For the next few days, James avoided the sandwich shop and Lori. He felt guilty for exposing her stepmother. But he’d hoped that Karen Wilkins might be honest with her stepdaughter. He needed to know what the woman was hiding—other than the senator.
He’d called out-of-town body shops and left messages for them to call if they had a front end–damaged car from hitting something like a deer after the date of Billy Sherman’s death. He didn’t have much hope, given how much time had passed. He also assumed his father had done the same thing nine years ago without much success.
While he waited to hear back, he mulled over the case as he cleaned up the office and back bedroom. He bought a few things to make the place more comfortable by adding a couch, a couple of end tables, a coffee table, a large rug and some bookshelves for more storage.
For the bedroom, he’d bought a new rug for the hardwood floor and all new towels, rug and shower curtain for the bathroom. He’d even replaced his father’s old vacuum with a new one and dusted and washed the windows. By the time he was through with all the hauling and cleaning his leg hurt and his ribs ached worse.
But when he looked around the place, he felt better. He’d also sent in his application for his private investigator license and dropped off his permit at the sheriff’s office to have the burned-out trailer removed from the property. Margaret had suggested a company that did that kind of work. After a call to them, he was told the work would be done this week.
James had to admit he was pretty impressed with what he’d accomplished. But he was no closer to finding Billy Sherman’s killer. Also, he realized that he missed Lori’s sandwiches and the time he spent with her. He’d been hitting the local In-N-Out, but had pretty much gone through the fried food menu over the past few days. He found himself craving the smell of fresh-baked bread—and the sweet scent of Lori.
He just wasn’t sure what kind of reception he would get so he decided to do some real work first. After pulling out the list of names, he grabbed his Stetson and headed for the door.
Maybe he’d get a sandwich to go, he thought as he locked and closed the office door behind him. He’d worried about Lori since he’d dropped the bombshell. All she could do was throw him out if she really couldn’t stand the sight of him, right?
LORELEI HAD DRIVEN straight to her stepmother’s house the evening after James had told her about her stepmother’s relationship. She’d seen a light on and movement behind the kitchen curtains. Her stepmother’s car was in the driveway, which was odd. She’d slowed and was about to pull in when she saw a second shadow behind the kitchen curtains.
She’d quickly pulled away, feeling like a coward. Why hadn’t she confronted her stepmother and whoever was in the house with her? She told herself she needed to be calm before she did. That it would be better if she spoke about this with her stepmother when she was alone.
When she’d run out of excuses, she’d driven home and looked up Senator Bayard online. There were publicity photos of him and his wife, Mary, and their three daughters—all adults, but all younger than Lorelei.
James had to be wrong. He’d misunderstood. Although she couldn’t imagine what had made him think that her stepmother would have an affair with a married man—let alone keep it from her only stepdaughter.
She knew that was the part that hurt. She and Karen had been close, hadn’t they? And yet, the other night when she’d driven by, her stepmother hadn’t been alone. Could have been a neighbor over, but Lorelei knew it wasn’t true. The shadows had been close, then moved together as if one before breaking apart and disappearing from view. Her stepmother did have secrets.
The bell over the front door of the sandwich shop jangled and she looked up to see James Colt come in. He was the last person she wanted to see right now. Or ever. Emotions came at her like a squad of fighter jets. Mad, angry, embarrassed, upset, worried, resigned and at the same time her heart beat a little faster at the sight of him.
“Any chance of getting a sandwich to go?” he asked almost sheepishly.
“I suppose,” she said, still battling her conflicting emotions.
He glanced from her to the chalkboard. She studied him while he studied it. He was wearing a blue paisley-patterned Western shirt that matched his eyes. She wondered if he’d bought it or if it was purchased by a girlfriend. It was tucked into the waist of his perfectly fitting jeans. One of his prizewinning rodeo buckles rounded out his attire. He shifted on his feet, taking her gaze down his long legs to his boots. New boots? She’d heard him hauling stuff in and out the past few days and knew he’d been shopping.
