Page 50 of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

My brow lifted.

Her smile wavered. “I admit it’s partially for me. You know that your mother and I grew close. I’d like to know what happened, but I suspect Tilly would too. I think she deserves it. So if you want to let it drop, I understand, but please don’t tell Summer to stop.”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I won’t. I promise.”

My phone rang in my pocket with my video call tone and I pulled it out, my heart leaping when I saw Colt’s name on the screen.

“Hey,” I said as I answered, pulling my knees up to my chin. The sight of him on my phone made my heart leap with joy. “How was your performance tonight?”

“Amazing, Maggie,” he said, his eyes wide with excitement. He looked like he was in a parking lot, with muffled country music streaming out from the building behind him. “There was an agent in the audience. Shep Wheatfield.”

“Colt!” I exclaimed. “He’s your dream agent.”

“I know, Mags.” He paused, staring at me in amazement. “He wants to represent me.”

My heart burst with pride. “That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!”

His face fell. “But there’s something… I…”

“I know you sang my song,” I said quietly.

He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes downcast. “Mags…”

“It’s okay,” I said, my voice full of reassurance. “I saw it on Twitter. You were amazing.”

“I told you I wouldn’t sing it without you,” he said, his eyes full of guilt. “But when I heard Shep was in the audience…”

“It was the right call, Colt. It’s a beautiful song. It needs to be heard.”

“I miss you, Maggie Mae.”

I smiled as tears stung my eyes. “I miss you too.”

His brow wrinkled. “What’s that sound I hear in the background?”

“It’s the ocean.”

Belinda gave me a smile, then got up and went inside, closing the sliding door behind her.

“Belinda and I came down to Pensacola.”

“You decided not to go to Sweet Briar?” he asked in surprise.

“We did, and we interviewed a couple of private investigators. Belinda set up the appointments because she thought it would be faster. We hired one and there was no reason to stick around, so we left.”

He studied me for a moment and turned up a sad smile. “Why do I think there’s a whole lot more to this than you’re telling me?”

“Because you’re a smart man.” I took a breath. “We saw the farm where Momma was raised. Momma had a sister, Colt. Did you know that?”

His eyes bugged out. “What? Does she live down there in Sweet Briar?”

“No,” I said, resting my chin on my knees as I held the phone out in my hand. “My aunt Bethany died the year Momma was a senior in high school. She was sixteen years old and she was murdered.”

“What?”

“Blunt force trauma. Someone hit her in the head out by their stock pond. But they never found out who killed her. My grandparents died in a car accident a year later.”

He looked shell-shocked. “So Lila left town.”

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