Right then, Willow determined to throw her heart in front of a bus if that was what it took to keep Sam and Sierra together, if only to show Ian that he didn’t own her sister’s heart. Not anymore.
Willow sensed Jess behind her, mostly because Gopher was rooting to get to his next love interest.
“How’s it going?” Jess said. “Have you tracked down any leads?” Covered in dust and plaster, Jess’s hair hung down around her drawn and tired face.
After Willow dismantled Ian, she’d track down Pete and run him down with her car.
Men.
Except for Sam, of course. She was a little worried about him too after the fight tonight, but she could hardly go running after him.
“Nothing,” Ian said in reply to Jess’s question. For the briefest of seconds, the flash of despair on his face turned a knife in Willow’s heart.
Maybe he deserved a little grace—after all, she couldn’t imagine someone she loved going missing. She, too, might spend every waking hour trying to find them, for as long as it took.
“I submitted Esme’s name to the registry for missing persons and got an artist to run an age-progression sketch. Right now I have ads running in all the major papers and on the internet. Now I just have to sit back and hope I get a call.”
“I’m sorry, Ian,” Sierra said quietly.
“Yeah, well, they ruled out her DNA as a match to the body Ben and Kacey found this summer, so, I’m not giving up hope. Especially not after the eyewitness at Saint Mary Lodge.”
An eyewitness who supposedly spotted Esme and put her on a train heading to Chicago. With that news, Ian simply couldn’t let go of the search. Even if it seemed Esme had wanted to vanish.
“She’s out there, and I plan to find her,” Ian said. He offered a quick smile. “If Sam stops by, can you ask him to swing by the ranch? I tried his cell, but he’s not answering. Then again, after tonight, maybe he’s just at home, cooling off.”
Sierra nodded. “Thanks for being there. I don’t know why he freaked out on Pete tonight.”
“Sam freaked out on Pete?” Jess said, and Willow wanted to wince. “Why?”
And how could Ian know about the near romance that went on only a few nights ago in Jess’s kitchen? So, of course, he spilled the beans.
“I’m not sure. Pete was dancing with this girl, and I think he bumped into Sam. Sam freaked out—”
“He did not freak out!” Willow couldn’t just let Ian throw Sam under the bus.
Willow glanced at Sierra for a little support. But Sierra shrugged. “He did freak out. I mean, yeah, I was a little mad at Pete too, but—”
“Why were you mad?” Jess said. “What was Pete doing?”
Willow set Gopher down, and he scampered away, probably to the kitchen to finish off their gelato.
Willow suppressed the urge to follow him.
“Nothing. Dancing,” Ian said.
“With Tallie Kennedy,” Sierra added quietly.
Jess stared at her, only her lips betraying her reaction to Sierra’s words. A quivering smile, a glance at Ian. “Oh.”
“Jess—” Willow said, but Jess held up her hands.
“That’s great for him. Pete’s been single way too long.” She blew out a breath, and on the tail of it created an Academy Award–winning grin. “Seems like a strange reason for Sam to hit him.”
“Indeed,” Ian said.
Sierra offered a tight smile. “I’ll let Sam know you dropped by.”
Ian gave a quick frown, then nodded. “Okay. Good to see you . . .” He cast his gaze around, as if he didn’t know how to end that sentence.
“You too,” Willow said bluntly.
She gave in to the urge to check out his car as he left.
No bimbo in the front seat. So maybe he’d dispatched her before coming to harass the woman he should let go of.
Sierra shut the door, and Jess headed to the kitchen.
“Jess . . .” Willow said.
“It’s fine.” She stopped at the utensil drawer, however, and pulled out a spoon. “Pete is just a friend.”
Ho-kay, so that’s where they were going to land tonight.
Willow returned to the table. Sierra sat down opposite her.
Jess dug into the gelato.
“Tallie is—” Sierra started.
“Cute,” Jess finished. “And it doesn’t matter. Like I said, Pete’s been single way too long. How was your evening? Ben’s new song?”
Sierra let the question sit for a minute, and Willow didn’t know what to say.
Finally, Sierra picked up her spoon. “Sam brought me home before Ben took the stage.”
“Really?”
“The fight managed to kill the mood,” Willow said. “Especially with Pete bleeding.”