Cross My Heart

One

The Hawken’s Cove courthouse was a fixture in town, the old stone building the landmark by which everyone gave directions. Make a left at the courthouse and The Tavern Grill was on the right, along with Night Owl’s Bar. Make a right at the courthouse and the gas station was on the corner. The ice-cream shop was across from the courthouse.

As a lawyer, Hunter spent his days haunting the courthouse when he was on trial and working in his small office located on the street behind the courthouse when he wasn’t. Some might find it odd that Hunter remained in Hawken’s Cove after the childhood he’d had, but the good memories outweighed the bad and his closest friend and the only family Hunter knew still lived there.

Hunter never considered moving anywhere else. But to keep his life interesting, he lived in Albany, twenty minutes from work and the closest thing to a real city he was likely to find in upstate New York.

He walked out of the courtroom at 4:00 p.m. and headed straight down the hallowed hallway toward the front doors. He’d won a hard-fought case today. An innocent man who couldn’t afford expensive legal counsel had turned to Hunter and he’d done his best. These were the cases Hunter enjoyed. He only represented the rich and obnoxious so that he could afford to take on the pro bono cases he preferred.

After working endless hours for months on end, all he wanted to do was have a stiff drink and not have to use his brain for at least twenty-four hours. But as he passed the clerk’s office, his gaze settled on a pair of long legs and vibrant pink high heels. Only one woman wore shoes that bright and in-your-face.

“Molly Gifford,” Hunter said, coming to a halt beside his old law school nemesis. They’d vied for top spot at Albany Law. It still galled him to admit she’d won.

After graduation, they’d parted ways, with Molly leaving for a job in another state. But recently she’d moved to town and for the last month, he’d had the pleasure of checking out those incredible legs on a near daily basis. But her move here had been a surprise because Molly wasn’t born or raised in Hawken’s Cove. When he’d asked, she’d said something about reconnecting with her mother and not much more.

Molly shifted her focus from the court clerk she’d been speaking to and settled her brown eyes on him. “Hunter,” she said, a welcoming smile on her lips. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

Hunter wasn’t surprised she’d already heard, but still, he was pleased. Hell, if she hadn’t congratulated him he’d have told her himself. He wasn’t much for modesty, not when it came to looking good in front of a woman.

“Word travels fast around here.”

“A win’s always a cause for gossip. I hope you’re going to celebrate,” she said.

The one thing he’d always admired about Molly had been her willingness to acknowledge another person’s success. “I could be persuaded.” Meeting her gaze, he leaned against the filing counter. “Join me for a drink?”

“Can’t.” She shook her head. Her blond hair fell in soft waves around her pretty face and the old familiar attraction kicked into gear inside him.

He wasn’t shocked at her answer. He’d ask, she’d decline. Even back in law school they played this old game. He knew his reasons for not pushing her harder. Molly was a nice girl and it had been a lot easier for Hunter to avoid anything serious with the not-so-nice ones. The ones who didn’t expect much more than sex and fun.

Still, he couldn’t resist the pull that caused him to keep asking Molly out anyway and now that fate had thrown them together again, he’d hoped she’d give him-give them-a chance. Because he’d finally figured out that he’d grown up enough to want to take one with her.

“What’s your excuse this time? You have to give your dog a bath?” he asked her.

She grinned. “Nothing nearly as exciting. My mother’s fiancé has a legal issue he wants me to explore. Which reminds me.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m going to be late meeting him if I don’t hurry. Maybe another time?” she asked and rushed to the door, leaving a whiff of intoxicating perfume in her wake.

He groaned, knowing he’d be tossing and turning tonight and not just because of her sensual scent. Maybe another time?were words Molly had never used with him before. In the past, no had always been a definite no until he’d asked the next time. His heart pounded harder at the possibility she’d opened up to him.

He turned to the court clerk who sat behind her desk eagerly listening in on the exchange. “So, is Molly’s mother marrying someone local?” he asked, knowing Anna Marie was the woman with all the answers.

Anna Marie Costanza had been the clerk for longer than anyone who practiced law could remember. She came from a family who held important posts in town. One of her brothers was the mayor, another the town supervisor, yet a third a partner at the prestigious Albany law firm of Dunne and Dunne. They were connected and could provide assistance and answers to most questions anybody needed answered.

As for Anna Marie, she provided the main source of courthouse gossip but she also ran a tight ship. She and her brothers also owned one of the oldest boardinghouses in town. Anna Marie lived there herself, acting as the superintendent in charge of all things, and lucky for Hunter, Molly rented one of the units. Between the older woman’s day job and her occupation as landlord, he’d bet she knew every last detail that was available about each local resident. Especially Molly.

