Page 8 of Only One More Lie

Everyone gathered around a large stone fireplace, finding seats on the forest green couches and tawny brown chairs. Juniper served them hot chocolate, which had been kept warm on the stove, along with a tray of sugar cookies.

“I like your necklace,” Matthew murmured. “It’s an Evenstar pendant, isn’t it?”

Juniper touched the chain at her neck. “Oh, this? Thanks. I’m a closetLord of the Ringsfan. My parents always said I liked to read too much. I always responded by asking if it was even possible to read too much? Not in my book.”

“Beautiful place.” Duke’s gaze swept the cabin.

“Thank you.” Juniper glanced around also before smiling sadly. “My parents built this themselves. They even gathered all the rocks used on the fireplace from a nearby river.”

“It looks like quite the operation you have going on.” Mariella picked up a cookie shaped like a star.

Andi noted there were no snowmen sugar cookies. Only Christmas trees, wreaths, bells, and stockings.

“I read the reviews,” Mariella continued. “People love it here.”

“I’m glad. I’ve been doing some stuff on Instagram, and the posts have become super popular. People are finally seeing what I’ve found special here for so many years.”

“Sounds like you’re in a good place, despite everything that happened.” Simmy held her mug closer, letting the steam hit her face. “When we do something we love, it doesn’t feel like work at all, does it?”

Juniper practically beamed as she glanced at Simmy. “My mom used to say that too. She also used to insist on having cookies and hot chocolate for every guest who came into thelodge to check in for their stay. I’ve tried to carry on that tradition.”

Juniper paused, and her smile faded as she let out a long breath as if she dreaded what she knew was coming.

Reliving what was undoubtedly the hardest, most horrible day of her life.

Andi licked her lips, trying to be sensitive and choose her words carefully. “Do you want us to jump in with questions? Because we can wait if we need to.”

Juniper shook her head, her expression suddenly tight. “No, we don’t have any time to waste. This guy is going to strike again in four days unless we find some answers. We can’t let that happen. I don’t want another family to go through what I have. What happened last year haunts me every single day.”

“I can only imagine.” Andi glanced at the rest of her team. “If y’all are okay with it, then we can set up and get started.”

“That would be fantastic.” Juniper rubbed her hands on her jeans, showing her first sign of nerves. As if sensing Juniper’s anxiety, Tundra sat beside her near the fire.

Andi stared at the questions she’d written on a piece of paper. She held it in her hands as she waited for Matthew to finish setting up the sound and cameras.

A few minutes later, he gave her a thumbs up.

It was showtime.

Juniper licked her lips as she prepared to begin.

But before the first question left her lips, Juniper’s radio crackled. “Juniper . . . I need . . . your help. Now!”

Duke heard the urgency in the man’s voice and rose.

“Emmett?” Juniper put the radio near her lips. “Where are you?”

“The reindeer . . . pen. Come . . . now.”

Juniper raced to the door, Duke on her heels.

They quickly threw on their shoes and coats before flooding outside. The whole gang hurried across the icy snow, down the road, and paused beside a UTV parked near a fence.

Duke’s eyes widened when he saw a man lying in the snow, spilled containers of hay beside him as he writhed with pain. A UTV was parked only a few feet away.

Juniper rushed toward the man, who was probably in his early sixties with a salt-and-pepper beard and large belly. “Emmett . . . what happened?”

“Don’t worry . . . about me.” His expression tightened.

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