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you remain in Wilde?”
    “Until a year ago. I stayed but the town and this house seemed so different without our parents and Aaron to me. The color and vitality of life turned gray and cold. For years I searched for something that would bring back the feelings I’d once known, but I never found anything.”
    Hearing the sadness in his voice was breaking her heart, but she wanted to hear more. She reached out and grabbed his hands. “Go on.”
    “I sowed some oats after high school for quite a while. Aaron offered me a job and I jumped at the chance, knowing it was time to make something of my life. I love my job. He wants me to become his partner. Fifty-fifty. Can you believe that?”
    “I’m beginning to.” Hearing Kyle’s story, she was seeing Aaron Strait in a different light. The man was much more than a tight-lipped, egotistical, control-freak. Aaron was loving and loyal, self-sacrificing and kind. “How is it working for your brother?”
    “It’s the best job I’ve ever had.” Kyle squeezed her hands. “So here I am. Keeping an eye on a superstar named Gya Gaynor.”
    “Doing a damn good job of it, too.” She looked into his deep blue eyes, thinking about the struggles he and Aaron had been through. They’d survived by supporting each other. How she would’ve loved to have them in her life during her dark years. “I’ve never felt so safe and so comfortable in my life.” Lost in the moment, she kissed his cheek. Shocked at herself, she leaned back. “I’m sorry. That’s not like me, Kyle.”
    “It was just a kiss on the cheek, Gya.”
    “I’m not the touchy-feely type normally. I don’t even like to hug people.”
    He didn’t say a word, but his unblinking eyes mesmerized her. What was he thinking? Did I overstep the line? Of course you did, Gya.
    “Kyle, can we just forget this ever hap—”
    He pressed his lips to hers, silencing her and sending a shiver up and down her spine.
    She placed her hands on his chest, trying to find the courage to push him away, but the courage never came. Instead, she found herself melting into his arms.
     
    * * * *
     
    Aaron stepped into Sheriff Champion’s office and found the lawman, who he’d never met before, sitting behind his desk, and three others, who he knew well.
    The Taylor twins sat in two chairs facing the sheriff. Adam and Bane had been on the high school football team with him. Even though they’d been a couple years older, they’d been good friends.
    Austin Wilde stood next to the sheriff, looking over his shoulder at some files.
    They all turned his direction.
    Adam stood and came up to him. He patted him on the back, giving him a manly hug. “Good to see you, buddy.”
    He smiled. “Good to see you, too.”
    Bane came up beside them, smiling broadly. “How long has it been, Aaron?”
    “At my mother’s funeral. You two got leave, as I recall.” Something about seeing his old friends spoke to him in a good way, but it also reminded him of the loss that had driven him away from Wilde. He still missed his parents, but especially his mother.
    “Too damn long, that’s for sure,” Adam said. “But we all look pretty damn good for the wear, don’t you think?”
    “Sure as hell do. I heard from Maude you two are back for good.”
    “Yes we are,” the two Marines said in unison.
    “Working for the FBI?”
    “Yep,” again in unison.
    “And I heard you are engaged to Norma’s daughter, Emma.”
    “That’s true, too.”
    “Though you haven’t been back since you graduated from high school, it sure seems like you have kept up on everything happening in Wilde through my Aunt Maude.” Austin Wilde extended his hand to Aaron.
    He shook his hand. “Maude Strong has always been good to me and Kyle.”
    “I’ve learned how good a woman Maude is since I moved here.” The sheriff sported gray hair and looked to be in his sixties. Not a native of Wilde, but from Elko, which was the closest town. “All the women in town are the