Identical Threat

by Tyler Anne Snell

  “We’d love to,” she called back. “Just tell us a time and we’ll be here with bells on!”

  Riley found Desmond’s gaze. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, now annoyed. She worried that her sister had done that, but just as quickly as he looked ready to roll his eyes, he was smirking again.

  Riley focused on those lips.

  The ones she’d just gotten very well acquainted with.

  The same set that she couldn’t help but hope to touch again.

  “Five-thirty. Five if you’d like to see this one here take a ride on his horse.”

  “Mom,” Desmond complained.

  She ignored it.

  “That sounds perfect,” Jenna said. “See you then!”

  Riley finally got her escape. It wasn’t until they were in the car and pointed toward Winding Road that she warned her sister.

  “Not a word, Jenna. I mean it.”

  Jenna, of course, didn’t listen.

  * * *

  “THIS ISN’T IDEAL.”

  It was nearing four in the afternoon and Desmond was about to point out to Caleb that what he’d just said was one hell of an understatement.

  What wasn’t ideal was having your mother show up on your front porch and effectively catching you in the act of getting close with someone.

  What wasn’t ideal was having that same mother bebop around your house, peppering you with questions about your intentions, your feelings and your future goals in relation to the young woman you so obviously spent that close time with.

  What wasn’t ideal was, after finally getting your nosy mother out of your hair, starting to ask yourself all of those things only to be interrupted by news that was so far from ideal it was laughable.

  “Evan Davies being let go less than twenty-four hours after he was arrested is a travesty of justice,” Desmond decided. “Way worse than not ideal.”

  Caleb let out a long breath. He nodded.

  “Hey, I’m not thrilled about it either but the department’s hands are tied. That lawyer of his was no joke. Once Marty came to and said it was the man in the suit who knocked him out and he hadn’t even seen Davies, there wasn’t much we could do.”

  They were standing in the stable between both of their horses. Winona was ready to go on their daily ride while Ax, Caleb’s overo, was tired after returning from his. Both men were out of their work clothes and in outfits they’d probably wear every day for the rest of their natural lives. Button-down flannels, Levi’s jeans, boots and their Stetsons. There wasn’t a stitch of clothes that they were more comfortable in than what was worn as they’d grown up, working the ranch.

  “His story made no sense.” Desmond thought that was worth repeating. “He came to town to check on Riley after seeing her in the paper. Then just happened to be riding past Second Wind when he saw Marty being jumped? Then when we show up he throws himself from the second story to avoid us?” Desmond growled. “He’s lying.”

  Caleb shrugged.

  “I know but that doesn’t change what happened. Being weird isn’t a crime and we can’t prove he did anything other than that.”

  Desmond felt the urge to cuss someone. Seeing as he was surrounded by horses and his brother, he squashed the urge.

  “Listen, we didn’t just send him on his merry way,” Caleb added. “Declan did his terrifying sheriff voice with a warning that it might be better if Davies just left Overlook. He might have been lying about why he was at Second Wind but you could see clear in his eyes he was going to heed Declan’s words.”

  That didn’t make the knot in Desmond’s stomach unclench. It also didn’t erase the worry that he knew without even hearing her that had been in Riley’s tone when Caleb had passed along the information that Davies was free.

  Desmond wasn’t surprised when Caleb picked up on his thoughts.

  “Jazz and her husband followed Davies to the town line without him even knowing. He’s gone and do you know who should be here soon?” Caleb reverted to a grin. He answered his own question. “The very same lady you tried to woo with Wheel of Fortune and PB&Js.”

  The serious part of the conversation turned to siblings jabbing at one another. Just as the Stone sisters had on his front porch earlier that day. It was nice to see that the pain of having siblings wasn’t a Nash-family-only event.

  Caleb left to shower and Desmond took Winona out into the field. Before the abduction he hadn’t been a tried-and-true lover of riding like Caleb and Declan. His father had always tried to get him more enthused about it but the words always fell flat. It was like Michael Nash was trying to put an ethereal feeling into mere words. The sentiment never moved Desmond.

  Then he’d had surgery on his leg. Worries of partially being paralyzed became worries of permanent nerve damage which in turn became concern that walking would never be the same for him.

  Desmond remembered the suffocating feeling of being surrounded by questions, fears and worry. It had sent him on crutches out to the same field. There his father had found him. Unlike his mother, the Nash family patriarch was all blunt, all the time.

  He had pointed toward the horses and then laid a heavy truth on his young son’s shoulders.

  “There’s a chance your leg may never be the way it used to be, son. But, that doesn’t mean there’s not an entire world out there that you can’t enjoy,” he’d said. “There’s never enough time to do every single thing you want to but there’s always time to do at least one thing. You just need to make that one thing count.”

  The last part was Michael Nash’s mantra. One that he’d told his children countless times. Desmond and Madi had never put much stock in the saying like Caleb had—to them it had just been another memory of their father they repeated to feel close—but in the last few years things had started to change for them.

  There was a beauty to their father’s words. One that, spoken to him in that moment when he was nine, Desmond now felt deeply as an adult.

