Page 21 of Just One Kiss

Hannah had drawnher line in the sand, but Jake wasn't bothered by it, not with the memory of her mouth on his. There was something between them, whether she wanted to admit it or not. He didn't like being patient, but he could be when he had to, and earning Hannah's trust would take time. Her last stinging words had reminded him that he had a lot to make up for. But he wasn't leaving Whisper Lake any time soon, and neither was she.

Thirty minutes later, they were headed back to town, but it was a slow drive. The road was thick with snow but thanks to the neighbor's plow, they made it to the highway, which was in slightly better condition. He still drove carefully, very aware of the precious cargo he was carrying. Brett was in his car seat in the backseat, and Hannah was sitting next to him, her body tense, her gaze fixed out the window. They were physically close, but emotionally they were very far away.

Hannah's phone buzzed, and she quickly pulled it out of her purse to read a text.

"Is that from Kelly?" he asked.

"No, it's from Debbie, who works at our property management company. She said the cabin was booked to a Kimberly Slater, who used a credit card to pay for the rental. The address attached to the card was Miami, Florida." She looked over at him. "Kelly used a fake name."

"She could have changed her name a long time ago.”

“But Brett said his mom’s name is Kelly.”

“True.” He came up with more possibilities. "Kim Slater could be a friend of hers. Or it's possible Kelly stole the credit card from this woman."

Hannah frowned at that suggestion. "I would hope she didn't steal it."

"The good news is that you have a name and an address. That's a place to start."

"I'll pass it along to Adam. I texted him before we left. He'll meet me at the house in half an hour."

"Did you tell him what's going on?"

"No. I didn't want to get into it. I just said I had something important to talk to him about."

"It's the right play."

"I hope so."

As they neared Whisper Lake, he exited the highway and drove into town. "I know you live in Timber Heights, but I don't have your address."

"27 Chateau."

"Got it." A few minutes later, he turned down her street. Hannah lived in a townhouse in a relatively new development set in the hilly area above town. "Hard to believe this was nothing but open and inaccessible land when we were growing up," he commented. "Now, there are beautiful townhomes. Are you happy living up here?"

"Yes. I have a nice view of the lake from the deck off my bedroom. And everything is new, so I don't have to worry about something breaking, which is a great relief. My parents' house was a hundred years old and there was always something going wrong."

"Your mom sold the house a while back, right?"

"Five years ago. It needed a lot of repairs, and she was headed back to an expensive rehab facility in Denver, so she agreed to put it on the market. She got enough cash out of it that she could pay for rehab and get a small condo when she got out. She lives just off Main Street, and she enjoys being able to walk to work at Sonia's Flower Shop."

"Does she enjoy her job?"

"She seems to. She and Sonia have become good friends. In fact, Sonia introduced my mother to her latest boyfriend, who I'm unsure about."

"Who is he and why don't you like him?" he asked curiously.

"His name is Marty Guillory. He's a retired lawyer who bought a house by the lake, and now he dabbles in photography. I don't dislike him, but he has a party vibe to him, and I don't think that's good for my mother. But she doesn't much care for my opinion."

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "It's not like I don't want her to be happy. I just think she needs to be very careful, especially when it comes to men. She made a good decision when she got together with my dad, but everyone since his death has not been great. Most of them have encouraged her addictions. I was kind of hoping she might just stay single and work on herself, but when Marty moved to town a few months ago, she got all giddy and nervous. I told her to go slow, but she doesn't listen. She thinks I'm too hard on her, as if she didn't do anything to deserve my distrust."

He had a feeling that Hannah was hard on her mom. But he could also understand why. He certainly wasn't going to take her mother's side. He had his own battle to worry about.

He pulled into her driveway in front of the attached garage. As they got out of the car, Adam pulled up in a black SUV. He had dark hair and blue eyes and was not in uniform today, but rather in black jeans and a black leather jacket. Adam had moved to Whisper Lake a few years ago, shortly after his sister Lizzie had bought the Firefly Inn. He'd been working in Denver before that and was a top-notch police officer. Jake had every confidence that Adam would know what to do.

"Who's that?" Brett asked, as Jake helped him out of his car.

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