Wish You Were Here by Beth K. Vogt

Author:Beth K. Vogt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

Daniel watched Alli position her laptop on the coffee table. She shoved the sleeves of her white fisherman’s sweater back and stared at the screen, scrunching her nose and mouth in concentration.

Alli tapped a few keys and muttered, “What is going on here?”

“Problem?”

“I opened my e-mail because I want to add the lodge’s e-mail address to my account. And I’ve got a ton of spam—again. I think a lot of it’s X-rated stuff. How’s it getting past my filter all of a sudden?”

“Did you adjust the settings recently?” Daniel brushed the cookie crumbs from his fingers, savoring the last morsel of cinnamon-flavored snickerdoodle.

“No.”

“Check your browser history.”

“Why? I haven’t gone to any of those sites.”

“Humor me. Check your history.”

As Alli clicked through different entries, Daniel moved to kneel beside her.

“Everything is clear—except for … what is that? When did someone go there?”

Daniel surveyed the browser. “Looks like Saturday night.”

“I didn’t go on my computer Saturday night. I was too busy making pizzas and playing board games with Hadleigh and Evan—” Alli stared at the link. “Evan.”

“Possibly.”

“Who else?”

“Who else has access to your laptop?”

“Aunt Nita, but she wouldn’t do something like this.”

“I admit, unlikely. What are you going to do?”

Alli closed the page and clasped her wrist, rubbing it back and forth. “I have no idea.”

Daniel covered her hand with his. “You do that a lot.”

Her hand stilled beneath his. “What?”

“Rub your wrist when you’re tense.”

“Nervous habit, I guess.”

“I guess.” He eased her hand aside and ran his finger along a faint white mark on the inside of her wrist. “I never noticed that scar before. How’d you get it?”

She glanced up at him and pulled her hand away, holding her arm close to her body. “It’s nothing. Just a scar.” Allison rubbed her arm up and down the faded material of her jeans.

What was going on here? Why was she overreacting to a simple question?

“Wait a minute … did I see more?” Ignoring Alli’s faint protests, Daniel turned her arm so he could see the skin along the inside. Besides the mark on her wrist, several others disfigured her skin farther up her arm.

“Bisquick scratched me. You know how j-jumpy he is.” Alli twisted her wrist back and forth, tugging against his grasp.

Daniel refused to let go. “That’s odd.” He traced each line, the contact causing Alli to shiver. One. Two. Three. Four. “Anytime a cat ever scratched me, it got me on the outside of my arm and the top of my hand.”

When Alli attempted to escape again, he caught her right hand, turning it faceup. More scars marred her skin. Alli kept her face turned away from him, staring into the fire’s yellow-orange flames.

“Alli—who hurt you?” Daniel whispered, rubbing his thumb across the marks.

At the sound of Madison’s steps crossing the front hallway, Alli jerked her hand away.

“Miss me?” Madison’s giggle trilled up Daniel’s spine like an over-energized jackhammer.

For the next half hour, Alli avoided eye contact with him. From the way she focused on Madison, he would have thought Alli found her the most intriguing person in town, possibly in the entire state of Colorado.

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