Page 44 of My Temptation

“Family?”

“My grandparents were local, but it was mainly my dad and me after my mom died.”

“How did she die?”?He glanced my way, and I saw the sadness in his eyes. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

I smiled softly. “I don’t mind. It was a long time ago, and I was really young. She fell down the basement stairs and hit her head. My dad said he came home from work late one night and found her at the bottom of the stairs. He said he could smell the alcohol on her. He called an ambulance, but it was too late. He wasn’t sure how long she’d lain there and bled from a head wound, but he did admit that he didn’t come home until almost one in the morning because of a case he’d been working on.”

“Where were you?”

“My father said he found me asleep in my crib.”

“Hmm…”

“What?”

“I’m just surprised you were safe if she was drinking that heavily.”

I considered that for a moment. Growing up, I didn't doubt my father’s story, and apparently, neither had the police. From everything I knew about my parents, they’d loved each other, and he was heartbroken when she died, or at least that was what my grandparents told me. “Maybe she made sure I was asleep before she started drinking.”

“Did she have a problem with alcohol?”

“According to him, yes, and he’d been trying to get her help, but she refused.”

“It’s strange he left you alone with her if he knew that, don’t you think?”

That was one thing that had bothered me since working with my father. He didn’t ignore things. He confronted them head-on. Knowing the man I worked with, it didn’t seem plausible that he would’ve left me in the hands of someone with a drinking problem, but then again, work came first. If he was focused on a case, my mother and I would’ve quickly dropped to the bottom of his list of concerns.

Wanting to change the subject, or maybe needing to, I steered the conversation back to Ethan. “You said Riley is three.”

“Yeah, she turns four next month.” He grinned and put on his turn signal to merge onto the highway. Looking over his shoulder, he pulled out into traffic but continued talking. “She’s a carbon copy of my sister, Everly.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means everything she wears and every toy she owns is pink or purple.” I chuckled when he continued. “She’s definitely a girly girl.”

“So Everly is a girly girl too?”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “So was our mom. Everly’s just like her and so is Riley. They love all that fairy-tale crap too, which is crazy because both my mom and Everly seemed to be a magnet for losers. Never a Prince Charming in the bunch.”

I laughed along with him. “I have a feeling those losers seek out people like your mom and sister because they know they’re the only women who will even give them a chance.”

“You’re probably right. Everly sees the good in everyone. But sometimes I think she sees what she wants to see, not what’s actually there.”

“Do you ever wonder which way is better? Being like Everly and seeing the good or being like us and always looking for the bad in someone?”

He was quiet for a moment before he replied. “I think the way to be probably lies somewhere between those two.”

I considered that. “How the hell do we become that person?”

He laughed. “I’ll let you know if I ever figure it out.”

Once again, he was quiet and stared out the windshield, but I was okay with it. We’d made progress. Our relationship had become strained over the past week, and I knew that couldn’t continue, but today seemed better, and I would take whatever I could get.

“Did you bring any tracking devices?” I asked.

"Yeah, I packed them in my suitcase.”

“I guess electronics like that could raise some suspicion if they were in a carry-on.”

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