Page 60 of Seaside Cowboy's Second Chance

“They truly are,” Dallas echoed.

Her heart fluttered while she was flattered. Could he have meant her?

“I kept thinking about her. I decided I’d return here for my next vacation and ask her out. But years passed, and my start-up needed me so much I couldn’t take a vacation. Then I got sick for a while. When I got better, I made the mistake of telling Earl about her. Showed him booklets of the pastry store that included a photo of her.”

Huh. Skylar had designed those booklets. “I thought photos of the bakers would be a nice personal touch.”

“It was. Then I was so busy with the launch of our new products. After I had to lay people off because of Earl’s betrayal, I had to try to do their work, too. I couldn’t afford sleep, much less a vacation. And once I lost the company, what did I have to offer her?” His shoulders sloped, and misery weighed down his features.

“My grandmother isn’t materialistic.” Skylar did her best to process this.

“Yet Earl’s status impressed her.” Terrence’s eyes narrowed. “Two years after taking everything from me, he called me out of the blue and told me he was going to marry Dolores—myDolores. Now he was taking away even what I didn’t have but wished to—her love.”

“It’s a beautiful story. But you do realize this gives you a double motive, right?” Dallas said.

Good point. Skylar rubbed her forehead. Swept away with the romance that never happened, she’d forgotten it could all be just that—a beautiful story. Were Terrence’s words the truth, or was he playing them?

“Where were you...” Dallas named the date Earl had presumably disappeared.

Terrence rolled his eyes. “I was drinking in this hotel. By myself. So there’s no one to verify my alibi.”

That might be a good sign. If he’d done something to Earl, wouldn’t the guy make an effort to organize an alibi first? Unless he’d acted out of anger. Maybe fueled by alcohol.

Time to bluff again. “Someone saw you near the cottage where Earl was staying. How do you explain that?”

“I went to talk it out with him.”

Dallas raised an eyebrow. “Talk it out?”

“Fine.” The guy groaned. “I had a gun with me. But the cottage was empty.”

Dallas’s stance shifted. “Did you discharge the gun in the air?”

“Yes.” But there was no way to verify it. Terrence’s gaze sharpened. “I suspect Earl’s new dealings aren’t all legal ones.”

She tensed. “Why do you think so?”

“The new products created some waves. He told me we should take the investors’ funds, put them in offshore accounts, and disappear. I–I kind of hope he’s done that.”

Was Terrence trying to throw shade on the person who’d allegedly betrayed him? Or did this have some merit? Or had someone made sure Earl disappeared?

“We have to tell everything to the police. And it would be better for you if you went with us.” She softened her voice. He did mention a gun, and she didn’t want him to reach for it.

“Yeah. I know.” He hid his face in his hands, then finally, raised his chin. “Let me clean up and take off the disguise, and I’ll go with you.”

Would he try to bolt while “cleaning up”? She exchanged glances with Dallas.

But before she could say anything, Terrence added, “After all this is over and—and it’s proven I’m right—do you think your grandmother would give me a chance?”

Oh boy.

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“Idon’t know what tomake of that conversation,” Dallas muttered as Skylar drove them to her grandmother’s cottage. She’d asked to check on her grandmother before dropping him off at the ranch, and of course, he’d agreed.

She made a turn to the narrow street leading to the sea cottage. “Me neither. I hope that, between the police and maybe with the help of your PI brother, it’ll get sorted out. Grandma deserves better than a missing fiancé and a secret suitor who might’ve killed him.”

Well, one thing he had no doubts about. He was falling further and further for Skylar. He took in her beautiful profile—the sweep of her lashes over the curve of her cheeks and the cute quirk of her lips never failed to make his heartbeat go faster.

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