Page 217 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“I did too,” she admitted. Her blue eyes searched his face.

“Don’t let unfounded suspicion destroy it,” he whispered. His right hand trailed up her arm. She flinched as he touched her neck. “I’d like to kill whoever did this to you.”

Her eyes widened, then he leaned closer and kissed her, relishing the taste of her, the scent of her perfume.

She held herself stiffly at first then returned his kiss. He held her close then buried his face in her fragrant hair. “Let me help you,” he whispered again.

She pulled away. “It really and truly wasn’t you in my room tonight?”

“I swear it wasn’t, Becca. Get a Bible and I’ll take an oath on it.”

“I believe you,” she said. Her hand stroked his cheek. “Actually, I don’t think he was as grizzly as you are tonight.”

Her hand was soft and warm, and he pressed his cheek against it. “I want to keep you safe. Let me walk you to your room.” He had to let go of her soon, or he wouldn’t be able to walk away.

It had been so long since he felt such tugging toward a woman. The passion he’d felt for Laura had been youthful infatuation. When he’d finally seen her real personality, Molly was on the way. What he felt for Becca was different. He admired her as a person first, her integrity and determination. What did she feel for him? He didn’t think he was ready to find out yet.

She went ahead of him up the back stairs and down the hall to her room. “Goodnight,” she whispered, staring up at him.

He wanted to kiss her again but stepped back instead. “In the morning we’ll see what we can discover about all this. Call me if you need me.”

“I will.” She stepped inside the room and flipped on the light then shut the door.

He went to his room and undressed. Lying on the bed, he felt a sense of hope he hadn’t experienced in a long, long time.

The next weekpassed with Becca on tenterhooks. She spooked at every sound and shadow and tried never to be alone. Max’s gentle attention was like water on a parched garden as he escorted her to church and followed her around in the evenings.

On Monday morning, Becca woke to the sound of birds chirping. She rolled over and looked at the clock. Nearly nine o’clock! She’d be late for work. She quickly showered and rushed downstairs.

The house felt empty. She wandered through the dining room and saw Shayna and Tate on the back patio. She stepped outside and lifted a hand in greeting. “Where is everyone?”

“Gram went to town with Nick. She wanted to stop at the store for something. I think she just wanted to get out for a while,” Tate said. “Max took Molly out to the graveyard. Today is Laura’s birthday, and Molly wanted to take flowers to the grave.”

“That’s sweet.” Becca snagged a cinnamon roll from the tray in the middle of the table then poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot.

“What’s on your agenda today?” Shayna asked.

“I want to work on Max’s notes then tackle the last of Gram’s filing. I’m about done with inputting everything into the computer.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

Becca shook her head. “Thanks but I’ve got it under control. What are you going to do today?”

“I might go to the mainland. My spa is having a special, and I desperately need a facial.” Shayna rubbed at the side of herface. “This wind is so drying. Tate is going along. He has some business to attend to.”

Becca wished she could get away from her worries for a while. But she had work to do. She finished her roll and went to the office. Since Max was gone, she decided to work on Gram’s work first. She pulled out the last stack of papers to be filed and began to sort them into piles.

Halfway into the stack, she ran into an envelope.May darling, it said on the outside. Was it to Max? Her hand hovered over the flap. She knew it was none of her business, but maybe it was related to her parents’ deaths. With a decisive flip, she opened it and pulled out the single sheet of paper. Her gaze traveled over the flamboyant writing. It was signed by Laura.

Who was it written to? She glanced at the beginning. My darling, it said. Max or the man she’d been seeing? Intrigued, she began to read:

My darling, I can’t tell you how eager I am to be with you always. Soon this boring life on the island will be a thing of the past. I know you’ll love San Francisco. We’ll meld into the crowd and no one will ever find us and drag us back here again.

But we must be careful. Max suspects something, and if he discovers our plans, I don’t know what he’ll do. Something drastic. He’ll stop at nothing to make sure I’m miserable.

He was staring at me last night, and I could almost swear I saw murder in his eyes. So be careful, my darling. Next week we start our new life.

Yours forever, Laura.

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