"No. No, I don't. But, Charlie, I had no idea she was your daughter. It was the day Jackson died. I had to get out of the house. And she was at the bar. In all fairness, she came on to me.

I didn't-"

"I don't need to know all the details, Morgan."

"Well, I'm just saying-"

"It doesn't matter. She's gone. And I doubt we'll ever see her again."

"Oh, no. Because of me?"

Charlie laughed. "Not because of you, Morgan. That's just the kind of relations.h.i.+p we have. h.e.l.l, I never got more than a picture until she was twenty-two and she decided to seek me out.

But you know, we don't have anything in common. We knew that the first time we met...what, ten years ago? A few phone calls here and there didn't change that. Honestly, I was as surprised as anyone that she wanted to come visit me." He stood and went to the window, looking out. "Nothing's changed. I'm just basically a sperm donor. I'm not her father." He turned back around. "You've been more of a daughter to me than she has, Morgan."

"Oh, Charlie. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. That's just the way it is. Her mother, well, she just married me to p.i.s.s off her parents. She had already moved back home by the time Mona was born."

"So you didn't get custody at all? Visitation?"

"I got paid off to disappear, Morgan. It's not something I'm proud of, but h.e.l.l, they made it clear I wasn't going to be a part of the kid's life. They know where I've been. They sent pictures.

The kid out on a yacht, her on a pony, her playing tennis at the country club. That kind of stuff."

"That's sad, Charlie."

He shrugged. "That's just the way it is. So even though we've got the same blood, we're not the same people. Like I said, we don't have anything in common, just like I didn't have anything in common with her mother."

"So she just went back to New York?"

Charlie grinned. "Back to her fiance. Poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Morgan laughed, then got up and went around to him, hugging him quickly. "Thank you for not being mad at me. For that, and well, for the accident."

"Speaking of that, you're going to need something to drive while your truck is being fixed. Why don't you hit up Alpine Rentals for a Jeep?"

"A Jeep? Seriously?"

"County is picking up the tab, not us."

"Oh, cool. Thanks, Charlie."

0.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

"So let me get this straight," Tina said. "In the last two weeks, you've managed to pick up a strange woman here at the bar, then you find out she's Charlie's daughter, of all people. Then Googan runs into you because he never stops at that d.a.m.n stop sign. And then you lie for him so he doesn't get into trouble?"

Morgan sipped her beer and merely nodded.

"Charlie's daughter? What were you thinking?"

"Obviously, I didn't know she was his daughter, and keep your voice down. The whole town doesn't need to know."

Tina laughed. "Yeah, keep thinking no one knows."

"It's so embarra.s.sing."

"And it should be." She lowered her voice. "Berta said she was engaged."

Morgan nodded. "That's what I hear."

"Then why would she do it with you?"

"I know you don't understand this," Morgan said, then grinned. "But s.e.x with a woman is pretty amazing. In fact, I called her Moaning Mona."

"Stop. Gross. Too much information," Tina said with a laugh.

"In other words, I wasn't the first woman she's been with,"

Morgan said. "Because she knew exactly what she was doing."

She, too, lowered her voice. "She was a biter."

"A what?"

"You know, a biter."

"During s.e.x?"

"Yeah."

Tina again shook her head. "I don't want to know about it. I don't even want to think about it."

"Thankfully, Charlie wasn't p.i.s.sed about it."

"Yeah, Berta said you had a talk with him."

Morgan tapped the table. "Why must that woman tell everything she knows? Can't I be the first to tell news that involves me?"

"No. And you should be used to it by now." Tina waved Tracy down and held up two fingers. "I'll stay for one more," she said to Morgan. "I want to hear about the sheriff."

"Chief Daniels? What about her?"

"I heard you were locked in her truck for nearly a half hour.

And you were arguing."

Morgan rested her chin on her palm, shaking her head. "I swear, this town. No, I was not locked in her truck. She was taking my statement and it was snowing, so we sat in her truck."

"Is this the statement where you were lying?"

"Until she told me that she knew I was lying, yes."

She shoved her empty mug aside and folded her hands on the table. "So, what was she like?"

"Who?"

Tina grinned wickedly. "You know who. Chief Daniels."

"She was, well at first, it was all business and she was abrupt, perhaps even a little arrogant. She lightened up some, but I'm not sure I like her. There's something kinda mysterious about her. Like Googan said, she's got a chip on her shoulder about something."

