BIG SKY SECRETS 03: End Game by Roxanne Rustand

both stopped at a card table on the front porch of the house to fill out forms and receive bidding numbers.
    Scott put his in his shirt pocket, then buttoned up his long drover’s coat. “I’m heading up the hill to check out the equipment. Want to come along?”
    “In a bit. I’m going to grab a cup of hot chocolate at the food stand inside, then check out the household things.”
    “Sounds good.” Bemused, she watched him step out in the rain and stride through the mud.
    The miles had flown past on the way here. He’d been easy to talk to, though the silences had been just as comfortable as the conversation—as if they’d known each other for years.
    Yet now she realized that he’d deftly kept the conversation in her court, and she didn’t know much more about him now than she had before. By accident or design?
    She turned to go inside and bumped into a woman with long blond hair who was easing out the door with a cup of steaming coffee in her hand. “Erin?”
    The blonde looked up and her mouth dropped open. “Megan—oh, my word!” She looked down at her coffee, laughing. “I want to give you a big hug. But I can’t! How is everything?”
    Megan stepped back outside, holding the door for her cousin. “Busy. And you?”
    Erin gestured toward the hill with her coffee cup as they moved to the corner of the porch to allow others to pass by. “I came looking for garden tools. I’d like to grow fresh produce and herbs for the café next year. Jack—” She glanced over her shoulder “—is somewhere out there with his nephew. There’s a sign on the barn offering free kittens.”
    Something on her left hand sparkled, catching the light from the bare lightbulb. Megan blinked then stared. “Erin!”
    Blushing, Erin extended her hand. “It’s new, just this weekend. Isn’t it lovely? I meant to call you and Kris this week.”
    “Wow.” Mindful of the hot coffee in Erin’s hand, Megan gave her a hug, then stepped back. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? How life has changed?”
    “I never thought I’d come back to Montana. Once I graduated from high school, I couldn’t wait to get away. The memories were still so hard. And yet here I am again, running Grandma Millie’s little general store. And I’m so happy now—it’s like I had to come back home to finally heal.”
    Megan nodded. “I stopped in to see Kris yesterday. She’s doing really well, too, since she moved back.”
    “We were quite something as kids, weren’t we? She was always like a third cousin.” Erin shook her head fondly. “I have a lot of great memories of those times…at least until the summer Laura died.”
    “Same here.” Megan bit her lower lip. “Losing her like that changed us all.”
    Erin fell silent for a long moment. “You were the only one of us who didn’t leave Montana.”
    “Hey,” Megan protested. “I did move to the next county.”
    Erin’s delicate eyebrows drew together. “Do you ever regret not getting away from here?”
    “I’m doing exactly what I was meant to do. No regrets.” A shadow crossed her thoughts…one born of an evil stranger’s cunning that made her heartbeat stumble. “It’s not all fun, believe me. But I’m doing the right thing. I’d rather try to make a difference than run.”
    Erin glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. “I’ve been reading the news about those murders in the newspaper. Our tourist business is starting to trickle in, and even the vacationers have heard about them. Some stop by the store for supplies, but say they’ve decided to head south to the Tetons instead.”
    “I can promise you that we’re doing everything we can, and the DCI has been involved, too. We’re following up on every lead we get.”
    “Believe me, I’m not questioning what’s being done. I’m just glad you’re on board, and that the county has a sheriff who will do a good job. Do you remember the alcoholic we had back when we were kids?”
    “Sheriff