Hard Evidence

With heartfelt thanks to Lyn Cote, a patient and

generous mentor, wonderful writer and a dear friend.

And with deepest thanks to my family—

Larry, Andy, Brian and Emily, who understood how much this dream meant to me and have been encouraging and supportive every step of the way. Blessings to you all!

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Janna McAllister swept a cobweb away from her ear, blew at the damp tendrils of hair trailing over her forehead and stared at the three mice sitting on the kitchen counter of Cabin Ten.

They stared right back, whiskers twitching, paws folded in front of their little chests, probably even more surprised than she was. But it wasn’t the mice that worried her.

She gazed past them to the candy wrappers and soda cans on the counter.

Snow Canyon Lodge had been closed for a good fifteen years, though the cabins had been empty for longer than that. There shouldn’t have been any sign of recent human habitation.

And yet…the padlock on the door had been pried off and someone had been in here recently, given the brand names on those wrappers. Hikers? High school kids out for a lark?

Considering what she’d found in a cupboard, she tried not to dwell on other, darker possibilities.

But the people who’d broken in were long gone. She had a job to do, and not much time to get it done. She couldn’t afford to let anyone stand in her way.

Determination had taken on a whole new meaning, now that she was a single mom, dealing with an ex-husband who could afford little financial support, plus the care of her elderly mother.

Setting her jaw, she continued her inspection of the property with a clipboard in hand, working backward from the most distant cabins toward the ones near the lodge.

Cabins Four and Five had miraculously withstood years of Wyoming’s snow and wind and sun, but precious few of the others would be usable without a lot of work…and then only after she hauled away truckloads of trash and moldering furniture. Two of the cabins were just shy of needing demolition.

The main lodge would take months of cleaning, repairs and redecorating to fully restore.

She’d clearly been naive, thinking she could leave her career in Minneapolis the day after Rylie finished school and be ready for business in a few weeks.

Lord, I feel you led me here—and that this place is your answer to my prayers for a new life for Rylie and me. Please help me handle all of this, because I’m sure going to need Your help.

“Mom! Someone’s here! Hurry!” Rylie’s breathless, excited words floated through the torn screen door of Cabin Three. “I think it’s important!”

The nine-year-old’s high-pitched voice sent the mice scampering across the buckled vinyl countertops and over the far edge like lemmings over a cliff.

“Just a minute,” Janna called out. The last thing the child needed to see was mice. She was already terrified of spiders and ladybugs, thanks to an older boy who’d teased her with both on the school bus.

Janna gingerly stepped around piles of old newspapers, tractor parts and a peach crate filled with grimy Mason canning jars to peer into the back room of the cabin.

She sneezed once—twice—three times at the eddies of dust stirred up by her shoes.

A sagging iron bed filled most of the space. Its stained mattress undoubtedly provided lodging for immeasurable varieties of vermin—and possibly dozens of little relatives of the three mice she’d just met. There was no way she wanted to set foot in that room.

Faced with the hard reality of her new life in this remote corner of her mother’s ranch, she was torn between tears and incredulous laughter.

“Mom!” Rylie’s voice was closer now. A moment later footsteps raced across the lopsided porch of the cabin, and the door squealed open. Rylie stood in the doorway as Maggie, her little white highland terrier-beagle mix, barreled inside. “You should see.”

Expecting a feed delivery or possibly something from FedEx, Janna managed a weary smile. Rylie was done with school for the summer and there were no neighborhood kids in the area, so even deliveries were exciting when no one else was around. “Must be about as good as a birthday present, whatever it is.”

“It’s a man who looks like he could be in a movie. And he’s got another guy with him, too.”

“Really.” Janna dusted off her hands and lifted Rylie’s chin to study the smudges across her cheeks and brow. Like all the McAllister women, Rylie had the family’s green eyes, strawberry-blond hair and petite, delicate build, but she was defiantly in her tomboy phase. “Where have you been?”

“The barn. Up in the loft.”

At least there, the rodents were kept at bay by an extended family of cats…and Rylie hadn’t seen any spiders.