Winter's Fire (Welcome to Covendale #7) by Morgan Blaze Read Free Book Online Page A

was free to focus on her job, without worrying about whether she’d end up sleeping with Adam Rhodes again. After this, he probably wouldn’t even speak to her.
    If only the idea didn’t hurt so much.
    * * * *
    Having yet another beer wasn’t a great idea at this point, but Adam decided he didn’t care. He could always walk home and grab his car in the morning. Right now, the most important thing was drowning Winter Solomon from his mind.
    After all this time searching for the woman he’d fallen for a year ago, she’d shown up practically at his doorstep—and he still hadn’t found her. In fact, he was half convinced she had an evil twin. Nothing else could explain such a dramatic difference.
    The bar was hopping, and he managed to snag a fresh beer without having to chit-chat. He decided to take it out to the back parking lot, to clear his head a little before he returned to the party. No sense ruining Ben’s night, such as it was, with his sour attitude.
    He’d just have to let everything go and accept the truth. His mystery woman no longer existed.
    There were plenty of cars in the back lot, Ben’s ancient, rust-colored El Camino among them in the row closest to the bar, but no people. That suited him just fine right now. This spot was a favorite for Covendale’s casual drug crowd—they’d come out here to pass a joint or a bowl around, with half an eye on the back door in case one of the sheriff’s deputies came poking. But even if the law descended on them, most of the time the offenders were let off with a warning.
    In this town, the heavy users kept it private—something Adam knew firsthand.
    He leaned against the wall, beneath the night shadows of the eaves, and drank slowly. As much as he wanted to forget about Winter completely, he couldn’t just yet. She was still here on business that concerned him. Of course, her so-called investigation was a joke, but at least she’d admitted that it was probably an honest mistake.
    Hopefully she’d find whatever transposed numbers she was looking for quickly. The sooner she left Covendale, the faster he could get her out of his life. For good this time.
    When the back door opened, Adam didn’t pay any attention, since it was probably someone headed for their car. But then he sensed a figure approaching him and tensed, until he made out who it was. “Hey, Ben,” he said, half-lifting his bottle in salute. “Not leaving your own party, are you?”
    “Nah. Still waiting for the strippers to show up.” Grinning, Ben raised his own bottle and clinked it with Adam’s. “So how’s your old man doing?” he said. “Haven’t seen him around much since—well, last summer,” he finished awkwardly.
    Adam offered a faint smile. “It’s all right to say it,” he said. “You mean since Mom died.”
    “Yes. Since then.” Ben took a quick swig of his beer and looked away. “Not wanting to speak ill of the dead, but I got the feeling he didn’t take it too hard.”
    “You’re right. He didn’t.” His mother had been a true addict—heroin and crack were her drugs of choice. Over the years, there’d been plenty of fights between his parents, and between one or both of them and his younger sister, Janie. For as long as he could remember, Adam had played peacemaker, putting out endless fuses on vicious, explosive fights before they could end in bloodshed. Eventually Janie had followed in her mother’s drug-fueled footsteps, and the two of them moved to an oceanside community the next state over.
    Then last summer, Janie vanished and his mother died of an overdose. He’d gone down to attend the funeral alone…and met Winter, who at the time had seemed like just what he needed.
    Apparently he’d been wrong about that.
    “Hope I didn’t stir up too big a hornet’s nest.”
    Ben’s voice jolted him from the memories. “No, it’s fine,” he said. “Dad’s doing all right. But then, he actually wanted to retire.” Dennis Rhodes had spent thirty