Page 55 of Obsession

She wouldn’t think about it now. There was still a possibility the ring didn’t belong to her brother and her DNA wouldn’t match the bone she’d found. Mentally Emma shifted gears. Focused on making it past this dinner with her mom and getting the private investigator’s report. Or maybe not. Maybe she’d think about riding to Jackson with her good-looking escort. Not a good choice either.

She tugged the sparkly black sweater, trying to stretch it a little. Giving up, Emma slipped on dressy jeans and the high-heeled boots that would give a little height to her short frame. Not her regular look, and all purchased by her mom in hopes of improving Emma’s wardrobe. Thank goodness she didn’t have to walk through the woods in the boots.

Frowning, Emma removed the scarf and retied it, letting the ends dangle. That was a little better. She should have known to try on the new sweater, but maybe the scarf would help coverthat it was a little snug. Too late now to do anything about it since she hadn’t brought anything else to wear.

She peered in the faded mirror. Maybe a little powder and the tinted moisturizer for her lips to complete the look. Her mother would expect Emma to look her best when they went out. She’d just returned her lipstick to her backpack when her cell phone rang. Her mom? She wasted no time answering.

“Since I haven’t heard differently, I assume you’re coming,” her mother said, bypassing normal pleasantries.

“Yes. I’m about to leave Mount Locust now.”

“Meet me at the house, and we’ll go to Ricco’s from there.”

“Great. See you there. Still at seven?” Silence was the only answer Emma received. Her mom had hung up. Dina Winters had been in full attorney mode.

Emma took a small black clutch from her backpack and slipped the cell phone inside. If she was wrong and it was seven thirty, all it would cost her was thirty minutes of time. That was much better than being late. She sighed. It was going to be a long night, made longer by keeping Ryan’s probable death a secret.

Sam was waiting at his SUV when she locked the door to the building. Standing a little straighter, she carefully walked toward him. The look of approval in his eyes warmed her heart, even as she tried not to turn her ankles in the boots.

“You clean up well,” he said softly.

She punched him on the shoulder. “Thanks. I think. Wait, how did you get changed?” she asked, noticing he was in his ranger uniform. “I didn’t hear you inside.”

“I slipped inside one of the sheds,” he said. “And I was just teasing about you cleaning up well. You always look good.”

Now she was really flustered. Maybe he was being nice because ... She blocked the thought and gave him her mom’s address.

“You said she lives in the Fondren District?” Sam asked.

“In a small gated community there. The address is in my phone’s GPS if you want me to activate it,” she replied.

“Maybe when we get to Jackson,” he said and opened the passenger door. “Sorry it’s the official vehicle, but my pickup is at Jenny’s.”

“This is fine. You’re only taking me to Mom’s.” Emma fastened her seat belt. It wasn’t like he would be valet parking at the expensive restaurant. Not that it would bother Emma, but she wasn’t sure about her mom—she was such a stickler for appearances. Emma wanted to keep the two apart, anyway. She wasn’t up to being interrogated by her mom about her relationship with Sam. Or her non-relationship.

There was little traffic on the Trace, and they rode in silence with the events of the afternoon hanging between them. Her thoughts kept returning to her brother, and she fished a tissue from her bag and dabbed her eyes.

“I can’t get Ryan off my mind either.” Sam’s voice was husky.

“It’s like it’s not real.” Her mind hadn’t completely accepted that her brother was dead. Just thinking about it made it hard to breathe. Could she even get through this dinner with her mother?

“I keep thinking, if I had stayed with Ryan...”

“Don’t do that to yourself,” she said. “It wasn’t like you had a choice.”

“Maybe I did.”

She knew what he was referencing. Words Emma had thrown at Sam. “I had no right to blame you,” she said. “And it was unreasonable for me to suggest you could have called a tow truck for Jenny. I know you didn’t have the money for that.”

Sam flinched and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

His dad had left the family when Sam was a teenager, and what he made working as a seasonal ranger on summer break from college went to help his mom pay her bills. Anything left over went to pay for the things his scholarship to the university in Arizona didn’t cover.

Their dates had been whatever free activities they could find.Not that she minded. A smile touched her heart as she remembered some of their dates. Free concerts in the park. Fishing in a local lake. Picnics, and since her brother and Sam were best friends, when Ryan was sober, he sometimes accompanied them. She sighed. Emma had some good memories of her twin brother. “How long do you think it’ll take to hear back about the DNA results?”

“Depends. Nate and I talked about it, and he plans to take two swabs and send one to a company he sent the coffee sample to—those results should be available in two to three days. The other swab will go to the lab the state uses, and how long it takes will depend on how backed up they are.”

“What about this Rapid DNA machine I’ve read about?”

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