“Yes sirree. Her mother’s marrying a longtime resident of our fair town.” Anna Marie leaned forward. “Aren’t you curious as to who the lucky guy is?” she asked, obviously eager to impart the information.

“I was getting there,” Hunter said, laughing.

“Her fiancé’s Marc Dumont. I found out when Molly’s mother filed for a marriage license.” Anna Marie met Hunter’s gaze and nodded slowly, giving him time to absorb the implications of her news.

As he did, Hunter’s smile faded. Memories of a time when he was young and not as cocky as he liked to appear now kicked in hard and fast. He clenched his hands into tight fists, the old anger he worked hard to control, rising to the surface. He fought it down.

It wasn’t Anna Marie’s fault she remembered his connection to Dumont. There wasn’t anyone who’d lived in their hometown who didn’t know the story of how Lilly had disappeared, presumably running her car off a cliff and into the quarry below. Her body had never been recovered.

There also wasn’t anyone who didn’t know that Marc Dumont blamed her best friends, Hunter and Ty, for his niece’s “death.” He’d tried, without success, to make the stolen car charges stick. But he had convinced the state to split the friends apart, taking Hunter away from Flo Benson’s foster home.

Hunter had spent the year prior to turning eighteen in a state-run juvenile facility for troubled teens. His anger and resentment resurfaced and his attitude had gotten him into enough fights that he’d nearly ended up in jail. Instead he’d been forced to attend a Scared Straight program in a real lockup and the reality had turned him around fast, just as the program intended. He’d done so by using Lilly as motivation.

He’d hear her voice telling him that she wanted better for him than jail. But he still blamed Dumont for his stint in juvie just as he credited Lilly, Ty and Flo’s influence for his turnaround.

Hearing Dumont’s name still set Hunter’s nerves on edge. “What’s the old bastard after now, that he needs Molly’s help?” he asked Anna Marie.

She pursed her lips. “Tsk, tsk. You know I can’t be passing along privileged information.”

Hunter laughed at the mock offense in the older woman’s voice. He and Anna Marie shared a love of information any way they had to get it. “Have any court papers been officially filed by Mr. Dumont?” he asked.

Anna Marie grinned. “Well, no.”

“Then what’s privileged about a little courtroom gossip?” Hunter had a sudden, urgent need to know more about what Dumont would need a lawyer for at this point in his life, why he would involve Molly and who the bastard was using now.

“Good point. You are as fast thinking on your feet as they say. Are you sure you’re too young for me?” she asked, playfully nudging him in the arm.

“I think you’re too young for me. I’m afraid your energy would wear me out,” he said, laughing. Though he didn’t know her exact age, he’d bet she was in her midsixties and though she didn’t keep up with the trends, she was spry in spirit.

She smacked the counter and chuckled.

“Come on, now spill what you know.” He could see from the light in her eyes, she was dying to share her secrets.

“Well since you asked so nicely…I heard Molly talking on the phone earlier. Marc Dumont’s getting ready to claim his niece’s trust fund as his own.”

“What?” Hunter asked, certain he’d heard wrong.

“Since it’s been nearly ten years, he plans to go to court and have her declared legally dead. You know, seeing as how no body was ever found after her car went into Dead Man’s Drift,” Anna Marie said, mentioning the unofficial name the townspeople had given to the cliff and water below after Lillian Dumont’s death.

Nausea washed over him at the thought. Not a day went by when Hunter didn’t think of Lilly, that fateful night and his role in her disappearance. He’d always missed her, her laughter, her friendship. It helped that Hunter hadn’t heard Dumont’s name in years. The man was a subject Hunter tried to avoid and until today, it’d been easy. Dumont had remained under Hunter’s radar for years, secluded in Lilly’s old home and not causing any trouble. Now in the span of five minutes, Hunter discovered the man was going to marry Molly’s mother and attempt to legally bury his niece so he get could his hands on the millions still held in trust for her.

His timing couldn’t be worse. Just when Molly seemed to be softening toward the idea of dating Hunter, Dumont once again became an obstacle.

The bastard hadn’t changed. He’d merely been in hiding, waiting for a time when the three friends believed their pasts were behind them, to resurface. The man had changed their lives once before. Hunter had a hunch none of them would survive this confrontation unscathed, either.