"Googan said that because she's acting like a real sheriff and holding him accountable instead of the good old boy way that Ned handled things."

"Yeah, but I can see where she has a bit of an att.i.tude." She waved her hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter. She knew I was trying to cover for Googan and busted me on it. Then I hear she chewed Googan's a.s.s for it."

"At least he's still got a job." Tina smiled as Tracy set two beers on the table for them. "Thanks, girl. Why don't you sit and chat for a bit?"

"Can't. Jeff's not here yet so I have to help with dinner."

She touched Morgan's shoulder. "Heard what happened with Googan."

"I don't doubt that."

"He always runs that stop sign. Did you tell the chief that?"

"No, I didn't tell her that. She was plenty p.i.s.sed the way it was.""And he deserves it." She looked at Tina. "You having dinner here tonight?"

"Oh, no. Leftovers. But I wanted to come in and get the scoop from Morgan. And why didn't you tell me about Charlie's daughter?"

Tracy winked at Morgan. "Because I didn't think she wanted you to know."

"Since when has that stopped you?"

"You don't have to know everything," Tracy said as she walked away."You paid her off, didn't you?" Tina said.

"I did not."

"I don't believe you." She took a swallow from her beer. "Are we still on for Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Yeah, but like I said, don't wait for me. The lodge is full and the trails will be packed. It's the first real run of the season." As much as she loved Tina and Paul and their kids, Thanksgiving had become just another day to her, normally because she usually volunteered to be out on the trails to allow others with families to enjoy the holiday. But here in Lake City, it was just her and Charlie during the winter, so she had no choice. Secretly, she liked it that way. First run of the season, fresh snow. She could feel the adrenaline now as she imagined the powerful snowmobile between her legs. She never minded showing up late for dinner after a day on the trails.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

Morgan set her beer mug aside and watched as Reese Daniels sauntered into the bar. The sheriff nodded in her direction, then took a seat at an empty booth.

"Same time nearly every night," Tracy said as she took a frosty mug from the freezer and filled it. "I wish you would go talk to her. n.o.body talks to her. She just sits there by herself, waiting on her burger."

"I tried talking to her, remember? She's not very friendly."

Although during her accident report, the sheriff hinted that she might have a sense of humor. Morgan had seen her hide a smile several times. And of course, who wouldn't? Finding out someone's name was Marietta Zula surely would bring fits of laughter.

"Maybe she's just shy," Tracy suggested.

"Oh, please. Shy? That woman is not shy." Morgan gazed again at the sheriff. No, not shy. She was too powerful to be shy.

And she wasn't sure if she meant physically powerful or not. Her personality was forceful, confident. Powerful. But her stature seemed to be as well. She was a few inches taller than Morgan's five-seven, and although she had not seen her without a jacket or parka on, she imagined her to have a muscular frame.

"I think she's cute."

Morgan pulled her gaze away from Reese Daniels and frowned at Tracy. "Cute?"

"Don't you think so?"

Morgan shrugged. Well, yeah. But cute wouldn't be the word she'd use. She was attractive, not beautiful. She was too masculine looking to be called beautiful. Handsome, yes. But her face had a hardness about it, her dark eyes difficult to read. Maybe that was why Ellen had called her indifferent. She couldn't read her.

But she conceded to Tracy. "She's attractive, yes."

"Then-"

"But not my type," she quickly clarified. The last thing she wanted was Tracy playing matchmaker with the new sheriff. It was bad enough Tina-and even Ellen-had hinted Morgan should become friendly with her.

Tracy laughed. "Do you have a type, Morgan? There was the professor for a while. Definitely not your type. There was the teenager you picked up during the summer. Now she wasn't your type, surely. And most recently Mona. Now don't tell me she was your type."

"The teenager was nineteen, posing as twenty-one, and I'd had a bit too much to drink to think clearly. Mona was a huge mistake, but I was mourning over Jackson and not thinking clearly. And the professor," Morgan grinned, "she was kinda good in bed, and it was winter."

"And so you weren't thinking clearly."

Morgan laughed. "Not really, no. We had nothing in common, obviously. She got immense pleasure out of using vocabulary that I couldn't p.r.o.nounce, much less know the meaning of."

"The snooty genius types never make good partners," Tracy stated matter-of-factly.

"So I should stick with the dimwitted sheriff types?"

Tracy took Morgan's mug and filled it, then handed both to her. "Go take her beer over to her and talk to her."