“And your knee?” Alice tilted her head and peered at the object in question as if she might see through Jenna’s pants. “How bad is it?”

“Seventy-five percent better already. I think getting off it right away made all the difference. Gard was right about that.”

“I take it you’re completely moved out of her house?”

“Let’s have lunch.” Jenna didn’t want to talk about Gard, and Alice’s warning tone was hard to miss. “Then we can draw up a game plan if you really want to stay a while. You really don’t need to, you know.”

“I told you,” Alice said, “I’m looking forward to a mini-vacation. I saw all sorts of bumper stickers on the way here with delightful places to visit. Caves and caverns and other exotic places. Pottery barns. I assume those come without livestock.”

Jenna couldn’t help but laugh. Alice was the epitome of a city girl. An elegant and sophisticated woman who always knew the right wine to choose, the best restaurant, the finest hotel. She had guided Jenna into a world that had been completely foreign to her, and had never once pushed Jenna to be anyone other than who she was. Jenna had taken what she needed from Alice’s repertoire, and kept, she hoped, the core of herself—even if she had hidden it away.

“Lunch first,” Jenna said. “Head straight through town and I’ll take you to Oscar’s.”

“Italian food?” Alice asked hopefully.

“Ah, well, just about any kind of food you might want.”

Once out of town, Alice unleashed the Audi and took the curving roads at breakneck speed. Surrounding fields blurred into ribbons of green, lush streamers cast on the currents of ocean sky. Alice laughed joyfully and Jenna joined her, feeling seventeen again. Freedom was suddenly as simple as the wind on her face. They’d gone five miles over empty roads when a white cruiser pulled out behind them, followed an instant later by the sound of a siren. Jenna looked behind them and saw the revolving red light on top of the sheriff’s car.

“Crap,” Jenna shouted.

“Well hell,” Alice called back, flipping her turn signal and pulling onto the gravel shoulder of the narrow two-lane road. The cruiser pulled in behind them. Alice leaned over the seat for her purse. By the time the officer approached the side of the car, she had her license and car rental papers already out.

“License and registration please.” Rina Gold removed her sunglasses and hooked them onto the flap of her shirt pocket as her gaze slid from Alice to Jenna, one dark brow lifting. “Good afternoon, Ms. Hardy.”

“Sheriff Gold.” Jenna knew her face was flaming.

Alice turned in her seat, putting her back partially to Jenna and tilting her face up to Rina. The sun caught the silver highlights in her hair and she seemed to glow. “I’m sorry, Sheriff. I’m afraid I was too busy admiring this gorgeous countryside to pay attention to my speed.”

For half a heartbeat, a smile threatened to break Rina’s tight-lipped grimace. “Yes. I hear that a lot. One moment, please.”

As soon as she was out of earshot, Alice rounded on Jenna, her eyes sparkling. “Who is that? She is drop-dead gorgeous.”

“The county sheriff. I met her out at Gard’s.”

“Is she—” Alice waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“I don’t know. It’s not the first thing I usually ask a stranger.” Jenna sounded testy and she knew it. Did everyone think that Rina Gold was gorgeous? Just because she was. Damn her.

“You don’t know, or you don’t think so?”

“I don’t know,” Jenna said, keeping her voice low because the sheriff was on her way back.

Rina handed back Alice’s papers. Then she braced both hands on the edge of the car door. “I’m going to give you a warning this time, Ms. Smith, because I see that you’ve just arrived in Vermont. Those little signs that you see along the side of the road with numbers on them? They denote the speed limit. On this road that’s fifty-five.”

“I’m sorry. I really was having a wonderful time driving through your county, Sheriff. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Jenna could hear Alice’s eyelashes flutter and choked back a groan.

The sheriff studied Alice a long moment and said, “It would be nice if you lived long enough to see more of it. These roads are treacherous. Be careful.”

“I will,” Alice said seriously. “Thank you.”

Rina touched the brim of her hat with one finger, glanced over at Jenna, then turned away. “You ladies have a nice day.”

When the crunch of the sheriff’s boots on the gravel faded, Alice said under her breath, “I want her. Is it too soon to ask for her number?”

“Just try to behave for a few more minutes. She’s going to wait until you drive away. For God’s sake, don’t peel out.”

“What’s going on between you two?” Alice eased the convertible onto the road and kept well below the speed limit until the cruiser sped past in the left hand lane a few minutes later and disappeared over a rise in the road.

“Nothing. I hardly know her.”

