Page 94 of Obsession

You’re a fine one to talk.Emma bit the words back even though her mom had been the one who walked away from the marriage, not her dad.

“Who is this meeting with?”

Emma checked the back of her closet door where her other handbags were and found the purse she was looking for. “I’m not sure you know Corey Chandler, but he’s the one who invited me to dinner to discuss a business matter.”

“Did you say Corey Chandler? The attorney? He asked you out?”

“Yes.” The total surprise in her mother’s voice again rubbed Emma like a cactus. Maybe she should’ve let her mom know that she did date sometimes. “You know Corey?”

“Yes. I met him when he was with Cooper, Rossetti, and Thompson here in Jackson. He’s extremely bright, except for the fact that he set up practice in Natchez. The Jackson law firm was about to make him a partner.”

“I’ll ask him why he gave up a lucrative practice to move to Natchez,” Emma said. She transferred her driver’s license and keys from her backpack to the small purse and then decided to throw in a tube of lip gloss.

“Don’t you dare. That would make you appear nosy.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She was trying not to laugh.

“Wait, I remember now. Corey interned with Wendall Peterson, and he lured Corey down there three years ago with an offer of a partnership.”

Emma had forgotten those particulars. “Didn’t Wendall up and die less than a year later with a heart attack?”

“Yes, and Corey inherited the practice. I understand he’s doing quite well for himself there.”

“Well, we’re just friends,” she said.

“What better way to start a relationship.”

Her mother was terrible. A call beeped in on Emma’s phone,and she glanced at the ID. Corey. “Gotta go, my ‘date’ is here,” she said.

“Don’t joke,” her mom said. “And tell him I said hello.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Emma switched the calls. “Hello?”

“Good evening. I’m out front and wanted to let you know I’ll be at your door in less than a minute.”

“You don’t have to come up the stairs, I’ll come down.”

“Never. Besides, I’m already here,” he said as the doorbell rang.

It was a good time to try out the doorbell camera Sam had installed, and she switched over to the camera app on her phone. The image of Corey at her door, adjusting his tie, appeared in real time. She quickly opened the door. “Come in.”

Wow. He looked good. Instead of his normal navy suit, he’d dressed down in black chinos and a cashmere sweater over a button-down shirt. Heat crept into her face when she realized he’d caught her admiring him. “Coming upstairs really wasn’t necessary.”

“But it was,” he said as he stepped past her. “And your front door shouldn’t have been unlocked.”

“Five minutes more and it would have been locked,” she said.

“Good.” Corey glanced around the room. “I love these old houses, and when one is turned into apartments, I’m always interested in seeing how it turned out.”

Her cell phone rang, and she glanced at the caller ID. Sam. “I need to take this,” she said. “Look around.”

As he walked around her living room, she turned away from him and pressed the answer button. “Do you have any news on the Selbys?”

“There’s been no change in either of their conditions,” he said. “The doctors said the next twenty-four hours will be critical.”

“I hope they make it. Thanks for letting me know.”

“You sound ... odd. Is someone with you?”

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