“Did he ever apologize to you about the other night?” He hadn’t told me where he’d been. Maybe he’d told Marj.

She nodded. “Yeah. Sort of. Talon has issues with apologies. But he felt bad. I could tell.”

“Where did he go?”

“Same thing. To Grand Junction. He didn’t say why.”

I let it go. The guys arrived shortly thereafter, and Marj poured us all a glass of Ryan’s Italian blend. The robust aroma of the zesty tomato sauce wafted out from the oven as we sat at the kitchen table to drink wine and munch on skewers of honeydew melon and prosciutto drizzled with olive oil.

We engaged in small talk, until finally the perfect moment arrived for me to bring up Talon.

“I haven’t had a chance to thank you, Jade,” Jonah said, “for getting that good deal for Talon with the city.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I was glad to do it. You guys have all done so much for me, letting me stay here, and you, Ryan, letting me work at the winery the first few weeks I was here.”

“We miss you over there,” Ryan said. “Anytime you want to come back, there’s an open invitation.”

“She has a license to practice law now, Ry,” Jonah said. “I doubt she wants to make wine for living.”

“Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad. Honestly, I’m not sure law was ever my true calling. I knew I wanted to do something where I could draw good pay. My dad and I pretty much lived paycheck to paycheck, and I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life. Plus, I’m not really happy with my boss right now. It was a clear breach of ethics for me to even work on Talon’s case, but I’m glad I could help. I’m not sure what Larry would’ve done with it.”

Jonah scoffed. “Larry Wade is a moron. Of course he didn’t see any ethical problem with you working on Talon’s case. He wouldn’t know ethics if they hit him in the head. Honestly, I’m glad you’re working on it, breach of ethics or not. I don’t trust Larry as far as I can throw him.”

I nodded. I didn’t really trust the guy either, and I’d only known him for a couple of days. “Talon originally wanted to plead guilty and get jail time. Did you guys know that?” I said.

Jonah raised his eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound like Talon.”

Ryan shook his head. “It sure doesn’t. Talon hates being locked up.”

“Well, I’m sure no one likes being locked up,” I said. “Is he claustrophobic or something?”

“Well, not exactly…” Jonah looked down at his glass of wine.

Marj piped up. “Then what exactly do you mean?”

“Nothing,” Ryan said. “He means nothing. It’s like Jade said. No one likes being locked up.”

“I don’t buy it,” Marj said.

I didn’t either, but as a visitor, I wasn’t really at liberty to say so. I was glad Marj had.

“What exactly is there to buy, Marjorie?” Jonah asked.

Marj let out a chuckle. “Using my full name? I’ve hit a nerve somewhere.” She turned to me. “Why don’t you guys tell us exactly what’s going on here? Jade’s been asking me for weeks what the story is with Talon, and I’ve been telling her the same thing you guys have always told me. It’s just his way. He’s always been that way. But it occurs to me that you guys have known him a lot longer than I have. He’s my brother, and I love him as much as I love the two of you. What is going on?”

Ryan and Jonah exchanged a fleeting glance. Very fleeting, actually, but I noticed it. I was on high alert when it came to Talon. I would’ve noticed anything.

“Let it go, Marj,” Jonah said softly.

“I can’t let it go any longer,” Marj said. “He’s my brother too, damn it. What are you hiding?”

“We’re not hiding anything,” Ryan said. “Talon probably has post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the military. We’ve talked to him about getting help for it, but he’s not open to that. There’s nothing more we can do.”

“He went to see a doctor, though, that Dr. Carmichael who was at the ER. So maybe he is open to it.”

“And you saw how that went,” Jonah said.

Marj didn’t respond. I had lots more questions, but I let them go. It was one thing for Marj to demand answers, quite another for me to. When the timer rang on the oven, Marj got up and pulled the manicotti out. She set it on the table and brought over my salad. She passed the salad bowl around, and we each took some.

“This is great dressing, Marj. New recipe?” Ryan asked.

Marj shook her head. “Jade made the salad.”

“It’s just a simple French vinaigrette,” I said and took a bite.

Back to small talk for the remainder of the dinner.

And I was still filled with questions about Talon.

 

* * *

 

I was lying on my bed reading when a knock sounded on my door. My heart skipped a beat. Perhaps Talon had come back. “Come in,” I said.

Marj walked through my door. Though I was little let down not to see Talon, I was glad to see her. Jonah and Ryan had volunteered to clean the kitchen after dinner, so Marj and I had gone our separate ways, but we still had that college roommate bond. We could each tell that we wanted to talk, but we couldn’t with the brothers there.

“Did they leave?” I asked.

She nodded. “And I got a text from Talon. He’s staying in the city tonight.”

My heart lurched a bit. Why was he staying in the city? Why had he the other night? Did he have a woman there? Probably many women. The thought broke my heart a little.

On the other hand, if Jonah and Ryan had left and Talon was gone for the night, Marj and I could talk.

“So what do you think?”

“They’re lying,” Marj said. “I’ve been wondering about Talon for a long time, and he may very well have post-traumatic stress disorder. I was a teenager when he left for Iraq, but even still, I remember him being pretty much the same way before he left. So I’m not sure it can all be blamed on his service.”

“I guess there’s not much we can do about it,” I said.

Marj gave me a devious grin. “Want to bet? I think we need to do some investigating. We can start with my father’s old files. I’ve always thought about going through them, but then figured it was none of my business. But you know what? I own a quarter of this ranch. And Talon is my brother. I love him. So it is my business.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me off the bed. “Come on.”