Heart of Gold Read online

  A cold case leads to present danger

  Charlie Farmington has been blaming herself for her stepsister Lindy’s unsolved murder for fifteen years. Then, through the twinkling lights and pine-scented air of a Montana Christmas, she glimpses Lindy—alive—standing on the street. Shocked and afraid, Charlie turns to the only person she can trust to help her: William “Shep” Shepherd, her first love, who knows all of Charlie’s secrets...except one.

  The intriguing girl Shep fell hard for has become a breathtaking woman—and now that she’s back in his life, he’ll do whatever he can to help her uncover what really happened to her sister. But when Charlie finally reveals the secret that ripped them apart all those years ago, Shep realizes how much danger is still lurking. For the truth about that night isn’t just dark—it’s deadly. And their second chance together could end before it’s even begun...

  Praise for the novels of New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels

  “Daniels is a perennial favorite on the romantic suspense front, and I might go as far as to label her the cowboy whisperer.”

  —BookPage on Luck of the Draw

  “Daniels keeps readers baffled with a taut plot and ample red herrings, expertly weaving in the threads of the next story in the series as she introduces a strong group of primary and secondary characters.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Stroke of Luck

  “Daniels again turns in a taut, well-plotted, and suspenseful tale with plenty of red herrings. Readers will be in from the start and engaged until the end.”

  —Library Journal on Stroke of Luck

  “Readers who like their romance spiced with mystery can’t go wrong with Stroke of Luck by B.J. Daniels.”

  —BookPage

  “Daniels is an expert at combining layered characters, quirky small towns, steamy chemistry and added suspense.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Hero’s Return

  “B.J. Daniels has made Cowboy’s Legacy quite a nail-biting, page-turner of a story. Guaranteed to keep you on your toes.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  Also by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels

  Montana Justice

  Restless Hearts

  Heartbreaker

  Heart of Gold

  Sterling’s Montana

  Stroke of Luck

  Luck of the Draw

  Just His Luck

  The Montana Cahills

  Renegade’s Pride

  Outlaw’s Honor

  Cowboy’s Legacy

  Cowboy’s Reckoning

  Hero’s Return

  Rancher’s Dream

  Wrangler’s Rescue

  The Montana Hamiltons

  Wild Horses

  Lone Rider

  Lucky Shot

  Hard Rain

  Into Dust

  Honor Bound

  Look for B.J. Daniels’s next novel Forever Again available soon from HQN.

  For additional books by B.J. Daniels, visit her website, www.BJDaniels.com.

  HEART OF GOLD

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  B.J. Daniels

  This book is dedicated to Dawn Stenvik, who taught me a lot about quilting and patience (she has it; I don’t). She also taught me how to make her favorite apron pattern. It was a fun day and fun getting to know her better.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

  CHAPTER ONE

  “JINGLE BELLS” PLAYED loudly from a nearby store and a man jangled a bell looking for donations to his bucket as Charlie let her apartment door close behind her. Snow crystals drifted on the slight breeze making downtown Bozeman, Montana, sparkle. Pine scented the air as shoppers rushed past, loaded down with bags and packages after snagging early morning deals.

  Charlie had just stepped onto the sidewalk when she saw a woman standing across the street under one of the city’s Christmas decorations. Shock froze her to the pavement, and she stared in disbelief. The woman, looking right at her, smiled that all too familiar smile—the one that had haunted Charlie’s nightmares for years. Even as she told herself it wasn’t possible, she felt the bright winter day begin to dim and go black.

  Charlie woke lying on the icy sidewalk surrounded by people. She’d never fainted before in her life. But then she’d never seen a dead woman standing across the street from her apartment either.

  As she lay there dazed, she realized that she probably wouldn’t have even noticed the woman if it hadn’t been for her horoscope that morning. It had warned that something bad was going to happen. Not in those exact words. But when she read it, she’d had a premonition she couldn’t shake.

  Not that she would admit checking her horoscope each morning. It wasn’t that she believed it exactly. She just hated the thought of walking into a new day not knowing what to expect.

  Earlier this morning she’d actually considered calling her boss and begging off work. She knew it was silly. But she hadn’t been able to throw off the strange sense of dread she’d had after reading the prediction.

  Unfortunately, she had a design project that was coming due before Christmas. She couldn’t afford to miss work. So she’d dressed and left her apartment—against her instincts. If she hadn’t been anxiously looking around, worried, she might not have seen the long-dead Lindy Parker standing across the street looking at her. And she wouldn’t have dropped in a dead faint.

