Free Change of Heart by Courtney Walsh

applied. Even the clothes she wore now were different. She’d been such a free spirit when they first met. It was part of what he loved about her   —her ability to stay true to herself even though it sometimes made her an outsider.
    Now there was only a trace of that girl in the woman sitting at his kitchen table.
    She fidgeted, looking torn. He’d made her feel unwelcome and he knew it.
    “The guesthouse is still empty. You should stay there,” he offered.
    She glanced at him. “Are you sure?”
    “No one will even know you’re there.” He knew his tone was abrupt. It had to be. She wouldn’t understand, but it was what it was. He found the guesthouse keys hanging by the back door and handed her the ring.
    She took them and gazed at them for a few long seconds. “Thanks, Whit. I’m starting to feel like you’re the only person in the world I can trust.”
    He looked away. “I’ve got to run to town. I have my phone if you need me.”
    What he should’ve said was that he had to run away. Far away. Because being around Evelyn made him think about things that could never, ever be, and that made him wish he could rewind the clock a day or two, ignore Lilian’s dramatic plea to help Evelyn, and never involve himself in the first place.
    He wasn’t lying   —he had somewhere to be. Because no matter what Chris asked of him, there was no way he was going to be able to convince Evelyn there was another side to any of this.

CHAPTER
8

    A BARRAGE OF UNWANTED THOUGHTS pummeled Trevor as he drove toward Casey’s office. Knowing his oldest friend, he was spending his Saturday working on Evelyn’s case. No way this ended well, and Trevor knew it. What was he doing? The second Evelyn said, “I do,” every possible chance between them ended. His head knew this, but why couldn’t he get his stupid heart to fall in line?
    He drove through Old Town, trying to focus on the way the trees were starting to bud again now that spring had arrived or how the streets seemed to be especially full today, as if people had just been waiting for one ounce of warmth before descending on their small tourist town. He ran through a list of which vegetables needed planting and which needed harvesting, though he trusted Lilian to think about those things for him. He reminded himself to consider strategies to diversify the farm, make sure they didn’t plateau. He needed new ideas   —ways to grow their business.
    That’s what he should be focusing on. Not on Evelyn Brandt.
    Trevor arrived at Casey’s office, turned off the engine, and sat for a moment before going in. His reflections turned to his conversation with Chris, who seemed to believe Trevor had the power to convince Evelyn everything they were seeing on the news wasn’t true. But Trevor knew Chris well enough to know better. Trevor couldn’t even imagine how deep the corruption went.
    Mostly Trevor wanted to find out if his old friend had implicated Evelyn in whatever he was mixed up in. Didn’t corrupt politicians often use their wives to help hide money?
    He shook the thoughts aside and got out of the truck. As he rounded the corner toward Casey’s office building, a woman coming from the opposite direction plowed into him, knocking his keys out of his hand.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said, righting herself. “I wasn’t even looking where I was going.”
    “It’s fine,” Trevor said, picking up the keys. “My fault.”
    “Trevor Whitney? Oh, my goodness. How are you? It’s been ages.”
    He struggled to place her.
    “You don’t recognize me, do you?” She shot him a playful smile.
    “I’m terrible with names,” he said. And faces. And people.
    “Maggie Lawson.” She stuck her hand out in his direction. “We went to school together.”
    A vague memory passed through his mind. “Maggie. Right. You were in my sister’s class.”
    She gave a sharp nod. “That’s right. How is Jules?”
    He shrugged. “She’s . . . Jules. She’s out in LA trying