Page 37 of Obsession

“Whatever. Tell me what happened.”

“We’re both too tired to talk about this, and I need to check in with Clayton.”

“What does Clayton have to do with anything?”

“He’s guarding Mount Locust with Trey Carter.”

Jenny wouldn’t let up until he explained, peppering him with questions, and he briefly ran over the details of what had happened at the inn.

“Do you think there’s a body buried where you’re excavating?”

“I hope not,” he said, taking his phone out.

“Why else would anyone be so anxious to remove whatever is there?”

He dialed Clayton. “Maybe it’s buried treasure.” The call went to Clayton’s voicemail.

“And they left it untouched all this time?”

“Maybe.” He dialed Clayton’s number again and got the same results. It wasn’t for lack of service because it didn’t go straight to voicemail. More likely he just wasn’t answering, and that wasn’t like Clayton. His stomach knotted, and he tried to force calm through his body as he hooked his phone on his belt. “I need to drive out to Mount Locust.”

“Why? It’s late.”

“Clayton’s not answering.”

“Is there even reception there?” she asked.

He nodded and tried again. Still no answer.

“Didn’t you say Trey was with him? Try him.”

“Sometimes you have really good ideas,” he said with a grin.

But Trey didn’t answer either. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Lock the door behind me.”

She rolled her eyes but followed him to the door, and he heard it click after he closed it. On the way to the Trace, he called Nate. “Have you heard from Trey?”

“No. What’s up?”

“Neither he nor Clayton are answering their phones. I’m on my way to make sure everything’s okay.”

16

Emma hugged her arms around her waist after Sam left. The electricity between them was still there, reminding her that he’d been her only true love. So why had she ruined it? Not an easy question to answer, especially when she had a throbbing wrist to deal with.

Raising her wrist eased the pain slightly while Emma rummaged in her backpack for the bottle of Tylenol. She found it and stared at the childproof cap that had to be pushed down and turned to open. With one hand. Her left one. Two attempts later, she thought about a hammer. No. She would not let a bottle cap best her. After trapping the bottle against her body, she managed to get the top off and took two pills. Now to ice her wrist again until the Tylenol took effect.

As she sat in her recliner with an ice pack on her hand, thoughts of Sam returned. He’d appointed himself her guardian, which was so like him. It wasn’t going to be easy to be around him and not lose her heart to him again. If she hadn’t already.

Emma had to ignore her feelings for Sam. They could never surmount the past, and she doubted he wanted to after the way she’d taken her anger out on him after Ryan left. That, coupled with her belief that he was losing interest in her, had pushed her to give his ring back. And then he’d left for Arizona without even trying to work it out.

Looking back, Emma couldn’t blame him if she was honest with herself. Even if he’d tried, which he hadn’t, she would’ve been too stubborn to admit being wrong. She was seriously messed up ten years ago, and it had affected more than her relationship with Sam. The one with her mother needed mending as well.

Not that either of them had ever acknowledged a problem existed. Instead, they’d just drifted apart after every discussion they had about Ryan ended in an argument. When was the last time she and her mother had a meaningful discussion that went deeper than the weather?

She thought about calling her, but making amends with her mother needed to be done in person. That way Emma could gauge her reactions. She fished her cell phone from her back pocket.

“Hey Siri, call my mom,” Emma said before she could change her mind about setting up a time they could get together. On the sixth ring, she was almost ready to hang up when her mom answered.

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