Second Chances (Nugget Romance 3) by Stacy Finz Page B

been a new wrinkle in the cold case, something about a serial killer falsely confessing to Hope’s abduction. Apparently, Emily now lived in Nugget. Interesting.
    When Harlee got home, she planned to do a little research on the matter. But now wasn’t the time to bring it up.
    “Colin,” Maddy continued, “did all the Lumber Baron’s carpentry. I absolutely adore him.”
    “Mmm.” Harlee, who’d lost track of the conversation, nodded. “I’m taking my mom over later to see his furniture.”
    Maddy turned to Leigh. “You’ll love his shop. He built all the rocking chairs on the Lumber Baron’s veranda. Take a look on your way out. Are you staying in Nugget long?”
    “Just the weekend, I’m afraid. I own a shop in the Bay Area and need to get back.”
    “Too bad you all missed our annual Halloween festival on the square. Hopefully you’ll come next year, especially since Harlee’s a full-time resident now. Someone said you’re a journalist?”
    “Yes,” Harlee said. Well, it was true, even if she was between newspaper jobs. “But I’m taking some time to build my start-up company.”
    Harlee knew that buzzwords like “start-up” made people take you more seriously. Otherwise, they thought you sold Mary Kay or Amway, instead of inventing something that would save the world, like, say, Pinterest.
    “What is it?” Maddy and Donna said in unison.
    “Tell them,” Darla said, nudging Harlee’s arm with excitement.
    “It’s called DataDate. I do background checks on members of online dating sites.”
    Leigh poured another round of tea, while Maddy pulled her chair closer to the table.
    “Does the service hire you to do the checks? Like to make sure the members are legit?” Maddy asked.
    “Nope,” Harlee explained. “Individual members hire me to make sure they’re not being duped before taking their relationship to the next level. Some people fabricate entire stories about themselves.”
    “She’s like a private investigator,” Darla bragged.
    “So say a guy’s a serial killer,” Donna posed. “You can find that out?”
    “Only if he has a criminal record,” Harlee said. “All my research is done using public databases. I can find out a person’s real age, marital history, divorce information, real estate worth, military record, and sometimes even employment past—stuff like that.”
    “Hell, girl, if I were single, I’d pay you to do it. Thank God I have Trevor.” Spying the rock on Donna’s wedding finger, Harlee assumed Trevor was her husband.
    “You really are like a private investigator,” Maddy said.
    “Right?” Darla reached for a cucumber sandwich. “These are so good.”
    “Feel free to put the word out. I’m always looking for clients.” Harlee wanted to mention that Darla was also looking for clients, but she didn’t want to embarrass her friend. Darla had revealed that her dad had been forced to pick up some of her hours. Business was that bad.
    After they finished gorging themselves on finger food, Darla went back to the barbershop and Harlee and her mom headed for Grizzly Peak. On their way, Harlee tried to ring Colin, but no answer.
    “Maybe he’s in his shop and can’t hear the phone,” she said, directing her mother to go past the Roberts’ log cabin to Colin’s house. Leigh’s SUV took the jagged road a heck of lot better than Harlee’s Mini.
    As they dipped down Colin’s driveway, Leigh hummed her appreciation. “This is lovely.”
    “He built it. Can you believe it?” Harlee hopped out of the passenger seat and knocked on the door. “Let’s go around back.”
    Sure enough, she could see Colin in the workshop through the window. This time, Neko Case’s twangy voice boomed through the speakers while Colin sanded the top of a table.
    She opened the door just enough to pop her head inside. “Hi. I brought my mom. Is it okay if we come in?”
    A dog started barking and Colin yelled, “Quiet, Max.”
    He turned off the iPod and tried to