TYLER BENSON WASN’T a morning person. He’d rather work the late shift at Night Owl’s than clock in on a nine-to-five day job. It helped that Ty rented the apartment above the bar from his friend Rufus, who also owned the establishment and appreciated Ty helping him out now and then. When he wasn’t tending bar as a favor to his friend, Ty ran a P.I. business out of his apartment, as well as the bar and a small office across from the courthouse. The locals found Ty wherever he happened to be and he appreciated the flexibility and spontaneity of his life. Most of all he liked knowing he earned his own way at no one else’s expense.

He made a decent enough living that he could pick and choose the cases he wanted to work, passing the easier ones on to Derek, a guy who’d gotten his P.I. license but was new to town and needed Ty’s name to bolster his business reputation. Ty figured he was better off having Derek as an employee than competition in the small town, so the situation worked for them both. In fact, the business was growing fast and they needed to hire an administrative assistant and another P.I.

Ty poured a Bud from the tap and handed it to the guy who’d been keeping a running tab. He glanced at his watch. Only 7:00 p.m. but with October baseball in full swing-Yankees versus Red Sox-this place would be hopping within half an hour. Right now though, time was dragging by and he stifled a yawn behind his hand.

“In about five minutes you’re going to wish life was as boring as you’re obviously finding it now.” Hunter, Ty’s oldest friend, slid onto a stool across from him.

Ty grinned. “Somehow I doubt hearing about your day in court is going to get my juices flowing.” He laughed and reached for the ingredients of a refined martini his friend had come to prefer over the beer of days past.

The other man shook his head. “Jack Daniel’s. Neat.”

Ty raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Something big must be going on if you’re giving up your polished drink for harder liquor. And here I was just about to say congratulations on winning your case but if you were celebrating, you wouldn’t be ordering whiskey.”

Hunter’s expression was clouded. Obviously, he was miles away, his thoughts definitely not on his big win today.

Ty figured he’d know what was bothering his friend soon enough. When Hunter had a problem to deal with, he usually mulled it over for too long before spilling his guts.

“Do you remember when I came to live with you and your mom as a foster kid?” Hunter asked.

The subject took Ty by surprise. “Yeah, I remember. But that was a long time ago and a lot has changed. You looked different then for one thing. Hell, you were different.”

At sixteen, Daniel Hunter had come into the Benson home with a chip on his shoulder and an unwillingness to let anyone in. He’d already decided nobody in the world would care about him anyway. He’d been wrong on both counts. Hunter had spent almost a year with Tyler and his mother, becoming like family to them both.

Hunter nodded. “I’ve tried to be different. Better somehow.”

Ty glanced at his friend, understanding his reasons. He’d fought hard to become an upstanding lawyer and member of the community and he’d succeeded. Tonight he wore dark jeans that looked pressed and new, along with a rugby shirt. Hunter’s choice in clothing was a symbol of the man he’d become.

“You may dress the stuffed preppy part but you’re still a street kid at heart,” Ty teased. Which was why they’d remained tight over the years. “So what’s going on that’s forcing you to remember the past now?”

“Things. And it’s not just that I need to remember, but I need you to go back in time, too.”

“I remember Mom taking you in,” Ty said.

“We were so different I thought you’d kill me in my sleep,” Hunter said, his wry laughter interrupting Ty’s thoughts.

“You’re lucky I didn’t.” Ty grinned, the memory of Hunter’s first night in the Benson home still vivid.

“The kid in the home I was in before yours kicked my ass after his mother left me in his room. You just tossed me a pillow and warned me not to snore,” Hunter reminded him.

“You did it anyway.” Ty laughed.

Outwardly they couldn’t have been more different-Ty with his longer straggly dark hair and his mother’s olive skin, Hunter with his sandy hair and paler skin. But the two had bonded. They were similar enough for an unlikely alliance to form because like Hunter, Ty didn’t trust easily, either.

How could he when his father had set the pattern in a youth filled with broken promises? I’ll be at your game. I’ll pick you up from practice. If gambling and offtrack betting didn’t distract him first, Ty thought bitterly. His father was consistently unreliable. Ironically, knowing he couldn’t count on his old man hadn’t prepared Ty for the ultimate kick in the ass.

He’d just turned nine the week before when his father had promised he’d pick him up from basketball practice. Ty hadn’t been shocked when he’d been left standing out in the parking lot in the dead of winter. It wasn’t the first time. So he’d huddled against a lamppost, knowing his old man would show up eventually full of apologies and excuses. When he didn’t, Ty had finally dragged himself to the nearest business and called his mother who’d come immediately to pick him up. Together they’d discovered his father had taken off for good.

For the first time in his life, Joe Benson had left a note. He’d also left Ty cold, wary of trust and promises. Until Hunter had come into his home and then a short time later, Lilly.

