A Better Man. Emilie Rose

driveway and the house came into view. For a moment he sat in the truck trying to make sense of it all. The place looked nothing like he remembered. Even the old garage had been spruced up.

      He’d expected to find the structure rotting from almost twelve years of neglect. Instead, the house looked better than it ever had when Roth had lived here. Pale yellow paint coated what had once been peeling white boards, and the black shutters hung parallel to the windows instead of dangling at a weird angle or sitting on the ground propped against the foundation. Somebody had put a lot of money and work into the place. Who?

      The brightly colored toys dotting the lawn looked as out of place as an iceberg at the equator. A child’s squeal rent the air then a medium-size mutt raced around the corner of the house with a hip-high redhead on its heels. The girl skidded to a halt beside Roth’s truck, her tail-waving, tongue-lagging friend beside her.

      “Hey, mister.”

      Opening his door, he climbed out. His experience with children was limited to encounters with fellow officers’ offspring. “Hey, kid. You live here?”

      “Yessir.”

      The front door opened. A woman in her late twenties with dark red hair and freckles to match the girl’s came out. She descended the stairs quickly and put a hand on the child’s shoulder. “Can I help you?”

      “I’m Roth Sterling. I lived here. A long time ago.”

      The stiffness left her frame. “Oh. Are you the owner? I thought I remembered the agent saying a woman was moving in.”

      “My mother.”

      “We’re going to miss this place. It’s a wonderful house.”

      She didn’t have the memories attached to the place that he did. “It’s in great shape. Did you fix it up?”

      “Oh, no. It was in perfect condition when we moved in and the rental company has folks who come out whenever something needs fixing.”

      Who was paying for this? He and his mother would have to have a talk. “Have you been here long?”

      “Almost eight years. Quincey is a lovely community. Close enough to Raleigh for convenience, but far enough away for privacy and safety. We don’t want to leave the area. Ann Marie is looking for another house for us nearby.”

      “Ann Marie Hamilton?”

      “Yes. Do you know her?”

      Piper’s mother. “I did. I’ve been gone a while.”

      “She’s Quincey’s only real estate agent. If you’re looking for a place near your mama, maybe Ann Marie can help you find one.”

      He might not be planning to stay, but no one else needed to know that. He could use a fictitious house search to find out what Piper was hiding. “I appreciate the tip. I’ll give her a call.”

      Time for a little recon.

      * * *

      “SPILL IT,” MADISON SAID as she set down her med-kit.

      Piper tried to gather her scattered thoughts and pretended to be busy shuffling the charts on her desk. “How’s Pebbles?”

      “Routine delivery. Mrs. Lee exaggerated as usual.” Her boss/friend hitched a hip on the counter, parking a butt cheek on the files and effectively ending the shuffling. “And don’t ignore the question. Who is Roth Sterling? How do you know him? And what is he to you?”

      Piper had exceeded her fib quota for the year with Roth. She could not look Madison in the eye and lie. “We dated when I was eighteen. It was a long time ago.”

      “Will you be dating him again?”

      “No.” Piper winced at her sharp tone, and sure enough, Madison’s hiked eyebrows said she’d picked up on it.

      “So you’re saying he’s available?”

      Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom. Piper’s heart slammed against her rib cage then lodged in her throat. “He says he’s single.”

      “That’s not what I asked, Piper. I don’t have to tell you how limited the selection of eligible men is around here. At least your father parades potential dates in front of you.”

      Her father. Roth’s story had Piper so conflicted. There was no way her rule-following father could have done as Roth said. Her father would never deliberately hurt her or break the law. She believed that with every fiber of her being.

      But Roth had sounded so convincing. She ached to confide in Madison and ask her opinion. But Piper said nothing. She couldn’t risk it. The person she needed to talk to was her father.

      “Each of the men Dad brings home has been screened more thoroughly than an FBI candidate. They’re so squeaky clean they don’t even have dirty thoughts.”

      “Hmm. Sounds like you have a penchant for bad boys. And I think Chief Sterling might be one. He has an edge that’s kind of sexy.”

      Piper remained mute. The less she said the better. Roth had definitely been a bad boy and he’d abandoned her.

      But was he a liar? He had to be.

      Madison sighed. “I remember the last time I had sex. Do you?”

      “Do I remember the last time you had sex?”

      “Funny girl. I know you too well for playing dumb to fool me. I’m saying we’re both overdue for someone to satisfy our biological urges. I don’t think you’ve hooked up with anyone in the five years I’ve known you.”

      “Neither have you.”

      “No, I haven’t.” The sad tinge of her voice reminded Piper how little she knew about Madison’s life before Quincey. She knew her friend had been married and suffered a miscarriage. But that was it. Madison didn’t like to talk about the reasons she’d relocated from a busy suburb of Atlanta to a sleepy Southern town. But that was okay because then Piper could keep her secrets without feeling guilty.

      Madison rose. “I might be ready for something…temporary. Scorching hot and brief. That’s what I need. How about you? Is Roth going to be the one who breaks your drought?”

      Adrenaline shot through Piper’s veins. “Absolutely not.”

      “Why? Is he a jerk? Did he cheat on you with another woman? Another man?”

      Piper nearly choked on a shocked laugh. “You are awful. He didn’t cheat on me.” He did something worse. He made me love him then he left us. “If you want him, he’s yours.”

      “Hmm. I’ll think about it. He definitely has the tall, dark and handsome thing going for him.”

      Piper’s stomach churned and she realized this would be one of those sour grapes situations from the fables she’d read to Josh. She didn’t want Roth, but she couldn’t handle a ringside seat watching him sweep another woman off her feet either.

      * * *

      PIPER MADE A BEELINE for her father’s immediately after work. She had to know who had lied. Roth or Lou. She was almost certain it was the former, but that twinge of doubt had nagged her all afternoon and turned her into such a clumsy idiot that even Madison had started looking at her funny.

      Piper whipped the Jeep into the driveway of the house where she’d grown up and leaped from the vehicle.

      Her father stepped onto the porch. “Piper, this is a surprise.”

      He didn’t look like a man with dark secrets.

      She stalked up the sidewalk. “I had lunch with Roth Sterling today.”

      He stiffened and his welcoming smile faded. But that didn’t prove anything. He’d always hated Roth.

      “He didn’t waste any time looking you up.”

      “Did you coerce