Page 62 of Caught in the Crossfire

Nicole’s brows knitted. “Find out what?”

“About Mason, of course.”

“I don’t understand.” Surely Greta didn’t believe Mason was guilty of murder.

The woman paled. “Forget I said anything.” She started to turn away but Nicole caught her arm.

“You’ve already raised my curiosity and I’d rather hear the news from you. What are you talking about?”

Greta whispered, “Mason’s affair.”

Stunned, Nicole stared at her friend. “Are you saying Mason had an affair with Riva?”

A nod. “He and Riva spent a lot of time alone together in the middle of the day. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Keep your apology. I don’t need it. Mason wasn’t having an affair with Riva. He repaired items around her house. Brian Elliott assigned him the jobs.”

“My home is over 100 years old, and I don’t need that many repairs from a handsome handyman.”

Greta was right about one thing. Mason was handsome. No matter what the grapevine said, Nicole knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mason would never cheat on her.

“There’s no doubt that Riva was seeing someone. She bragged to anyone who would listen. It’s been the talk of the town for weeks.”

“Did she say who?”

Greta shook her head. “She always went on and on about Mason’s kindness and attractiveness. It was obvious she had a thing for your man. I heard she sabotaged things around her house to have an excuse to see Mason alone.”

“No matter what Riva might have wanted, Mason wouldn’t betray me.”

“How do you know? A lot of men have wandering eyes and hands.”

“Not Mason. You can inform the gossip queens on the grapevine that they’re way off base with this theory.”

“Order up for Nicole,” the cashier called.

“I won’t keep you.” Greta squeezed her hand. “Guard your heart, okay? I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Too late. The accusations and untruths about Mason ripped her heart into jagged pieces. Why wouldn’t anyone give him the benefit of the doubt? Mason Kincaid was the finest man she knew aside from her adoptive father. She was honored to be his.

Nicole took the large bag from the cashier with a nod of thanks and turned to see Linc striding toward her, Dawn on his heels.

“I’ll take that,” he said. “You okay?”

She shook her head. “Let’s get out of here.” The last thing she wanted was to spend another minute in a restaurant full of people who believed the worst of Mason and her. By their estimation, Mason was a two-timing louse and Nicole was naive.

Linc ushered her and Dawn to his SUV. The ride to his house was silent as Nicole brooded.

Once they were inside Linc’s house with the door locked, Linc led them to the kitchen where he unloaded the bag. “Do we eat now or wait for Mason?”

“Wait.” Nicole couldn’t handle food at the moment. “He should be here in a few minutes.”

“I’ll go clean up,” Dawn said. With a glance at Linc, she left.

“I should do the same,” Nicole murmured. She smelled like wet dog, a hazard of the job.

“Tell me what’s wrong, Nic. Did Greta say something to upset you?”

An understatement. “Yeah, she did. She meant to protect me, not hurt.”

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