Page 8 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

“Only you and Beau knew about this?”

“Until I saw your father coming in from a ride and waved him over,” Conrad said. She must have shot a confused look because he continued, “Your father kept his mare here on property. He used to ride with Beaumont. That’s generally how they discussed business.” He motioned away from the main house. “Out there.”

Nikki loved horses. Had she inherited the trait from her father?

Her mother was more into shopping and high-end restaurants than mucking stalls and taking walks in nature. Her parents’ marriage had been oil and water. The divorce had been gasoline on fire.

She mentally broke free from those heavy thoughts. “Sounds like my father.” Her gaze cut to Conrad. “What little I knew about the man.”

“Believe me when I tell you that I understand.”

He did. She could see comradery in the depths of his eyes—eyes that made her believe she could see into his soul.

Too little sleep during midterms last week had her waxing poetic. Nikki prided herself on being logical instead of emotional. Emotions were fine as long as they didn’t get in the way. She’d learned the hard way that letting them get away from her only led to heartache when she’d taken time off in between undergrad and law school to heal a broken heart. Turned out, all those warnings about not dating your professor had been true. Some older men dated younger women because they were naïve, as she’d been.

Growing up sheltered and with daddy issues had primed her for an older, sophisticated man to swoop in and take advantage. She’d sworn off relationships after spending a month in bed, not wanting to open the curtains, let alone eat. It had been her stepfather who’d stood up for her. He’d defended her when her mother had been hard on her. He’d been everything she’d wished her biological father had been—and that was another reason she’d given serious consideration to the adult adoption when he’d brought it up despite Heath’s controlling nature. That, and the fact she’d barely known the other man.

Her stepfather might not be perfect, but he’d been there for her above and beyond the call of duty when she’d had no one else to stick up for her. Had he gone too far at times? Probably. But since her biological father hadn’t cared one way or another if someone hurt her, she gave her stepdad a lot of slack.

Being here in Saddle Junction was the closest she’d felt to Harrison Guidry, and he was gone. How messed up was that?

Nikki caught Conrad’s gaze. “I believe you do understand.” She pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off a headache trying to form between her eyes.

“Why are you here?” Conrad asked.

“Oh, right.” She suddenly realized how odd it must be for her to randomly show up. At least, it would be random in his eyes. “I’m on spring break from schoolandhave a decision to make. I didn’t think I could do it justice without a face-to-face meeting with my father.” She paused a beat, trying to gather her thoughts about their complicated relationship. “My stepfather would like to adopt me so I can legally become his daughter.”

“Did your father know about this?”

“No,” she admitted. “Which is why I was coming here today. I’d been hoping to spend time with him so I could get to know him better. He’s been absent in my life, and we haven’t talked much, especially in the last few years except for a recent fight.”

She figured Conrad could relate to those words.

He nodded.

“I don’t know what I was expecting,” she said.

“Maybe so, but I know what you were hoping for,” Conrad said. “An apology for starters for being a crappy parent.”

“That would have been a good place to begin.”

“Then you might’ve wanted some sense of why the man wanted you to be born in the first place,” he continued, striking a chord with those words.

“Yes.”

“And for him to say that he recognized the error of his ways and would like to rectify the situation,” he said, taking the words from her exact thoughts.

“That’s right.”

“But that’s the problem with searching for humanity in men like Beaumont and Harrison,” Conrad said, his gaze locking with hers, “they have none.”

She briefly closed her eyes. “And then, they’re gone.”

Conrad chewed the inside of his cheek. “But not before dragging a few of us down with them.”

Those words reassured her that he was innocent because you would have to be a complete psychopath to pull off the honesty in his eyes, along with the hint of sadness lingering there.

Conrad stirred a dangerous feeling inside her. She made a mental note to keep him at arm’s length during this investigation because he posed a serious risk to her objectivity.

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