  Becoming aware of the cold, icy sidewalk beneath her, she struggled up with some help from the onlookers. For a while, all sound had been muted. Now she heard the clanging bell again, and the Christmas music from a nearby store. She could also feel a pain in her knees; she must have scraped them when she fell.

  “Let me help you,” an older man said, taking her arm so she could stand on her wobbly legs.

  Her gaze shot to the spot where she’d seen Lindy. There was no one there. If there ever had been.

  Charlie felt her face flush with embarrassment. Her foolish feeling was accompanied by nausea. She knew rationally that she couldn’t have seen Lindy. Yet she couldn’t stop quaking. She’d seen someone. Someone who looked enough like the dead woman to give her more than a start.

  It didn’t help that her rational mind argued against the chance that Lindy’s doppelgänger just happened to be standing across the street from her apartment smiling that evil smile of hers.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” the elderly man asked. “You’re awfully pale.”

  She couldn’t speak around the giant lump that had formed in her throat. Hadn’t she been expecting something bad to happen even before she read th
is morning’s horoscope? Her life had been going so well lately that she’d had to pinch herself to believe it.

  Of course, being the negative Nancy she was, she’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Happy was a feeling she wasn’t familiar with. Good things just didn’t happen to her. So why would she trust it? Her friends told her she was silly for thinking the worst. “Just enjoy life,” they’d said. “You deserve this.”

  Did she though? They didn’t know about her darkest secret. They didn’t know about Lindy.

  Once on her feet, the crowd around her dispersed, including the elderly man. Seeing the time, Charlie pulled out her cell phone and dialed the emergency-only number she’d kept while hoping she would never have to use it.

  When voice mail picked up, she said, “I just saw a dead woman standing across the street from my apartment. I’m not drunk or crazy, but I’m scared because...it was her. It was Lindy Parker.” Her voice broke, her eyes filling with hot tears.

  Fingers trembling, she disconnected, took a couple of breaths and tried to regain control of herself. This wasn’t like her. She was no longer a victim. She was strong, determined, capable. But even as she thought it, she recalled the feel of Lindy’s ice-blue eyes meeting hers. Lindy had always been able to make her doubt herself. Even dead. She shivered.

  Still shaking, she called her boss. She was planning to tell him she was sick and wouldn’t be in to the design company where she worked. But by the time Greg Shafer came on the line, she’d calmed down and changed her mind. She couldn’t think of anything worse than spending the day locked in her apartment alone, staring out the window at the opposite street corner, expecting the woman to reappear.

  “Charlie?” Greg asked. “Is something wrong?”

  “I had an accident,” she told him, buoyed by the concern in his voice and knowing that the one place she would be safe was work.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” A lie. “I’m just running a little late.”

  * * *

  AMANDA BARNES GROANED to herself as she watched Greg hang up his phone. “Let me guess, that was Charlie and she’s going to be late. Again.” She couldn’t help giving him an impatient look. He cut Charlie way too much slack. It made him look weak as a boss—even worse as a fiancé. “What was her excuse this time? Christmas shopping?”

  “I don’t want to argue, Mandy,” he said with a sigh. “Charlie said she had an accident. She’s on her way.”

  She hated when he called her Mandy with that tone of voice. It made her teeth ache. She flipped her blond hair back and stretched out her long legs, her best assets. Both had reeled Greg in, she thought with a smile. She was also a damn good office manager. Altogether they’d resulted in a huge diamond on her finger.

  “Charlie is my most creative designer,” Greg was saying.

  Amanda rolled her eyes. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard this before. “She’s a flake and you know it.”

  “Can I assume you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

  “You would know since it was your bed,” she said, lowering her voice as she felt her expression soften. She glanced at the ring he’d put on her finger recently. He’d told her that he’d been planning to wait until Christmas, but he’d disappointed her on her birthday in October when he’d given her a small box with silver earrings inside. Obviously, he’d known then that he’d better take the next step and soon or risk losing her. A few weeks ago, he’d popped the question and of course she’d said yes.

  “Cut Charlie some slack,” he said now. “She’s just not a morning person. She’s an artist. Her creativity kicks in later in the day. I’m sure she—”

  Just then the young woman in question arrived. Through the glass wall of his office, they watched Charlie burst through the outer office door in a flurry of flapping winter coat and scarf. She always swept in, often in a rush, always exuberant and usually running late. This morning appeared no different—except for the fact that she was later than normal.

  As Charlie shrugged out of her coat and scarf, Amanda saw that she wore a bright-colored sweater that hit her small frame mid-thigh with dark leggings. Her long curly dark chestnut hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. A few errant locks had come loose and now framed her face, making her look much younger than her twenty-nine years.