  “If you can’t walk the way you want, then do something else you can,” his father had continued, looking out at the horses. “And do it with everything you’ve got.”

  That’s how Desmond had channeled his frustrations and fears. He’d found an outlet and newfound love for riding. Even now, what felt like a lifetime later, feeling the power of a horse beneath him, feeling the rhythm of hooves against the earth and feeling the rush of wind was second to none.

  It always started the same. He was a kid again, running to reclaim a life that had almost been taken. A teen, worried about his father’s obsession with their unsolved case. A young adult, mourning his father’s death and scared for what it would do to the rest of the family. An adult, trying to help other families from drowning in the wake of tragedy and trauma.

  Then, all at once, he was just a kid laughing in the wind. A teen who marveled at how fast he could go. A young adult who felt invincible. An adult who wished the feeling would never end.

  And, sometimes, Desmond’s mind relaxed enough that he could look back at that same fence he’d stood at when he was nine and see his father.

  Smiling because his son finally understood.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Hartley was in a walking mood.

  No sooner had Riley gotten him out of his car seat was he marching toward Mimi’s Boutique with a purpose. Riley couldn’t help but laugh as she locked the car and hurried to take his hand.

  A woman was laughing too when they walked through the front door, setting off the bell over it.

  “He must know what he wants,” she exclaimed, looking at the one-man marching band with red curls galore.

  Riley shrugged.

  “I guess so! Usually he’s not the best at shopping but today I guess is a good day.”

  The woman, a few years older and with a few more laugh lines than Riley, stayed behind the counter but motioned to the
store.

  “And what about his mama? Does she know what she’s looking for?”

  Hartley made a beeline for the first rack of clothes. Mimi’s Boutique, by its name alone, seemed to be just for clothing but Jenna had assured her it was a one-stop shop for a variety of things.

  Like fancy tins to put freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies in.

  “Actually, his mama has a migraine so I volunteered to be on aunt duty,” Riley felt the need to correct. “But this aunt is wondering where your festive but not-too-festive dessert tins are?”

  The woman, who Riley knew wasn’t Mimi, placed a bookmark in her current read and came around the counter with the same purpose Hartley was using to browse.

  “We have just the thing.”

  Minutes later, and a quick introduction that led into a chat about the best recipe for rocky-road brownies, and Riley was staring down at a circular tin with a horse-ranch theme to it. A little on the nose but Riley saw it as cute. She just hoped Dorothy Nash wasn’t tired of the ranch theme.

  “Have fun,” the woman, named Patricia, called. “See you later, handsome man!”

  Both women laughed as Hartley responded with an excited, “Bye!”

  “You’re a rock star in your own right, did you know that?” Riley asked him as she went back to the task of buckling him into the car seat.

  “I’m a stud,” he exclaimed.

  That got Riley really giggling.

  So much so she didn’t hear the man approach her from behind. Yet when she was done and had turned around, there was no way to avoid him.

  “Davies.”

  The first time Riley had met her ex-husband it had been a nice hot summer day. They were at a pool party and boy, had Davies been a sight. Easy on the eyes, quick with a smile and funny. He was sure of himself and confidence in Riley’s peers at that age was a rare thing right out of college. It, more so than any of his other traits, drew her to him like a moth to a flame.

  He knew what he wanted.

  He went for it.

  When it didn’t happen, he readjusted.

  Then went after it again.

  There was a poetry to it. An infectious quality. One that had wrapped around her the more time she had spent with him.

  Now?

  Riley was standing in front of a man she didn’t recognize.

  He wore a suit, one she’d bought him as a gift for his first big promotion. At the time it had gone hand in hand with his confidence and determination. Now it looked like he’d stolen it from his father in an attempt to seem like an adult. Or, maybe, it was just him. There was a shiftiness to Davies and he looked like sleep had been eluding him for some time.

  He was a ghost of his former self and it was taking all Riley could do in that moment not to feel grief over the loss.

  Evan Davies had once been a man of potential. Now he was just a man wasting away in a suit.

  “Where is she?” he started, no segue or greeting.

  “What?”

  He lowered his voice. It, like his demeanor, was panicky.

  “Where is she?”

  Riley shook her head. Was he really still trying to find her by pestering who he thought was Jenna?

  She couldn’t believe it.

  The nerve.

  “I’m not telling you anything other than to leave this town.” She angled her body so she was blocking Hartley from view. Her shoulders were squared, anger tensing her muscles.

  Davies glanced toward the door of the boutique. Patricia was standing in front of the window staring.

  He shifted his eyes back to Riley before averting them.

  “There’s a lot going on you don’t understand,” he said, still basically whispering. “It all—It all just keeps happening and I—” He swore. Riley wasn’t afraid of Davies. Not when she knew what a coward he really was. Yet, her heartbeat did pick up speed as obvious anger washed over the man. “I’m just trying to do something right. That’s—”

  The bell over the door to Mimi’s Boutique sounded.

  “You alright?” Patricia called.

