It had been six weeks since word of their engagement had gotten out. She had shared the truth with Faye and Chloe, and they both thought she was crazy, but they supported her decision even going so far as to invite Ben to a few of their dinners out after work. He had been introduced to Dr. DeGraff and the two men hit it off immediately. It turned out that Ben had been a foreign news correspondent prior to writing his first novel, and he and Dr. DeGraff had a lot in common since they had both travelled to many of the same places.

Chance had returned to the hospital, and River had moved to a different floor and was working nights. Lia had only seen Chance in passing and he had only given her nasty looks while doing his best to avoid her. It was such a small town that what had happened at the wedding was bound to reach the ears of those they worked with at the hospital. Lia was often greeted with, 'Don't piss her off, she'll get her dog to piss all over you'. It was funny at first and she had played along, but now it was old news and she wished it would stop.

Lia took a seat on the bench in the square outside of Ben's house. It was early fall and still hot, but things were beginning to quiet down for the city as all the summer tourists departed. Lia enjoyed her and Huck's walks more since there were fewer people to avoid.

Huck jumped up next to her, spinning in circles before settling down.

Lia reached over and pet his head as she let the noise of the last of the summer cicadas sooth her. Since the engagement not much in her world had changed. Everyone still treated her the same, and she and Ben had a status quo. They would go out occasionally in order to be seen in public, and he sometimes took walks with her, but for the most part, he was busy working on his novel. He hadn't moved in with her yet, but he used her apartment during the day while the workmen were at his house then he would retreat back there before she got home every night, and on the days she had off, he would do his best to work at his house. It was almost as if he was avoiding her.

Ben was going up to New York to see his agent and publisher the following day, and she was going to spend the night at his house, so she could start going through the attic and basement. He had seemed worried about her being there by herself at first, but she assured him that she would have Huck, and it was not really any different then her staying at her own place which was right across the street. She supposed she could go home to sleep, but she wanted to get as much done as she could, she had even convinced Faye and Chloe to come and help.

Lia smiled at a passing couple that was holding hands, fighting back sadness at the sight. It would be nice if she and Ben were in a real relationship, and it was probably a good thing that he was keeping his distance because she was ready and willing to fall in love with the man if he let her, if she let herself.

She was so hung up on watching the couple that she didn't notice the man who approached her from the left. Huck did, and he gave a little growl as he picked up his head while looking at the man.

Lia turned at Huck's growl and saw him. He was tall and thin, reasonably handsome, well dressed, and not much older than Lia.

"You're Lia Haven, aren't you?" he asked, keeping a respectable distance so he wouldn't alarm her, or maybe because Huck made him nervous. Perhaps he had heard that he liked to pee on people.

"Yes, why?" She watched him closely as he took a step forward

"I'm Connor Butler, Illianna Emerson's brother." He waited for the name to register with her.

It immediately did, but she didn't let her surprise show, she had no clue why the man would want to approach her and surprised that he had the nerve. Lia remained silent, she didn't want to talk to him, so she wasn't going to encourage him.

"I wanted to reach out and let you know that I'm concerned for your safety." He looked over at the house behind her. "Ben isn't at all what he seems to be." The man seemed outwardly calm, but she noted his hand in a fist by his side and a sight flush came to his cheeks when he said Ben's name.

She still said nothing, watching him.

"You're in love with him and loyal to him. I get that, you are engaged after all." He gave a nasty little smile. All of his charm gone as he realized that Lia wasn't going to be easily drawn in by it. "I'll get to the point," he said, stepping towards her, and Huck gave a low growl, picking up on his aggressive vibe.

"Please," Lia agreed.

"What would you say if I told you that I had new evidence that someone other than Ben murdered my sister?" He cocked his head and gave his nasty little smile.

"I would say go to the police, they will probably be interested to know about it." Lia said standing to leave. She wasn't going to play games with the man. She didn't know what he wanted for the information, but she was sure whatever it was she didn't have it.

"The only problem is that while it would help him, it would hurt that pretty little sister of his."

Lia paused to turn to look at him. There was no way he could possibly have something to implicate Trinity.

"What are you saying exactly?"

"Trinity was the one who really murdered my sister." He knew he was drawing her in, but it wasn't in the way he thought. She didn't think for a minute that Trinity killed Illianna but she was worried about the trouble he would bring to Trinity's doorstep.

"Then go to the police," she bluffed turning to leave. He reached out grabbing her arm to stop her and Huck surged forward, barking.

Connor took a step back holding up his hands. "I'd like to tell you more."

Lia thought about it. If she could find out more, play his game, she might just outplay him, then she would have enough to get rid of him for good and save Trinity.

"Who's your source on all of this, I'm assuming you have one since you said it's new evidence."

"Trinity's husband. He's in jail and willing to tell everything he knows." Connor sensed he had her. "I always liked Trinity, and I would hate to see her go through even more than she already has," he said with fake sincerity.

"I'll give you time to think about it. Meet me at Moon River if you want to know more, this Friday at eight. If you're not there I'll go straight to the police and they'll pick up Trinity for questioning. The good news is it might just get Ben off the hook, but maybe that's what you really want." He gave her a nasty smile and left without another word.

Lia walked away without looking back. When she got to her apartment, she threw down her keys, unhooked Huck's leash and sat at the table with a thump. What should she do? Who could she talk to? Ben and Trinity were out, Ben would tell her no and then try to go after Connor Butler which would make everything worse. Trinity had enough on her plate, Faye would tell her to tell Ben, and Chloe would shake her head and tell her she had a tough decision to make. She groaned and rested her head on her arms. Why!

When there was a knock on her door she jumped. Huck seemed unconcerned as he rolled over on the couch, so it must be someone he knew. She opened the door to Ben, who was looking over his shoulder at the alley behind him.

Lia did her best to not appear guilty and she frowned at the thought, she had nothing to feel guilty about.

"Hey,  do you want to go grab a bite to eat?" Ben asked as he smiled down at her.

Her heart turned over a little at the sight. "I already ate." She hadn't, but she needed to be alone to think.

"O.K.," he said. If he thought it was odd that she hadn't invited him in or that she had eaten before her walk with Huck, which he knew she never did, he didn't say anything. "I'll be leaving at about five tomorrow morning, I have an early flight. I should be back the following evening around seven. Can we have dinner when I get back? We need to talk about a few things?"

"Sure," she agreed. She should be her normal self by then.

"You're sure you'll be alright at the house by yourself?" He looked at her with concern and she blushed. She felt as if he could read her thoughts.

"I'll be fine, but if I feel uncomfortable, I'll come back here," she assured him.

He nodded, and it looked as if he was considering kissing her, but he didn't. He kept his promise and with a smile and a goodbye he left.

She closed the door and leaned her head against it with a sigh, a kiss right about then would have been nice.

*******

Ben walked away from Lia's door with a frown. He had seen her talking in the square with Butler, and he wondered what he had to said to her. He had gone over to Lia's with the hope that she would share, but she hadn't. He didn't want to admit to her that he had seen them together then demand she told him what had been said because it would have the opposite effect, and she would never share.

He knew she hadn't eaten, and it was odd that she hadn't invited him inside. He hoped she wasn't frightened of him because of something that Butler had said to her. She hadn't doubted him in the past, but he was worried that she was doubting him now.

It was a shame that Huck couldn't talk, if he could he might tell him what had happened between her and Butler.

Ben sighed in frustration, he had wanted to kiss her before he had walked away, to remind her, but of what he wasn't sure.