Said No One Ever


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Copyright © 2023 by Stephanie Eding
 Cover and internal design © 2023 by Sourcebooks
 Cover illustration by Elizabeth Turner Stokes
 Internal design by Laura Boren/Sourcebooks
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 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.
 The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
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 Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks
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 Contents
 Front Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10
 11
 12
 13
 14
 15
 16
 17
 18
 19
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 25
 26
 27
 28
 29
 30
 31
 32
 33
 34
 35
 36
 Epilogue
 Excerpt from The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale
 1
 2
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Back Cover
 
 
 To Mom and Dad. Thank you for being nothing like the parents I write about. I love you both.
 
 
 1
 The tiny house in the center of Montana made for the weirdest hideout ever. The drooling bulldog that came with it didn’t make the scenario any less ridiculous.
 Ellie used her hip to force the dorm-sized fridge to close on the stack of off-brand iced coffee cans and convenience foods. Consuming nothing but caffeine and high sodium microwavable meals for the next three weeks wouldn’t be the healthiest choice she’d made in her adult life, but it was a small price to pay to avoid the shit show going on back home. Price being important, considering how she’d sunk every last penny she had into this romantic getaway for one.
 Now to figure out how to entertain her new and unexpected roommate.
 “All right, Hilda, I think I’ve got just the souvenir to distract you long enough so I can finish unpacking.” Ellie grinned when she said the name out loud. A welcome note on the kitchen counter had introduced the resident canine and implied that she might be a bit of a nuisance to the guests of Perry Farm. “You’ve gotta like playing ball, right?”
 Ellie reached into her purse for the Bilexin stress ball she’d gotten in the most recent “perks pack” from a local pharmaceutical company. Something like that might not last long in the jowls of an old English bulldog, but it could occupy the beast long enough for Ellie to empty her carry-on.
 Maybe.
 Stepping down the tiny-house steps, Ellie turned toward the soybean field and chucked the foam ball with all her might. It didn’t get far, but it also didn’t matter because Hilda’s attention was directed elsewhere. The dog sank on her hip and stared off toward the road.
 “Go get the ball, Hilda.”
 Although it was only late afternoon, the fatigue of dealing with airlines and travel hassles had run its course. Ellie had hoped for a quick nap before she popped her earplugs in and got to work transcribing a lecture on autoimmune disorders. She’d been lucky enough to snag that rare assignment before any of the other struggling freelancers and should probably get it done in a timely manner.
 “Hilda? Go get the ball before some tractor runs it over.”
 Still, the dog focused her attention toward the front of the property, only now her brindle-speckled ears had perked up, her meaty brow furrowing.
 The isolated farm had maintained a quiet peacefulness up to that point, with not much more than some baying animals in the barn or rustling beans in the field to tickle the senses. But the longer Ellie stood there with her bulldog companion, the more some other noise cut through the tranquility like a butcher knife.
 It couldn’t be sirens. Not out this far.
 Ellie strained to see into the distance, one hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the setting sun. She patted Hilda on the head. The touch didn’t even come close to breaking the dog’s laser focus.
 Just over the budding fields and wooden fences came the flashing red and white lights of an ambulance. The siren’s roar grew deafeningly loud now as the emergency crew sped up the property’s long lane toward the main farmhouse and slammed on the brakes.
 Ellie stood frozen, trying to process this unforeseen development after having only arrived an hour ago.
 Hilda, however, took immediate action and darted toward the commotion. Ellie lunged for the dog but could do nothing to keep her out of the emergency crew’s way. Technically, since this wasn’t her house, she shouldn’t have to control the pets or assume any level of responsibility here anyway.
 Then again, what role did an unsuspecting bystander renting Airbnb property play in a thing like this?
 The team pulled a bright yellow stretcher from the truck and disappeared. It only took a few minutes for the crew to return to their vehicle, the yellow stretcher now loaded with someone strapped on top. Ellie couldn’t take it anymore. With a growl, she ran toward the ambulance, kicking up dirt and stone along the way.
 “Excuse me,” she wheezed when she reached the EMT closing up the back of the truck. “Is everything okay?”
 “Are you family?” The bearded man in the Choteau Fire Department T-shirt rounded the large vehicle on his way to the driver’s seat.
 Ellie gasped after the sprint across the property. Running was her least favorite exercise. “No, I’m staying in the rental property here, but I—”
 “If Mrs.