Page 101 of Traces Of You
Or did it?
None of this could have been prevented unless he inspected her car every time she left.
There was no running forever and, in order for her to move forward, this had to be put to bed.
It was sooner than he would have preferred and he and Clay had to get all the information they could now.
There wasn’t anyone he knew or could trust or would risk talking to at Gainesville PD.
Reenie knew the name of the officer who searched Oliver’s house and found no crime. Also the same dick who ignored a medical professional expressing concerns. But that didn’t mean that others might not also be connected.
He reached his hand over and laid it on hers. “Hey. We are going to get through this. I promise.”
“I want to believe you, Ford. I really do.”
“Then do it,” he said.
He finished dinner, then stood up to wash his plate.
“I’ve got it.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me,” he said.
“You take care of me.”
He ran water over the plate, put soap on the sponge and cleaned it, then rinsed and put it on the tray to dry. “That’s different and you know it.” He looked at her face in the dim light. “You’re tired. It’s been a long day.”
“I took a nap earlier. I never nap.”
He pulled her into his arms to hold. To savor this quiet moment not knowing when they’d get more. “It shows you how much of an exhausting day it’s been.”
“I won’t deny it,” she said. “But you don’t have to stay with me.”
“What if I say I want to?”
“I’m going to argue with you. I need the night to myself. I really do. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do and I can’t do that if you’re here.”
“Why?”
He didn’t appreciate the shot his ego took at those words.
That he wasn’t needed.
Maybe not even wanted.
He’d waited years for her return and she was pushing him away.
“Because you’re a distraction. I’m not going anywhere. You have my word. Besides, I can’t. My brake light is out.”
Her half smile didn’t make him feel any better. “Not funny, Reenie.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t laugh.” She squeezed his waist tighter. “I only want to think and reflect some. I want to clear my head. Understand, I’ve never had someone I can rely on before. This is how I function.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” he said. But if he wanted her to trust him, he had to trust her.
It was the only way things could work with them.
He wasn’t someone to force an agenda even if his heart was telling him otherwise.