Before he allowed himself to take that path, he turned to his friend. “So what’s got you traveling down memory lane tonight?” Ty asked, pouring the whiskey into a glass and sliding it over to his friend.

Hunter smiled grimly. “You should pour yourself one, too.”

Ty raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Hunter leaned closer and spoke low and deep. “It’s about Lilly.”

Just hearing her name caused overwhelming emotions to rush through Ty and his head pounded hard. Neither he nor Hunter had heard from Lilly again after the night she left for good.

“What’s going on?” he asked Hunter, needing answers.

Hunter drew a long breath before speaking. “Dumont’s planning to have Lilly declared legally dead and claim her trust fund as his own.”

Ty didn’t wait for the words to penetrate before reacting, slamming his fist onto the top of the bar. “Son of a bitch.”

All the old anger and resentment that Ty had spent years nurturing, then burying, welled up inside him once more. Dumont may have brought Lilly into Ty’s life but he’d also been the reason Ty had lost her for good. He’d never forgive the man for that or for the abuse he’d heaped onto Lilly in the years before they’d met.

As the reality of Hunter’s news set in, the past returned, surrounding Ty as if were happening today. The blood pounded in his head, his feelings raw. First Hunter had come into Ty’s home, somehow breaching the walls he’d erected since his father had walked out. Then Lilly had arrived and it was as if the small hole he’d made for Hunter had weakened his barriers and they’d come tumbling down. He’d paid for that over many long lonely years but he couldn’t regret meeting or caring about Lilly.

For a short time he’d learned to open his heart. Ty had gone from a loner to a guy surrounded by his best friend and his best girl-at least that’s how he’d thought of her at the time, although they’d never had the chance to really act on the feelings simmering below the surface. Maybe they’d been smart enough, even at their young age, to put the friendship first. Maybe time just hadn’t been on their side. Ty would never know. Because too soon a letter came, indicating her abusive uncle’s intent to have her returned to his custody, and the three friends had put their plan into motion.

“Hard to believe, Dumont has the balls after all these years, huh?” Hunter asked.

Ty glanced heavenward. “I wish we’d looked ahead and seen this one coming.”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “This from the man who insisted we never speak of the night again?”

“Shut up,” Ty muttered, hating when his own words came back to haunt him.

But his friend had a point. Like a fool, Ty had thought if he never spoke about Lilly again, he’d be able to get her out of his system. Believed he’d be able to forget her.

Cross my heart. Her softly spoken words returned to him now. The last time he’d seen her, she’d promised she’d never forget him. As hard as he tried, he hadn’t been able to block her out of his memory, either. No matter how painful he found it to think of what might have been, he’d thought of Lilly often. He still did.

From the minute he’d watched her plop his baseball cap on her head and walk off, Ty had wanted nothing more than to go with her. For days he’d struggled with the idea of taking off after her. But he’d stayed home because his mother needed him. Ty knew Flo couldn’t handle her son running off so soon after Lilly had disappeared and she deserved better than two heartbreaks so close together. Three if he counted Hunter being taken away from them as well. But Ty had missed Lilly every damn day since.

Years later, he’d given in to temptation. Ty had made some cop contacts in New York and with their help, he’d done some surface digging for Lacey Kinkaid, the name they’d chosen. From there, it had been surprisingly simple to discover that she was alive and well.

Ty hadn’t taken it any further. He hadn’t contacted her. She’d obviously moved forward with her life and he couldn’t see disturbing those ghosts. Ty himself had insisted on a clean break. And though he’d made that initial choice, she’d followed his instructions. She hadn’t contacted him, not after she’d turned twenty-one and had nothing to fear from her uncle. And not years later when she was an independent woman capable of making her own decisions.

On the nights when he second-guessed his decision, he told himself that his feelings for her had been nothing more than infatuation or puppy love, as the parents of the runaway teens that he tracked now often labeled their children’s hormonal emotions. He’d done some pretty fine convincing, too. She couldn’t be as pretty as he remembered. Her skin couldn’t be as soft. Her scent wouldn’t still wind its way into his heart. All those things must have been an illusion built on the things Lilly represented. The wealthy heiress whose guardian had turned her out of her home, denied her her fortune, and left her fragile and in need of someone strong to take care of her.

Ty had willingly stepped in and filled the role, but deep down, he knew that Lilly was tougher than he gave her credit for and didn’t need him as much as he’d wanted to be needed. She’d run away to the city and thrived there, proving she wasn’t the fragile princess he’d put up on a pedestal. And thank God she wasn’t, or else she wouldn’t have survived, while he’d been living pretty well off of money his mother never should have taken.

