Free Tacked to Death by Michele Scott Page B

She realized that to get through this
she was going to need to suck it up and move forward. Typically,
moving forward would've meant that she would work with her
students, exercise her horses, and manage her ranch. Now, forward
meant unraveling a murder mystery.
    Another thought weighing her down was
Jude. She didn't want him to come home to this mess. She should've
gone with him and Katie on this cruise. He'd asked, but the timing
had not been good.
    Only a few days earlier—last
Friday—Jude had taken her to dinner. They'd sat out on the patio at
the restaurant eating shrimp cocktails and each having a glass of
wine. The sun was setting, reflecting a myriad of colors across the
desert sky, and candlelight flickered in the tea lights on the
table.
    The evening had been romantic from the
get-go. Jude had shown up with a dozen red roses in one hand and a
dozen pink ones in the other. Then he'd taken her to a gourmet
restaurant, and she'd figured that she was pretty much being swept
off her feet.
    He had leaned across the table and
taken her hand. "I wish you could go with me and Katie on this
cruise."
    "I wish I could go, too."
    "Then come with us. Please. I'll pay
for everything. Come on. You deserve a break. And Katie would love
it. This is her week off with year-round school, and we've been
looking forward to this for months. It would be over the top for
her if you came along."
    He smiled his devilish smile, which
made her heart skip a beat. His smile and the way his skin around
his blue eyes crinkled got under her skin in a very good way. She
sighed. "You know I can't. I have the charity match and we're
opening the store. I couldn't skip out on all of that. Plus I have
kids to teach. It would be irresponsible."
    "For once in your life, you should try
on irresponsibility for size."
    She laughed. "Sure. Come on, you know I
would go if I could."
    "I know. I understand. Next time
though." He shook his head.
    Jude had been right, because if she'd
for once hadn't been so responsibile she wouldn't be in this mess.
She climbed back up on Rocky and they eased on down the mountain.
She didn't know where things were headed with Jude, and now she was
more uncertain than ever. Not because she didn't have feelings for
him, but because she was in a hell of a lot of trouble, and she was
concerned how he might react. Maybe that was the real reason she
wasn't picking up the phone to call him. This wasn't her first
rodeo. She'd found herself in the midst of murder and mayhem in the
past and she really wished she could lead a quiet, simple
life.
    Ah, so much for simple. As she rode
onto her property she knew simple didn't exist. Ethan's truck stood
out front, and the last thing he represented in her life was
simple.
    Twelve
    Normally Michaela would be happy to see
his truck parked in front of her house. But not this evening. Ethan
was waiting for her in the stable office, and he had Josh with him.
Michaela spotted him before he saw her. He'd set Josh down on a
blanket with some toys and was bending down, wiping something off
the baby's face.
    She decided to bite the bullet. Ethan
never stopped by without a reason any longer. Michaela was pretty
sure that Summer was behind that. Back in the day, Ethan would pop
in after a long day of work and they'd have a beer together. They'd
talk about his cases for the day and how her training sessions had
gone. They'd known each other since they were three, and the
comfort level between them was both intimate and special. Not many
people had the kind of friendship that she and Ethan did. "Hey
look, it's my favorite boys."
    "Mick, what is going on?"
    "You've heard."
    "Heard? It's all over the news. You and
Sterling Taber? I thought you were dating that
detective—Jude."
    "I am! You don't believe that crap?
What, do you think I killed him, too?"
    "No, of course not." He walked over and
put his arms around her. She sank into him, leaning her head on his
chest. "What are we going to do?" he asked.
    "We? We