Page 100 of Only One More Lie

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.”

CHAPTER 53

Andi’s heart nearly thumped out of control when she heard Duke’s words.

Who could possibly be here?

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