“I knew this wasn’t going to be easy on any of us,” Hunter said. “But you’re looking green. Are you okay?”

Ty cleared his throat. “I’m fine. How’d you find out about Dumont?” Ty asked.

“Indirectly through Molly Gifford.”

“The chick you knew in law school?”

Hunter nodded. “I ran into her at the courthouse today.”

“Has she agreed to date you yet?” Ty laughed, certain his friend had at least given it another try.

“No, but I’m making progress. Unfortunately the timing of her turnaround sucks. Her mother’s going to marry Dumont, which leaves her as my only link to information on the man.” He shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable in the role he’d have to take on.

“No shit? Molly’s mother is going to marry the bastard?”

Hunter’s reply was to finish his drink in one gulp.

“Then you are going to have to turn up the charm.”

“And she’s going to see right through me,” Hunter said and winked. But despite his cocky grin, he was obviously not pleased at the connection.

Ty poured his friend another shot. “But you’ll do it to help Lilly?”

Hunter inclined his head. “Do I have a choice? We’re tied together, the three of us. I helped her then and I’ll help her now.”

Because he cared about Lilly, too. In all the years of their friendship, they’d never spoken about Hunter’s unrequited feelings or the competition between the men that never had time to develop. Another reason Lilly’s return would be uncomfortable for all involved.

“So we’re in agreement?” Ty asked. “Dumont has no right to the money.” Ty bent his head from side to side, trying to work the stiff muscles in his neck but the tension remained. His life was about to change drastically.

“We’re in agreement. But you were right. We should have thought about the future,” Hunter said. “About her trust fund and what would happen years down the road. But we didn’t. And now Lilly is going to have to deal with that part of her life.”

Affecting all their lives in the process, Ty thought.

“Lilly needs to be told.” Hunter spoke with quiet certainty.

“Lacey. She’s Lacey now,” Ty said, already forcing himself to begin the mental shift necessary to meet with the woman Lilly had become.

“Lacey needs to be told that Dumont plans to have her declared legally dead and live large on her parents’ money.”

Ty’s head began to pound. Hunter’s words reminded Ty that his mother had done exactly that.

Hunter eyed Ty warily. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Ty shrugged. “Maybe not but it’s true. We thought Lacey was just another foster kid, but she wasn’t. My mother took money from Dumont to take Lilly in. Unofficially, off the books, off the record. He paid her to take his niece until he felt she’d learned her lesson and would come home easier to control.”

“Your mother didn’t know Dumont’s reasons at the time. She thought she was helping out a man who didn’t know how to handle his out-of-control niece and she was getting money to give you a better life in the process. He offered her an opportunity and she took it.”

Ty nodded. He still dealt with what his mother had done. Still lived with a measure of guilt over the lifestyle they’d had, using money that had rightfully belonged to Lilly.

“You paid your dues, not that you owed any. Dropping out of college was self-punishment if you ask me. Who did you benefit?” Hunter asked.

“My own pride. I could look myself in the mirror each morning.” It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation but it was the first time Ty had explained because he sensed Hunter already understood.

Hunter nodded. “Fate’s providing the chance for you to give Lilly back what she lost. Go find her and tell her to come back and claim her fortune.”

Ty ran his hand through his too-long hair. He needed a cut, he thought, wishing he could focus on something so trivial.

“She has a lot of bad memories here.” Ty took his friend’s advice, pouring himself a stiff drink of his own. He gulped a sip of fiery liquid and savored the burn on the way down.

“She’s an adult. There’s nothing here that can hurt her anymore except old ghosts,” Hunter said.

“Something we all need to deal with.” Ty swirled the liquid in his glass.

“Think she’ll be easy to find?”

“You know me when I’m determined.” Ty forced a cocky grin and raised his glass.

The kicker was that he’d had no trouble at all locating her that first time. Lilly had been living as Lacey Kinkaid, but she used her real social security number and she legally filed taxes. If her uncle had tried to search again years later, after Lilly had become a successful businesswoman, he might have found her after all. He’d just had no reason not to believe she’d perished in the deep, dark waters that fateful night. Thank goodness for Lacey their plan had been a success.

Although Ty had found an address for her five years ago, who knew how many times she’d moved since then. Still, he wasn’t too worried. He had his connections and his ways.

Hunter lifted his glass in return. “Good luck.”

“Something tells me I’ll need it,” Ty said, tipping his glass to meet Hunter’s.

The clinking noise that usually signaled a celebration sounded like a warning instead.