  Amanda didn’t have to look at Greg to know that he was smiling. Had either of them ever been that young, and so wonderfully naive and full of life? Charlie radiated an innocence and a kind of energy that she knew enchanted him. He’d told her that Charlie reminded him of summer days growing up.

  This morning Charlie’s big brown eyes were wide and her complexion so pale that her freckles only looked more adorable. Amanda feared that the young woman brightened her fiancé’s days a little too much and that alone was troubling.

  “She’s limping,” Greg said, frowning.

  So she hadn’t been exaggerating about having an accident, Amanda thought as Charlie stopped in Greg’s office. There was a tear in the young woman’s leggings at one knee and the skin underneath was scraped. Nor was she her usual cheerful, apologetic self.

  “Are you all right?” Greg asked, clearly genuinely concerned.

  “I took a tumble, that’s all.” Charlie’s gaze breezed past him to Amanda and back. “I’m so sorry. My horoscope warned me not to leave the apartment. I guess I should have listened.”

  Her horoscope? Amanda turned away so Charlie didn’t see her eye roll.

  “I’m just glad you’re all right,” Greg said. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

  “No, I’ll be fine.”

  Turning back, Amanda watched Charlie head for her cubicle, her limp more pronounced.

  “I hope she’s all right,” Greg said.

  “It’s just a skinned knee. I’m sure she’ll survive.” Amanda sighed. “It is always something with that woman.” She started toward the door. “You really need to get tougher with her.”

  Greg said nothing. Then he asked, “Are we interviewing more candidates for office manager today? I’d really like someone to fill your position right after the first of the year.”

  She’d been so excited when he’d told her that after they were married, he would invest in any enterprise she wanted. He didn’t think it would be a good idea for the two of them to be working together at his company once they tied the knot right after Christmas. She’d been so excited by the prospect of being able to start her own business that she hadn’t minded leaving his design company in the least.

  Now though she wondered if he just wanted her out of this office so she couldn’t see what was going on with the staff.

  * * *

  CHARLIE TRIED TO concentrate on her work. She had to have at least six designs to show the client by the end of the week. While she already had more than that, she wasn’t happy with a few of them. She wanted them to be perfect.

  But as hard as she tried to keep her mind on her designs, she kept thinking about what she’d seen. Or hadn’t seen. She knew she couldn’t have seen Lindy. Lindy had been dead for years. So why would she think she saw the woman standing across the street? Why now?

  Her cell phone rang. Seeing it was her boyfriend, she quickly picked up. She did love the sound of the word boyfriend. “Hi,” she said.

  “Hey.” Daniel’s voice made her smile. “I know you’re at work. Just had to call. I missed you last night.” They still had their own apartments. Often they slept over at one or the other. That was why Daniel kept pushing for them to move in together.

  It would be cheaper, and they would see more of each other, he’d argued, but Charlie couldn’t help dragging her feet. She liked having her own place. If she was being honest, she also didn’t trust that this relationship would last. From life experience, she knew she couldn’t count on anything. She feared that living together would make the breakup worse.
Not that she told Daniel this, but she did question after a couple of months where he thought this was going.

  He was the one who’d brought up moving in after their first month of dating. “We’re happy now, that’s all that matters, right? I mean, we don’t have to spell out what this is, do we? Just let this play out and see where it goes.”

  That was Daniel’s laid-back approach to everything. He worked at a local video gaming company where he could wear shorts all year and skateboard around inside the building. She doubted he was putting money into his 401 plan—if the company even had one.

  Besides it wasn’t like she was ready for anything serious. She enjoyed having a boyfriend maybe a little more than she enjoyed Daniel some days. She feared there might be something wrong with her.

  From as far back as she could remember, she’d had this feeling of doom as if a black cloud followed her around and one day lightning would strike her dead. She had good reason to expect the worst given her life so far. Maybe that was why she read her horoscope every morning. Was today the day?

  After who she’d seen standing across the street this morning, she feared it was.

  “I missed you, too,” Charlie said into the phone, deciding not to say anything to Daniel about what had happened this morning. She’d never told anyone about Lindy, and she decided to keep it that way, even though there were times she yearned to share her worst secret.

  “See you tonight?” he asked. “Anywhere special you want to go for dinner?”

  “Surprise me.”

  He laughed. “You do realize that you’re giving me the thumbs-up to select the nearest drive-through...”

  “Daniel?” asked the designer in the cubicle next to her when the call was over. Tara was a petite blonde in her midthirties, married and very pregnant with her third child. “I love living vicariously through you,” her friend said as she patted her huge belly. “It beats waiting for this baby to make an entrance.”

  Charlie smiled at her. “It will all be over soon.”