The Other Woman. Brenda Novak
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Название: The Other Woman
Автор: Brenda Novak
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: Mills & Boon Cherish
isbn: 9781408944592
isbn:
Keith smelled good. Familiar. Comfortable. Not so long ago, he’d meant the world to her. Certainly one moment in his arms wouldn’t hurt. Resting her head against his shoulder, she tried to decide what to do about her father.
“I know you’re under a lot of pressure right now, and you don’t need this.” Keith’s hands caressed her back, reassuring her with their strength.
Liz knew Ollie was watching, and that word of the embrace would probably spread. But she stayed where she was, too shocked to pull away.
“Do you want me to ask him to leave town?” Keith asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Because it was no longer Keith’s responsibility. He had no right. “I’m sure Isaac will take care of that,” Liz said. Her brother felt angrier toward their father than she did, even though Luanna had treated Isaac much better. His presence in the house hadn’t threatened Luanna in the way that Liz’s presence had.
“I wonder what happened to their marriage,” she said, still trying to come to terms with her father’s sudden appearance in Dundee.
“He said he got tired of Luanna’s bullshit. But—” Keith brought her chin up “—I got the impression it was Luanna who left.”
The sting of this particular detail surprised Liz. Had she hoped, after all these years, that her father had finally come to his senses?
What did it matter? It was too late, anyway. The girl who’d needed him so badly was an adult, now.
Straightening up, she disengaged herself from her ex-husband’s embrace. “So he’s here because he has no better place to go.”
Keith’s sympathy reminded Liz that he wasn’t quite as bad as she sometimes liked to tell herself he was. “I’m sorry, babe,” he said.
She smiled sadly and said, “Thanks. But don’t call me babe, okay?” Then she forced her feet to carry her out into the dazzling sunshine.
AS SHE EMERGED from the hardware store, Liz nearly bumped into Carter.
“You’ve already started?” she asked when she noticed the cranberry-colored paint that speckled his hands and hair and even the soft T-shirt that made the most of his muscular build.
“Was I supposed to wait?” he replied.
“No, it’s just that I was going to help you. But—” She shook her head, trying to order her scrambled thoughts. She felt like a punctured balloon, in the process of deflating. “Did you figure out the marbling?”
“Yeah. It’s easy.”
“Okay, well, I’ll be there shortly.”
“I could use a more expensive roller,” he said. “This one won’t last an hour. And I figure I might as well get a few of these while I’m here.” He showed her a tiny screw that he carried in one large hand. “We’ll need them when it comes time to reattach the light plates.”
“Light plates?” she murmured, unable to immediately picture what he was talking about.
“The face plates that go over the outlets and light switches?”
“Oh, right.” She waved a hand halfheartedly. “Tell Ollie to put whatever you need on my account.”
He peered more closely at her. “Is something wrong?”
She stole a glance down the street. “No, why?”
“You seem a little dazed.”
An old truck came rattling by. Holding her breath, she tried to identify the man behind the wheel….
It was Hawthorne Cawley, one of the longtime ranchers who lived in the area. The vehicle was probably one he didn’t bring to town very often, which was why she didn’t recognize it. Letting her breath out slowly, she said, “It’s nothing.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.” She began to step around him, but he cut her off. “What’d you find out about the sink?”
Anxious to get to her car and head for the high school, where she hoped to find her brother, she rubbed the palms of her hands on her shorts. “It wasn’t Keith.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“How do you know?”
She pulled her sunglasses out of her purse and took refuge behind the dark lenses. “He said so.”
Carter’s smooth forehead rumpled with impatience and disbelief. “You’re taking him at his word?”
At this point, Liz wasn’t as concerned about the vandalism as she was about the next twenty-four hours. How long would her father stay? What would she say to him? And how would he treat her children? He’d never even met Mica and Christopher. “I guess.”
“We’re talking about the same man who lied to you your entire marriage.”
She managed to give him her full attention. “Listen, I’m grateful for your help at the shop, and I’ll do what I can to compensate you.”
“But…”
“I don’t need any of your cynical bullshit right now,” she said and walked away.
She knew he stared after her, that she’d surprised him once again. But she couldn’t find it in herself to care.
CARTER HAD QUIT HIS JOB with the Federal Bureau of Investigation shortly after Laurel’s funeral. He knew he’d never go back. But he was still a cop at heart, and that made him reluctant to allow the mystery of the vandalized bathroom to go unsolved. Someone had been inside Liz O’Connell’s chocolate shop; someone had caused the damage. He intended to find out who was responsible—and he doubted he’d have to work very hard to do it. The way Liz had muttered, “Keith!” before she’d stormed out and marched over to the hardware store told him she had reason to believe it might be her ex-husband. Which meant Keith probably had a solid motive. And a solid motive made him Carter’s best suspect. Maybe Liz’s ex denied ripping the sink from the wall, but any man who could lead the double life Keith had led had to be one hell of a liar.
Carter hated liars almost as much as he hated petty thieves and vandals. In seven years with the bureau, he’d learned that small crimes stemmed from the same lack of regard for others that fostered larger crimes.
“Can I help you?” An old guy with spidery veins covering his ruddy cheeks stood at the cash register.
Carter paused long enough to hold up the screw. “Can you tell me where I can find these?”
He took a moment to peer at СКАЧАТЬ