Page 68 of Over the Edge

“Do you feel safe with him?”

“Yes.” Zero hesitation. “And I know he loves me.”

“Then it may be best to give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone makes mistakes. Not telling you about his tripsdowntown, no matter how well-intentioned, could have been one of Chad’s. Maybe the best thing you can do is put that aside and move forward from here. Letting an error in judgment forever shape your image of someone might be as big of a mistake as misguidedly keeping secrets. One that could change your relationship permanently.”

Some of the tension in Dara’s features dissipated, and the corners of her mouth rose a smidgen. “You know what? That’s exactly what I needed to hear. My brain kept getting more and more muddled as I tried to think this through. You were able to be impartial about it and cut past all the doubts that were cluttering up my head.”

“Sometimes it helps to get a third-party opinion.”

Dara picked up her tea and drained the mug. “Thank you for the tea and the chat.”

“My pleasure. Shall I walk you to your car?”

“Why don’t we walk out together?”

“I’m going to stay and do a final touch-up here. I don’t want the Horizons cooking classes to lose their happy home.”

“I could stay and help you.”

“Thanks, but you should go home to that new husband of yours. I’ll bet he’s counting the minutes until you arrive.”

“He did say he’d be waiting for me.” A tiny dimple dented her cheek.

“Good man.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?”

“No worries. I do this every week.”

After Dara gathered up her coat and notebook, Lindsey walked out with her and gave her a hug.

Dara squeezed back. “Thank you again for tonight—and for caring.”

“Like I said, I consider us friends. I’ll call in a few days to see how everything is going.”

Lindsey stepped back as Dara got in her car, waving as theother woman drove toward the exit. Then she returned to the kitchen and did a fast, final cleanup.

Once the space was pristine, she put on her coat and picked up her satchel. Thank goodness the past two days had been normal. Her early morning runs had been invigorating, every item on her grocery lists had been available during her shopping trips, and she’d picked up a new client. Not a bad way to begin the week.

The only dark cloud on the horizon was a return trip to the Robertson house on Thursday. But it was either that or lose a steady, well-paying client, and her business was too new to justify dropping someone because the thought of returning to the traumatic scene turned her stomach.

She’d get through it, though.

Satchel in hand, she trekked to the door, locked it, and pulled it shut behind her as she stepped outside.

From within the small pool of illumination cast by the security light, she scanned the dim, deserted parking lot as Jack Tucker’s description of the area from the day he’d driven her here to retrieve her car echoed in her mind.

No, it wasn’t the best part of town. But she’d never worried much about that before. And she wouldn’t start tonight. Alertness usually prevented trouble, and she was always mindful of her surroundings.

Walking toward her car at a fast clip, she kept a sharp eye on the lot, the hypervigilance Dr. Oliver had mentioned kicking in.

But no one was about on this chilly night.

As she approached her Focus, however, a car swung into the lot, its headlights arcing across her. Pulse accelerating, she shaded her eyes from the blinding glare and picked up her pace.

Thankfully, it seemed the driver had no nefarious purposein mind and was using the lot to execute a U-turn. The car did a three-sixty and rolled back out to the street.

Left once again in semidarkness, Lindsey leaned against her car and blinked to clear the spots from her vision. Just as she’d done the day of the murder, when a shaft of sunlight from the roof window above the island where she’d cowered had pierced her eyes.

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