Forever Hers by Walters, Ednah (new ebook reader .TXT) 📗

sleep eluded her and the past refused to leave her alone. It took a while before she dozed off.

***

Eddie Fitzgerald squinted at the winding road hugging Lake Pend Oreille. The marina’s lights blinked ahead to his left. According to his cousin, the cottage was about three miles from the marina, the side road leading to it easy to miss. His gaze went to the clock on the dashboard. It was almost one in the morning, a lot later than he’d like. He had miscalculated the distance between Flathead Ranch, his cousin Chase’s place in Montana, and Sandpoint, Idaho.

No, it was more than that.

Seeing the sprawling horse-breeding ranch Chase purchased had reminded Eddie that he was the only one in his entire family with no interest in settling down. Chase, with whom he’d made a pact to never take the plunge, was now talking about finding someone special. Not wanting to be affected by the same marriage fever sweeping his large family, he’d needed space, distance between him and the latest casualty.

He slowed down after passing the marina, not wanting to miss the exit. The highway wasn’t busy at this time of the night, which helped. Eddie narrowed his eyes as he focused on finding the side road.

He blamed Chase’s change of attitude on his other cousins. One by one, they were getting hitched. Baron was blissfully married, his wife Kara expecting their first child. Lex was considering biting the bullet with his girlfriend. Eddie had no idea what the woman did, but she seemed nice and a perfect fit for his high-powered older cousin. The girls—Faith, Jade and Ashley—were all happily married, their husbands so doting it was nauseating to watch them during Sunday brunch.

He didn’t begrudge his cousins their happiness. To each his own. He had no interest in marriage or staying devoted to one woman for the rest of his life. His parents’ crazy marriage followed by his mother deserting them for her career taught him that marriage wasn’t worth the headache. It was messy. Chaotic. And it didn’t last. He came from a large family, and some of his uncles and aunts would agree with him. That was why he only dated women dedicated to their careers, just like him.

Eddie was first and foremost a cop, and a damn good one. He liked knowing that he made a difference by getting scumbags off the street. It was something he had control over, something tangible, and he did it well. Or at least he had done it well until a week ago when his captain had ripped him a new one then suspended him. And over what? An overambitious D.A. and a decorated officer with a chip on his shoulder.

Scumbags were supposed to stay behind bars, not get off on technicalities because it was an election year. Eddie had clenched his teeth and let that slide. He’d been around long enough to know politics were dirty. But the last straw had been overhearing the D.A and his lackey blame the whole mess on his mentor and former partner, a man who’d watched his back for a good solid ten years, selflessly volunteered his time to keeping less fortunate kids off the street and ran charity events to feed the hungry. His partner couldn’t be on the take.

Slugging the D.A. and a decorated officer wasn’t exactly the crowning moment of his career, but both acts had felt good. Scumbags came in many forms, even in uniform, and someone had to stand up to them.

A grin touched Eddie’s lips when he spotted the road. Home away from home, he couldn’t wait to crash. He signaled and exited the highway.

Most of the summer homes in East Hope were occupied this time of the year, so he wasn’t surprised to see cars in the driveways he passed. Outside the cottage, if anyone would call the hulking stone house a cottage, there was an old station wagon. Unlike the expensive sports cars he’d just passed, it looked out of place.

Baron and his wife Kara had bought the house several years ago and often flew out for some alone-time. They mentioned a housekeeper, an older woman who took care of things around the house whenever they visited. Maybe he would give the woman time off. He could take care of himself. He’d been doing it since he was fourteen when his mother decided she didn’t want to be a wife and a mother, packed up her computer and printer, and left. Eddie’s grip tightened on the steering wheel then relaxed.

No point rehashing the past. He was here to relax, help the local cops nab the burglars terrorizing the town as a favor to Baron, not think about things that no longer mattered. Determined to focus on the present, he pulled up outside the house and switched off the engine.

Hoping not to wake up the housekeeper, Eddie tried to be quiet as he entered the house. Kara had informed the housekeeper to expect him. He’d leave her note on the kitchen table that he’d arrived late, so she wouldn’t freak out in the morning.

Closing the door and softly turning the lock, he froze at the tell-tale sound of a gun cocking. Then a glaring light filled the foyer. Not the overhead light. The intensity indicated it was a flashlight.

“Drop the bag, open the door and get the hell out of my house before I start shooting,” a female ordered.

Eddie hands shot up. “Ma’am—”

“Don’t ma’am me, you son of a bitch. Open the goddamn door and get moving.”

The voice was smoky and low with an eastern lilt. It stroked his senses, the effect on him unexpected. He bit off a curse. Hadn’t his cousin said the woman was about sixty years old? Either he now had a thing for cougars or he liked being subjugated by a gun-wielding woman, which was unlikely. He wasn’t into bondage.

“My name is Eddie Fitzgerald. Baron, the owner of this house, is my cousin.”

She scoffed. “If you think dropping