Page 46 of Mountain Man Daddy

He pulled his head back, and his eyes were shining with emotion.

“She was twenty-seven weeks along when they couldn’t find the heartbeat. She had to deliver our stillborn son before we’d even been married a month. Maybe if she hadn’t been so lost after she would have left me and moved on, but she didn’t. Years passed, and we drifted farther apart, but we were friends—if nothing else we had that.” Avery tilted slightly, kissing his lips in encouragement. Her gut was dense with sorrow imagining what they’d gone through. Was there anything worse than losing a child? By the anguish on his face, she knew his story wasn’t over. She nodded to encourage him.

“I was always away on the road, hunting dangerous fugitives, and she was busy building her real estate business. I think we purposely kept our lives hectic to avoid dealing with anything other than friendly cohabitation.” He swallowed and looked away, but she saw the flash of guilt in his eyes.

“She started seeing someone else. I only found out because I came home early one weekend—my team and I had a great lead, and I was in a celebratory mood. I was sure we were going to get our guy within the week. I stopped downtown to get a pizza from our favorite restaurant and a bottle of wine. And there she was holding hands across the table with my old partner, Mark Hardwick.” Mike looked back at Avery, and his face looked bright for a second.

“She looked happier than I’d ever seen her.” Mike looked thoughtful, not pained as Avery might expect a man to look speaking of his wife’s betrayal.

“I guess I stood there staring for a while. It made me realize how unhappy we’d been all those years.” He glanced down at their hands still entwined and rubbed his thumbs over her skin. “No, not unhappy. We lived like friends, so there were lots of great memories, but no passion.” Mike reached his hand to cup Avery’s cheek before he continued.

“Nothing like what I’ve had with you, sweetheart.” She leaned into his palm, closing her eyes a moment to soak in his words.

“I went to a hotel to sleep that night, intent on telling her the next day that we should get a divorce—that I wanted her to be happy with Mark. I finished the bottle of wine myself, part celebration and part dealing with the end of the only adult life I had ever known.”

Avery shivered, thinking of her unhappy marriage. Mike pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“The next morning, when I went to the house, I found her—dead.”

Avery gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God, Mike!” He pulled back, and she reached for him, putting both her hands on his face. “That must have been awful.”

He scrutinized her eyes, and his expression changed from one of torment to anger. “Not as terrible as when I was arrested for it.”

She was taken aback, but she didn’t let go of him.

“W-what? Why?”

“It’s always the husband, Avery.” Mike’s head fell, knocking her hands to her lap, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Witnesses that saw me staring at them through the window of the restaurant and no one saw me all night after that.”

“What about the guy she was with? Her lover?”

“My ex-partner had an alibi. He was home with his sister all night.”

“Who else could have done it then?” Avery felt panic rising even though it was in the past. Mike wasn’t a killer and the thought that anyone could ever think that tore her to pieces.

“Exactly, Avery. Exactly.”

“What happened?”

“They didn’t have enough evidence, but they charged me anyway. When it went to trial the Crown attorney—that’s like your prosecutor in the states—had a witness who’d seen a man about my height and build watching the house that night, but it was too dark for him to say for sure if it was me. During the cross, my lawyer got him to admit he’d seen this man there a few times over the course of the week, and I had been in Montreal until the night of the murder. They called witnesses from the restaurant and someone who thought they saw me leave the hotel that night but couldn’t be sure, but in the end, the jury didn’t feel the Crown proved my guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“You must have been so relieved it was all over.”

“Avery, that didn’t mean people believed I was innocent. In fact, they thought the opposite.” He closed his eyes and shoveled a hand through his hair. “They were even angrier then that I’d gotten away with it, especially Mark. We’d been friends for years, and he hated me. I lost everything. Ella was gone, and Mark was convinced I’d killed her out of jealousy and had a PI on me constantly. He was obsessed with proving I killed her. Most of my other friends and coworkers, all jaded by the legal system, believed the worst and refused to associate with me. The few that stood by me understood when I chose to leave. I retired, with the offer to return or be transferred. Kids threw eggs at my house, old ladies gave me dirty looks, clerks at stores ignored me. I was a leper.” He drew in a breath. “So I left it all behind. No more people, no more society. I wanted nothing to do with anyone again.” He took her hands.

“Avery, I didn’t kill her.” He pleaded with his eyes for her to trust him and her eyes welled at his pain. She had never trusted anyone more than she trusted her mountain man daddy.

“Anyone that knows you—reallyknows you, couldneverbelieve you did.” She launched herself into his arms.

Chapter Twelve

Mike didn’t have to go to Annie’s. A forensics team and several cops, including Officer Riley had surrounded the Jeep. He only had to ask, and Riley was pointed out. He hated being around the group. There was nothing but bitterness left in him about his time with the RCMP. But this wasn’t about him, it was about Avery, and he’d do anything to protect and keep her safe.

“I’m Officer Riley,” the young cop said, pulling a card out of his breast pocket. “You’re Mike Hunter, right?” the officer asked, but it was clear to Mike, he needn’t have. He knew exactly who Mike was. Mike nodded.

“I need your help,” Mike said skipping the small talk. He held his breath, waiting, reading the young officer’s face.

“You look a little different with the beard and long hair, but I’d recognize those eyes anywhere.” The officer’s next words surprised the hell out of him.

---