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he did, I guess it was too little and too late.”
    “Pretty sorry investigative technique,” Peter growled. “Seems to me too much time got away before anybody official got into the act.”
    “Marigold said no,” Nina answered, “and Marigold carries a lot of weight in this county. She didn’t mean to make it harder; she just didn’t believe anything had happened to Danny. I guess I couldn’t blame her.” Her skin felt drawn against her cheekbones and a headache lurked just behind her eyelids.
    Giving her hand a quick squeeze, Peter seemed to sense Nina’s weariness. “I think that’s enough for tonight, Nina.” Peter tore pages from the notebook, tucked them into his pocket, and rose. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you to go into all this again. I hope I can help find some answers.” He looked back at the scrapbook on the table. “Could I borrow your wedding picture? When I reach the woman I got the car from, it would help to have a picture of Danny. I’ll see you get it back.”
    “Of course, but that’s just a snapshot a friend took,” Nina answered. “I have a whole stack of professional wedding photos, and some of them are better of Danny. He doesn’t have his glasses on in one or two, and at least one of them is a close-up. They might be more help.” The photos in the box with the photographer’s name on the top still waited to be put into the white satin album. She’d brought them home, started to arrange them for the album, lost heart and put them in a drawer, then finally stopped looking at them after the first year. Still she only needed a moment to find the box and bring it back to Peter.
    He thumbed through the prints she handed him. “These are better. I’ll be very careful with them. And give me your phone number, too, if you don’t mind. I might need to ask something else, once I think about all of this.”
    “Of course,” Nina agreed and wrote her number on another sheet from the pad. “If the pictures help you, then I’m glad to let you have them.” She closed the box. “I don’t look at them much anymore. After a while you just get too numb to hurt.”
    Peter tore the lined page in half and took her pencil. “I’ll give you my number, as well, in case you think of something that seems odd or out of character for Danny. I know you’ve been over it a thousand times, but something might connect in a new way.” He put the photos and her number in his pocket with the notes he’d made and started for the door. “I think I have enough to begin. When I contact the widow of the man who bought the car, I’ll let you know what I find out. Of course she may not have any information, but it’s worth the effort to ask.”
    Nina nodded, glad of his interest but ready to bring his visit to an end. “Thanks,” she said, opening the door.
    Peter stopped and turned back, a puzzled look pulling his brows together. “I meant to ask, if it isn’t too personal, Nina... I know you wear Danny’s ring, but you use your maiden name. Why Nina Kirkland—not Nina Wilson?”
    Long-buried resentment flooded Nina. That raw spot was one time might never heal. “Because Marigold insists Danny and I weren’t really married. She says five minutes in front of a preacher doesn’t constitute marriage and I have no right to Danny’s name. If I’d been the right girl for him in the first place, he’d never have left me at the church. With all the gossip she’d started, blaming me for his disappearance, I finally agreed not to use the Wilson name until Danny comes back. Anything to stop the snide and hateful speculation. But nothing can make me stop wearing his ring. Danny put it on my hand, and I won’t take it off till he asks me to or I find out he’s dead. In which case, Marigold would be right—I wouldn’t be his wife—I’d be his widow.”

Chapter 4
    “Then I’m not Danny’s wife—I’m his widow.” Nina’s hurt and angry words rang in Peter’s mind as he pulled away