Page 44 of Forged in Secrets

She wanted to talk about everything that had happened between the two of them, but every time she opened her mouth to speak, something made her close it again.

Now that they’d kissed, it felt even harder to know what to say.

She could remember everything about that moment.She remembered how badly she wanted him to keep going, and how badly she wanted to run, all at the same time.

She looked up at the blue sky overhead. She knew that she needed to spend some time talking all of this through with Jesus, but lately, prayer hadn’t come easy.

She’d wanted this–wanted Ben–for years. She’d tried to pretend to herself and to everyone else that it was just a crush, something she could joke about, but that had always been a lie.

And now that an actual relationship with him seemed to be on the table, she was terrified.

What if all he felt for her was the same kind of little crush she’d deluded herself into thinking she had?

She sucked in a deep breath, the humid air feeling heavy in her lungs.

That wasn’t the scariest possibility.

What if he felt something real?

“Well, that was a bust,” Ben said, interrupting her racing thoughts as they sidled into a long line of patrons waiting at the food stand. All at once, Grace noticed the hollow feeling in her stomach. Time had passed quickly. It was nearly dinner time. “I doubt the Lumeneer II is related to Katie’s disappearance if it’s been here for eight months.”

Grace fiddled with her dress, stalling for a few seconds as she tried to clear her thoughts.

“Traffickers do use the water to transport victims over to Mexico,” she mused.

“But Katie doesn’t fit the profile, like you said,” Ben reminded her.

“No, she doesn’t. But we can’t afford blind spots. I’m staying open to all possibilities.”

Neither spoke for a moment as Ben dug in his shorts pocket for his wallet and ordered them each a hot dog.

“Not a dolphin tour, but I’ll take it,” Grace joked, taking the food and heading toward a nearby picnic table. Ben sat across from her, his expression still serious.

“Even if there’s nothing weird about the sailboat, we still don’t know why Jade had a key for it, or why she visited it on Monday night, assuming she did.”

Grace sighed.

“Obviously, we need to talk to Jade again. Lucky us.”

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

BEN

Don’t be a coward.

The old sailor woman’s advice seemed to ring in Ben’s ears as he steered their rented SUV along the busy road.

He stole a glance at Grace, who was scrolling on her phone in the passenger seat. On the one hand, he hated that her hand wasn’t in his own, but on the other, he was thankful to get a few minutes to think without the distraction of her touch.

“So, how are they holding up without you at the office?” Ben asked, returning his eyes to the lane in front of him as a large truck passed them in the far left lane. He liked that Grace never seemed to worry about the road at all when he was driving, as though she trusted him completely to get them from point A to point B.

“I have about fifty questions in my email and another twenty in my texts,” Grace said, laughing. “Other than that? Just swell.”

“Despite the overflowing inbox, it’ll be nice to go home,” he said. “It’s beautiful here, but it barely feels like Texas.”

“Seriously,” Grace said with a nod. “And being in the field is a lot different than I expected.”

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