“I could feel the tension between you. Oh no. Wait. Don’t tell me. She asked you out?”

Jenna snorted. “Not likely.”

“Then wha—the vet? You’re both chasing her?”

“No. I already told you there’s nothing going on—”

“Oh, please. So is she worried about you and the good doctor?”

“You know, I forgot why I wanted you to come up here. But I think I want you to go home now.”

Alice shook her head, her usual playful smile having gone suddenly grim. “You and I need to have a talk about Gardner Davis.”

Gard squeezed her truck between Rina’s cruiser and a rusted-out Chevy pickup with two mud-splattered ATVs strapped into the open rear bed. Oscar’s was jammed, and once inside she stopped next to the register to scan for Rina. She spotted her perched on a stool at the end of the counter, her hat claiming the adjacent stool, and at the same instant, she saw Jenna. Jenna, looking gorgeous with her hair windblown and her color high, sat in a booth halfway down with another woman whose back was to her. When her gaze met Jenna’s for a second, Jenna quickly looked away. The brief connect followed by the obvious dismissal jarred her. She’d made a big mistake putting her hands on Jenna, but damn it, Jenna had been upset. And she’d needed to comfort her. That need had caught her by surprise, and now she was paying for giving in to it. She could still feel the press of Jenna’s breasts against her chest and the whisper of warm lips against her neck. Fortunately, she had only to remind herself that Jenna would soon be returning to a world she wanted no part of to squelch the temptation to repeat the folly.

Gard headed for Rina but was forced to stop next to Jenna’s booth to let Trish, one of the day waitresses, sidle by her with a full tray of burgers and fries.

“Hi, Gard,” Trish said in passing.

“How’s it going, Trish.”

“It’s going.”

“Afternoon, Jenna,” Gard said. Only an inch of space separated her hip from Jenna’s shoulder but the chill in Jenna’s eyes made it feel like a long, cold mile.

“Hello,” Jenna said, her smile fleeting and forced.

“Sherm called. All the arrangements have been made.”

“Thank you.” Jenna hesitated, then added, “Gard, this is my friend Alice Smith.”

Gard held out her hand to a woman she pegged instantly as another big-city sophisticate. Poised, polished, and perfectly turned out in faux-casual clothes that probably cost more than half the trucks parked out front. “Nice to meet you. Gard Davis.”

“A pleasure,” Alice replied. “Jenna’s been telling me how helpful you’ve been.”

“Not at all. Just being neighborly.”

Gard watched Jenna as she spoke, searching for some sign that what had almost happened hadn’t been all in her imagination. Jenna looked up at her then, and the heat in her eyes was a kick in her gut. Jenna might act like they were strangers, but her eyes said otherwise. Some of the knots in Gard’s insides unraveled a little and she barely resisted the urge to brush a loose strand of hair off Jenna’s cheek.

“More than neighborly,” Jenna murmured. “Busy day?”

“About average. I’ve still got a few calls to make.”

“Well, I know you’re busy. Don’t let us keep you.”

“Enjoy your lunch.” Gard continued on and settled onto the stool next to Rina. “Did you order already?”

“Uh-huh. I hope you’re in the mood for your usual.” Rina cocked her head, giving Gard a quizzical look. “Rough day?”

“Not particularly,” Gard said, trying to shrug off the taste of lingering desire.

“I see you’ve met our newest visitor,” Rina said.

“Who?”

“The lovely blonde with Jenna.”

“I just had the pleasure.”

“They brighten up the place, don’t they?”

Gard tried to decipher what was behind the tension in Rina’s voice. “What happened?”

Rina slid her fork back and forth on the counter. “Nothing, really. I pulled them over for speeding.”

“Wait. Let me guess. The red Audi in the lot out front?”

Rina smiled. “That would be the one. Alice likes speed, it seems.”

“Does she?” Gard wondered what the relationship was between Jenna and Alice. Jenna had said Alice was her agent and good friend. Maybe that meant good friend with benefits. That seemed to be popular among busy professionals these days. Why complicate matters having a relationship when you could just have sex with one of your friends. Maybe she should consider it with Rina. She pegged that idea as bullshit as soon as she thought it. Rina deserved better.

“They’ve been turning quite a few heads in here,” Rina noted.

Before she could stop herself, Gard swiveled on her seat in Jenna’s direction to check out who was nearby. Wanting to know which men—or women—might’ve taken an interest in her. Wanting to warn them off. As if it was any of her business. Which it wasn’t. She turned back. “It’s not like we don’t have plenty of beautiful women in town.”