Page 15 of Diagnosis Attraction

“You look worried,” Polly said.

“I can’t help worrying that Cynthia told him where I was.”

“I understand, but she’s very reliable. Why don’t you start dinner? I’ve got something I need to take care of.”

“If you’ll show me around your kitchen. Maybe I should get dressed first.” She went back to the bedroom and put on her new jeans, the turquoise tee shirt, and the running shoes and socks.

When she was dressed, Polly led her to the back of the house, where she gave her a quick tour and got out some of the equipment that Elizabeth was going to need, including a big pot.

“You know how to use an electric stove?”

It was the old-fashioned kind with coiled burners rather than a modern flattop.

“You have to wait a moment for the heat to go up or down.”

“That’s right. Will you be okay for a while?” Polly asked.

“I think so.”

Mrs. Kramer left, and she put the pot on the stove, then located a knife and a cutting board, which she used to chop the onions.

She put them into the pot with the ground beef and began to sauté them, soothed by the simple act of meal preparation. It was familiar, routine work, but it was reassuring to be doing something useful and comforting to know that she had no problem remembering how to do it.

When the meat began to stick to the bottom of the pot, she turned down the heat and added a little water, stirring as she watched the beef change from red to brown.

Should she add the spices while the meat and onions were browning or wait until she got the salsa into the pot?

She let the task of cooking dinner completely absorb her, breathing in the smell of the chili when she had all the ingredients combined, including a can of tomato sauce she found in the pantry because she needed to supplement the salsa. She was just tasting the seasonings when the doorbell rang.

Elizabeth went rigid, then glanced toward the back door. That guy who’d come to the hospital had found out where she was, and she had to get away before he came in here.

CHAPTER FOUR

When Polly opened the front door, Matt stepped into the living room. “Thanks for calling me.”

“I didn’t mean to drag you over, but I’m glad you came,” the nurse said.

“I was telling myself it was unethical to keep seeing Elizabeth. Now I think it’s unethical not to if I think she’s in trouble.”

Mrs. Kramer nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Where is she?”

“In the kitchen. Cooking dinner. I thought it would give her something to do.”

Matt took an appreciative sniff. “Smells good. Did you have to help her, or did she remember how to fix a meal?”

“I just showed her around the kitchen, and she got busy all by herself.”

“Good.”

They walked to the back of the house and stopped short when they saw the kitchen was empty, a simmering pot was on the stove, and the back door was open.

“Where is she?” Matt asked, feeling his stomach knot.

“She was right here,” Polly murmured.

Matt looked toward the open back door and cursed under his breath.

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