«River Road» by Jayne Ann Krentz

It' s been thirteen years since Lucy Sheridan was in Summer River. The last time she visited her Aunt Sara there, as a teenager, she' d been sent home suddenly after being dragged out of a wild party– by the guy she had a crush on, just to make it more embarrassing. Obviously Mason Fletcher– only a few years older but somehow a lot more of a grown-up– was the overprotective type who thought he had to come to her rescue. Now, returning after her aunt' s fatal car accident, Lucy is learning there was more to the story than she realized at the time. Mason had saved her from a very nasty crime that night– and soon afterward, Tristan, the cold-blooded rich kid who' d targeted her, disappeared mysteriously, his body never found. A lot has changed in thirteen years. Lucy now works for a private investigation firm as a forensic genealogist, while Mason has quit the police force to run a successful security firm with his brother– though he still knows his way around a wrench when he fills in at his uncle' s local hardware store. Even Summer River has changed, from a sleepy farm town into a trendy upscale spot in California' s wine country. But Mason is still a protector at heart, a serious (and seriously attractive) man. And when he and Lucy make a shocking discovery inside Sara' s house, and some of Tristan' s old friends start acting suspicious, Mason' s quietly fierce instincts kick into gear. He saved Lucy once, and he' ll save her again. But this time, she insists on playing a role in her own rescue.