic filled my chest. “Partner?”

He leaned forward, his features growing tender. “It’s okay, Blythe. He knows the rules. Discretion is the name of the game.”

I nodded, trying to ease my racing heart. I trusted Lincoln. If he said this guy was trustworthy, I believed it. “I didn’t know you’d taken on a partner,” I said, trying my hand at casual conversation.

Lincoln smiled warmly. “It’s more of a mentorship and training deal than a partnership, really. Eden’s been on my ass about retiring for a while now. She wants to travel, and I want to give her that. I brought him on so I could teach him to take over before eventually handing over the reins.”

“Oh wow.” That was huge, him teaching someone how to replace him. Alpha Omega was Lincoln’s baby. He’s built it from the ground up when he moved to Hope Valley after his time in the military. He’d handpicked the entire crew, hiring mostly people who’d left the military behind and were looking for something to do with their lives. It could be hard to reacclimate to civilian life after serving your country for so many years, and Alpha Omega was a place where they could belong.

For Lincoln to hand over the keys to the castle like that, this guy had to be like family, and it spoke to how much he cherished his wife to say goodbye to everything he’d created just because she wanted him to. “That’s huge.”

He smiled again, nodding. “It is, but it’s time. How about you tell me what brought you in while we’re waiting. He won’t have any problem catching up.”

Okay. I could do this. I could say the words I’d yet to say out loud in the months that had passed since my husband died.

I pulled in a centering breath and opened my mouth. The words spilled out right as the door to the office swung open and the very last person I would ever want to confess my shame to stepped inside.

“I want you to find out how long my husband was cheating on me.”