  Davies’s anger washed away as fast as it had come on.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. Then he was walking across the street.

  Riley turned to Patricia. She had her phone in hand.

  “You alright?” she repeated.

  Riley heard the sound of a car door shut and the engine come on.

  “I am now.”

  * * *

  SOME OF THE NASH family were already at the main house when Riley pulled up. She was disappointed that Desmond wasn’t among them but she did catch Declan.

  “I don’t think anything else will come of this but I decided I still needed to give you a heads-up, just in case,” she prefaced then she told him about her run-in with Davies. He was less than pleased. Then he went and made some phone calls.

  Riley felt bad for putting a scowl on his face.

  Dorothy and Madi were in the second wave of Nash family that Riley spoke with. Dorothy was thrilled about the cookies and the tin, while Madi was excited to see Hartley again.

  “Addison is inside playing. Maybe we can go in there too?”

  It was a cool day but not downright cold. Riley wore a dark blue dress with her suede ankle boots, trying to show off clothing she’d gotten several compliments on before and shoes that made her the perfect height to kiss.

  Not that she expected to be doing that but she did have to admit that she’d thought of no one other than a certain cowboy as she was getting ready.

  “That sounds like fun! Right?”

  Hartley nodded. “Yeah!”

  The boy was what Jenna referred to as a true empath. If you were excited, he was excited. If you were sad, he was sad. If you wanted a cookie, he wanted a cookie.

  Though Riley wasn’t convinced that wasn’t just a toddler thing.

  The main house was a beautiful construction. Newer than Riley had expected. It was filled with warmth, brightness and walls covered in framed pictures of the family.

  “I’m sorry Jenna isn’t feeling well,” Dorothy said after Hartley had settled into a playpen filled with toys. “She seemed so excited to see the horses.”

  Riley gave the woman a wry grin.

  “Yes. It was the horses she was excited to see.”

  They shared a look. Dorothy suppressed a laugh. They both knew it was the cowboy Jenna had been ready to drool over while simultaneously slapping Riley in the shoulder with choruses of You made out with that and Do you think he’d take his shirt off if we asked?

  For that reason alone Riley had decided to come to the ranch a little after five. She didn’t want to be awkward standing and staring at the fence line waiting for a glimpse of what she could only assume was one heck of a good sight.

  Instead of gawking, Riley spent the next few minutes talking to Dorothy and Madi about Hidden Hills, the bed-and-breakfast Madi and Julian ran. Riley found a comfortable groove with the women, despite not knowing them well. There was an ease about them. No pressure to impress, just a cruising conversation you could either ride or watch.

  However, neither woman said when Desmond was coming and Riley was getting close to asking when the front door opened and the man himself walked on through.

  His hair was wet, his jeans looked painted on and his baby blues went right to her. Riley felt heat move across her body. Very awkward considering her current company.

  “Hey! Look!” Hartley grabbed Desmond’s attention before he could make it to their group. The boy had his Mr. Puppy, a Great Dane with a cowboy hat sewn between his ears, in his hand. Desmond stopped to inspect it. Then he was talking to the boy with such rapt attention, Riley felt her hormones rise in answer.

  “Des is good with kids,” Madi said at her side. “Just so you know.”

  Riley averted her
gaze with a smile and tried to get back into the conversation, proving she could concentrate on something other than the man, but failed immediately. She couldn’t help but keep an eye on the two as Desmond spent a little time playing with Hartley.

  A disappointing thought moved across her chest.

  What if Desmond thought she was Jenna?

  Geordi had, Davies had, and who was to say he hadn’t just gotten lucky that day at the park?

  She couldn’t blame him if so. Riley and Jenna refused to compromise on the looks they liked just because others confused the two of them. Which meant their hair was nearly the same length and, thanks to a matching metabolism and exercise routine, so was their weight. Their fashion sense went along with it and even their attempts at cat-eye eyeliner were similarly disastrous.

  She took a small breath as Hartley lost interest and Desmond finally turned back to her.

  He smiled.

  Desmond had every right to mistake her for Jenna.

  But Riley hoped he wouldn’t.

  * * *

  “WHERE’S JENNA?” DESMOND greeted, scoping out his family’s home but coming up short. Declan was outside on the phone and Caleb and Nina hadn’t shown up yet. Maybe she was in the back at the grill with Julian.

  Riley stepped away from her conversation with Madi and their mom and let out a noticeable exhale. Her cheeks were flushed. He was about to ask what was wrong when she smiled and answered.

  “She was ‘taken by a migraine that wouldn’t die even with medicine.’ That’s a direct quote. She fought me on bringing Hartley because she didn’t want to inconvenience us but I thought it might be nice to give her a break. Not that I mind hanging out with Hartley.”

  “I’m sorry about Jenna but I can assure you the kiddo isn’t a big deal. Before I created the foundation and was more hands-on with nonprofits I spent a lot of time around kids.” He laughed and hoped what he said next wouldn’t be construed as weird. “I actually really love kids. I’ve always wanted a big family one day.” Then without a thought left in his head he asked, “What about you? You want any kids?”