Page 67 of Obsession

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Once Emma was inside the SUV, Sam relaxed but not completely. A door would not stop a bullet.

“Do you think life will ever be normal again?” Emma asked.

“We’re going to catch this guy,” he said. “What’re your plans for the day?”

“You’re trying to distract me.”

“Maybe. Did it work?”

She smiled. “A little. I plan to finish the excavation, then maybe use the GPR machine around the cabin area. And I’m looking forward to Dad’s steaks. You still coming?”

“Absolutely, and I’ll bring dessert. That okay?”

“What? Are you baking a cake?” Her eyes twinkled.

“No,” he said. “But I could. Mom and my grandmother who lived with us made sure I knew how to cook for myself before I went off to college.”

“They were wise women.”

“Who taught you to cook?”

“Granny, Mom’s mother.” Her voice broke. “I’m afraid it didn’t take very well. I still manage to burn water.”

Sam kept one hand on the steering wheel and squeezed her fingers with the other. “I hate I didn’t get back for her funeral.”

“You’d think after six months, I would be past it.”

“You can’t rush grief,” Sam said softly. “And she was one special lady.”

“Independent too. Never did get her to move out of that neighborhood.”

“She was generous with her love, I remember that,” he said.

“I hope I’m like her whenever I get married and have children.”

“You will be. Why don’t you lean your seat back and rest until we get to Mount Locust?”

“I might do that. This not sleeping is getting to me.”

The silence that filled the SUV as Sam drove through the light Sunday morning traffic in Natchez allowed his mind to second-guess what had happened at her apartment. Emma had looked so forlorn after taking the DNA test, he’d tried to comfort her. When he took her in his arms, he hadn’t meant to kiss her. At least not consciously. That she returned his kiss the way she did blew him away.

Sam drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Now he had to worry how she would react when he told her what happened the night Ryan disappeared. He should have taken it slower, explained exactly what had happened, before today. If he told her now, it would destroy her confidence in him.

Besides, there wasn’t enough time between Natchez and Mount Locust to deal with the fallout. But what if he waited too long and someone else told her? There was only one person who could. His sister, and she wouldn’t do that to him.

Tomorrow. He would tell her tomorrow when he installed the doorbell camera. That would give plenty of time to explain without someone interrupting. And time to repair any damage the truth caused.

Having that settled in his mind lightened his mood. Once they were on a straight stretch of the Trace, he took his eyes off the road long enough to glance at Emma. Even with the dark circles shadowing her eyes, she was beautiful. Like last night, she woreher hair down, her natural curls framing her face. She opened her eyes and caught him staring. Busted.

“You need to watch the road.”

“No traffic and no curves,” he said and put a smile in his voice.

She returned the seat to the upright position. “Next you’ll be saying, ‘Look, Ma, no hands.’”

“Who? Me? You know me better than that.” He loved that she could joke when her heart was breaking. All the reasons he’d fallen in love with Emma in the first place flooded him. She was smart, and caring, and—

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