Page 93 of Obsession

Sam waited until Emma locked the dead bolt after him, then he descended the stairs, his heart light. At the bottom of thesteps his lightheartedness crashed as his conscience whispered in his ear.You didn’t tell her your secret.

He almost turned to go back and tell her the truth about the night her brother died. No. She was probably halfway to the shower already. He had no excuse for not already telling Emma that he’d lied to her, but in his wildest dreams he never thought he would let himself fall in love with her again. Besides, there hadn’t been an opportune time to tell her.Really?

Maybe now was the time Sam would have to trust God that the right time would come up and she would forgive him. At least he still believed in miracles. He pushed through the front door onto the porch. A late-model Impala with a constable emblem on the door sat parked in front of the apartment. Sam hurried over. The man who climbed out of the car had a couple of inches on Sam and his handshake was firm.

“I’m Jay Blackwell,” the constable said. “And I’m happy to help out. Emma is one special lady.”

Sam agreed. “She’ll be leaving around six, and I’d appreciate it if you could follow them to the Guest House downtown.”

After Blackwell assured him he would, Sam walked to his SUV and surveyed the surrounding area. Nothing looked out of place, but then nothing had looked out of place at the Selbys.

52

Emma took a ragged breath and hugged her arms to her waist as she stared out her living room window into the waning sunlight. The images of Mr. Selby and his daughter lying in pools of blood haunted her. Why were they shot? Did their digging into Mary Jo’s case trigger the shootings?

Suddenly cognizant that she was a perfect target, Emma backed away from the window and pulled the curtains. The clock over her fireplace chimed five times. She should be getting dressed for her dinner with Corey. Even though she’d told Sam keeping the date would be better than dwelling on the shootings, maybe she should cancel it. She took out her phone and scrolled to Corey’s number. When he answered, she said, “I hate to cancel on you this late, but I’m just not up to going out to eat.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you ill?”

The concern in his voice almost undid her. “Not exactly. It’s ... just been a horrible day.” And even worse for the Selbys.

“That’s all the more reason to go out with me. I promise to take your mind off all your troubles.”

Emma found herself weakening. She really didn’t want to be by herself right now, and Sam was busy. If she kept the dinner date, she could at least learn more about the person who didn’t want the Mount Locust project to go forward.

“Pretty please?” he said.

His entreaty almost brought a smile to her lips. “If we can make it an early night,” she said.

“I promise to have you home by eight. How’s that?”

“Sounds good.”

In her bedroom, Emma searched for something to wear to the Guest House. Something that was easy to get into. She found a pair of black slacks and a silk shirt the color of emeralds. Buttoning the shirt almost proved too much, but she finally wrestled the buttons into their holes and then slipped her size sixes into a pair of Jimmy Choos.

Like the outfit she’d worn Saturday night, the clothes had been Christmas presents from her mother, who never quit trying to improve Emma’s wardrobe. It crossed her mind that if it weren’t for her mom, she would have very few nice outfits. Had she even properly thanked her for the gifts? Emma found her phone and dialed her mother.

“Is something wrong?” her mom asked instead of saying hello.

She really needed to call her mom more often. “Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to thank you for the outfits you bought me this Christmas. And the shoes.”

“Oh.”

She needed to thank her mother more often too. Then maybe she wouldn’t sound so surprised.

“I’m glad you like them, but what’s the occasion? Hot date?”

“It is a date, but don’t sound so hopeful. It’s only business.”

“What kind of business meeting would call for Jimmy Choos? And besides that, how do you expect to ever get married if you don’t start dating again? You’ve barely gone out with anyone since you broke up with Trey last year, and I’d really like to have grandchildren before I’m too old to enjoy them.”

“That’ll never happen.” Where was her black satin clutch?

“What? That I won’t be too old or you’re not getting married?”

The memory of Sam’s kiss sent her heart rate spiraling. “Relationships never work out for me.”

“They would if you worked at it instead of giving up.”

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