Page 112 of Hidden Depths

“Why would I be nervous? You want me to admit that the expectation of seeing Tom again is making me a little jittery? Fine. I may be a little tense, but he saved my life. I owe him a lot. How do you say thank you for something like that?”

“And that’s all it is?”

“Am I allowed for it to be more than that?”

Peter frowned.

“Why do you suddenly look disappointed? You don’t approve? It doesn’t matter. I was a job for him, so I don’t know why I’m even thinking about it.”

“I’m sure you mean more to him than that. But I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t because I don’t have any expectations. Or do you know something I don’t? We haven’t talked about where I go from here.”

“And there’s no point doing that until Tom gets here. He’s been monitoring the case.”

“But if you heard anything, you’d say, right?”

“Like I said. We’ll wait for Tom.” He stood. “You sit tight. I’m going to check on Jemi.”

“She’s been sleeping a lot.”

“And she won’t be happy to find out she missed seeing Isla and Jay, but I’m glad you’ve had a little time with her.”

“It’s hard to see her like that.”

“Yeah.” Peter looked at the floor. “Let me know if Tom turns up.”

Sara hugged her legs tighter as she watched Peter leave the room. Her heart ached for him, and there was nothing she could do to ease it. But now that she was alone, she found it impossible to sit still so went outside and leaned against the balustrade, breathing deeply of the cooling autumn air. It felt chilly to her tropical, acclimatized skin, but it was a pleasant change.

When she heard a car approaching on the driveway, she changed position four times before the dark SUV came into view, and she drifted into an awkward lean. She hadn’t realized until she saw Tom how much she was looking forward to this moment.

He was beaming when he got out of the car, but then his smile tightened. “Hey. How are you?”

She came down the stairs to meet him and gave him a tight hug. His own embrace wasn’t as keen, so she quickly released him and stepped back, clasping her hands behind her back. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too. You’re looking much better.”

“I feel great. My arm’s sore, but besides that, I’m good. How’d your boss handle everything? I take it you still have a job?”

“He’s a big softy when it comes down to it. And really, he can’t deny I get results.”

“You’re better than the whole Florida team put together.”

“Yeah, but they came through in the end with Dodd, so that makes up for it. Peter around?”

“Yeah, he’s with Jemi. If you want to come inside, I’ll let him know you’re here.”

* * *

She knocked on the door to Jemi’s room that was now at the back of the house on the ground floor. Peter was sitting beside the bed with his hands folded and eyes closed. When he heard the knock, he looked up at her and nodded.

Jemi was still sleeping. Her face was drawn and pale, and her skin looked translucent. Sara thought she should pray, but she’d run out of things to say, so she returned to the living room where Tom was sitting on the arm of a chair.

“So,” she said as she sat. “Did you finally have a vacation after all of that?”

“I did. I went to the mountains instead of the sea. Did a lot of hiking and thinking. Spent time improving my relationship with God.”

“Sounds like time well spent.”

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