Page 117 of State of Suspense

That voice. That one-in-a-million face. Thank God he hadn’t been killed. What in the world would she have done without him?

Shelby took his hand and bent over it when her composure cracked.

“Aw, sweetie, I’m fine.”

“Now, you are.”

“I’m so sorry to put you through this.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. I’m just so, so thankful you’re all right.”

“Where’s my baby girl?”

“Ginger has her in the waiting room. She’s very excited to see her daddy.”

“I can’t wait to see her, too. Come here and give me a kiss.”

Shelby wiped away her tears and then leaned over the bed rail to kiss her love.

He wrapped his arm around her. “Everything’s fine. I promise.”

If he said so, it must be true.

“George is eager to speak to you about what you remember.”

“Give me five more minutes of you, and then you can send him in.”

Courtney Hutchinson was indeed lovely.

Sam wasn’t sure why she was so surprised by that, but as soon as she realized the other woman was more like her than not, she relaxed and tried to enjoy the opportunity to talk to another mom. They’d posed for photographers in the Blue Room and waited for Harold to pour their tea before they relaxed a bit. Sam had made sure to put her bandaged arm behind her guest to hide it from the photographer.

“Tell me everything about your work.” Courtney tucked a strand of sleek blonde hair behind her ear. She had the most adorable bob cut that would look ridiculous on Sam, but Courtney pulled it off effortlessly. “It’s fascinating to me.”

“Oh, well… Um, mostly it’s frustrating and upsetting and overwhelming to me. And that’s on a good day.”

Courtney smiled at her description of the job.

Sam held up her bandaged arm. “As you can see, I recently had a not-so-good day.”

“Is it broken?”

“No, just a bad sprain and some road rash, but it was the last thing I needed this week.”

“I read about the prosecutor who was murdered. Did you know him?”

Sam nodded. “I knew him well. His office prosecutes our cases. His death is such a tragedy.”

“I’m so sorry for the loss of your colleague and friend. Where do you even begin to figure out who did it?”

Sam hadn’t expected to discuss her work, but she preferred that topic to many others that could’ve come up. “We look for motive. Who would’ve benefited from removing Tom from the equation? That kind of thing.”

“I really admire that you’re doing both jobs. I can barely handle my official duties as Matthew’s wife. I can’t imagine an intense full-time job on top of that.”

Sam smoothed a hand over the skirt of the most gorgeous wool suit she’d ever owned. The chunky tweed included a variety of colors, including pink, purple and navy. She’d be hard-pressed to describe it except to say she loved it and couldn’t wait to tell Marcus that. “My goal is to survive every day, to make sure as many balls are kept in the air as possible and that my kids are fed and loved and have what they need. It’s a bit of a Tilt-A-Whirl, to be honest.”

“I’d say so.”

“I could never do any of it without the tremendous team of supporters I have here and at work. They’re the ones who really make it happen. But enough about me. Tell me about you and your family.”

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