As a devastating summer storm hits Grand Springs, Colorado, the next thirty-six hours will change the town and its residents foreverâ¦.
Eve Stuart thought a trip home for her brother Halâs wedding would be funâand short enough that sheâd avoid seeing Rio Redtree. But that was before a storm cut power all over town, her brotherâs bride went missing and Eveâs mother, Olivia, was tragically killed.
Now Rio, an investigative reporter, is the only one with a lead on her motherâs case. Eveâs willing to answer his questions, as long as they donât involve her daughter Molly. Six years ago, Rio made it clear he never wanted a child. How can Eve trust him to do the right thing if he finds out the truth about Molly?
Book 6 of the 36 Hours series. Donât miss Book 7: A fugitive from mysterious gunmenâand her own weddingâRandi Howell starts over in Texas in The Rancher and the Runaway Bride by New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery.
June 8
It was only a nightmare. An awful, impossible dream. Any minute, Eve Stuart was sure she would wake up in her own bed and the horror would be over. Since it was Sunday, sheâd settle Molly, her five-year-old, in front of the television with a bowl of cereal to watch cartoons. Then sheâd call her mom, as she did every Sunday morning, and they would chat for an hour about what was going on in their respective worlds.
She knew exactly how the conversation would go. Her mom would ask if she had any new clients at the interior design studio, while sounds of coffee being poured filtered from each end of the line. After that, sheâd want to know what Molly had done in preschool that week. Since Olivia Stuart was mayor of Grand Springs, Colorado, and on the board of nearly every charity in town, Eve would then get an update on the latest fund-raiser, along with an earful about how the city council was trying to railroad this issue or that cause. Grand Springs was more than a thousand miles from Santa Barbara, but she and her mom had never let the distance interfere. They had always been close.
Eve leaned her forehead against the window, too numb to notice the sunlight dancing off the puddles left by the storm. Sheâd been nervous about coming back, and her reasons had nothing to do with her family. But assuming she wouldnât be here long, sheâd come to attend her brotherâs wedding and to spend the weekend with her mom. Instead, the wedding had been called off because the bride disappeared, massive mud slides and a blackout had thrown the town into utter chaos, and she had spent yesterday in the chapel and this morning on a park bench across from Vanderbilt Memorial hospital trying to make sense of something that made no sense at all.
Her mother had collapsed on Friday night. A heart attack, Dr. Jennings had told her. But that was impossible. Her mother had never had anything more serious than a cold. Now she was dead.
âThe lady says Iâm supposeâ to watch TV and let you take a nap. Canât I be in here with you, Mommy?â
At the sound of the soft little voice, Eve wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. Her pixie-faced little girl stood in the doorway of the bedroom. The pink bow of one long black pigtail drooped listlessly, and Ted, her battered blue teddy bear, dangled from her small fist as if he were hanging on for dear life. The lady Molly referred to was Millicent, the next-door neighbor whoâd sat with her all night and most of yesterday.
Molly cocked her head, her little brow furrowing.
âAre you sad?â
Eve sank into the maple rocking chair behind her and opened her arms. Leave it to a child to reduce a myriad of emotions to their simplest term.
âYes,â she whispered when Molly climbed into her lap. âYes, I am.â The little girl smelled of bubble bath and orange juice, scents that seemed so impossibly normal. âI need to tell you something, honey. About Grandma.â
Searching for the words she didnât want to voice, Eve smoothed back Mollyâs dark bangs. Her little girl was so small, so innocent, and every instinct Eve possessed screamed to protect her baby from such a harsh reality. But Molly would start asking questions soon. Lately, it seemed all she did was ask questions.
âDo you remember when they took Grandma to the hospital in the ambulance, and I told you she was very sick?â
With her chin on Tedâs head, Molly gave a sober nod.
âWell, the doctors did everything they could to make her betterâ¦but they couldnât.â Eve swallowed past the knot in her throat. âShe died.â
A frown swept Mollyâs delicate features.
âDo you know what that means?â
âI think so.â
âYou do?â
âAngela Abramson had a fish that died.â
Angela was her little friend from preschool. Eve had forgotten about the fish. âThen, you understand that when someoneâ¦or somethingâ¦dies, it canât come back again.â