“I’ll take the special on a roll,” he said.
After all that, he’d chosen the special? “Iced tea?”
“How about a cola?”
“Fine. Have a seat. I’ll bring it to you.”
He nodded and met her gaze. “Lori—”
Whatever he planned to say, she didn’t want to hear it. Turning on her heel, she hurried into the kitchen to make his sandwich and try to calm her pounding heart. What was it about the man that had her hands shaking? He just made her so...so...so not her usual controlled self.
Lori. No one had ever called her anything but Lorelei. Leave it to James to give her a nickname. Leave it to James to say it in a way that made her feel all soft inside.
JAMES COULDN’T GET a handle on Lorelei’s mood. He hated to think what she was putting in his sandwich. Maybe coming here hadn’t been his best idea. But he was hungry, and at least for a few minutes he got to breathe in the smell of freshly baked bread and stretch out his legs.
He didn’t have to wait long. When he saw her coming, he started to get up but she waved him back down.
“I thought you’d prefer I take it to go.”
She shook her head. “Barbecued pork is hard to eat in your pickup, though I’m sure you’ve managed it before,” she said as she sat down in a chair opposite him.
He wasn’t sure the last was a compliment so he simply unwrapped his sandwich and carefully lifted the top piece of bun to see what was inside.
“It’s just pulled pork, my fresh coleslaw and house special barbecue sauce,” she said, sounding indignant.
“It’s your special sauce that I’m worried about,” he said.
“It’s not too spicy. A tough cowboy like you should be able to handle it.” Her gaze challenged him to argue.
He put the sandwich back together and took a bite. “Delicious.” He took another bite. He really was starved.
“Do you have to keep sounding surprised that I can make a decent sandwich?” she demanded.
“Sorry, it’s just that you’re so...so...” He waved a hand in the air, wishing he hadn’t opened his mouth.
“So? So what? Uptight? Too good to do simple things?”
He took a bite, chewed and swallowed, stalling. “You’re so...sexy.” He held up a hand as if expecting a blow. “I know it’s a cliché that a sexy woman can’t cook. Still...”
“Sexy?” She shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh, but she didn’t leave his table. He continued eating. He could see her working through a few things. But when she finally spoke, her words took him by surprise. “I need to know why my stepmother is on your father’s list.”
He wiped his mouth with a napkin and took a drink of the cola. “I don’t know. That’s why I went to talk to her.”
He could see she was struggling with the next question and decided to help her out. “After she got so upset I followed her. She drove all over town, at one point made a couple of phone calls and then drove out of town. I didn’t even know the senator had a house here until he opened the front door.”
“Just because she went to his house—Isn’t it possible they’re just good friends?”
He shook his head. “He took her in his arms and kissed her. It was passionate and she kissed him back. They both seemed nervous, worried that someone was watching and hurriedly closed the door.”
“Someone was watching,” she said under her breath. She looked sick to her stomach.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you. I was surprised to see her name on the list. I went there hoping she’d tell me why. It was a shot in the dark. But then when she got so upset before I even had a chance to ask her...”
She nodded. “Refill?” she asked, pointing at his cola.
He shook his head. “You haven’t talked to her?”
“I haven’t wanted to believe it. I was hoping you were wrong.” Her gaze came up to meet his. “I suppose if anyone knows a passionate kiss when he sees one, it would be you though.”
He laughed, leaning his elbows on the table to close the distance between them. “You give me a lot more credit than I’m due.” She harrumphed at that. “Why do I get the feeling that I did something to you back in grade school or high school or this week and that’s why you’re so angry with me?”
“You didn’t. It’s just that I know what kind of man you are.”
“Do you?” he asked seriously before shaking his head. “I thought you were smarter than to believe everything you hear. Especially about me.” He dropped his voice. “I’ve kissed a few women. But I’m still waiting to kiss the one who rattles me clear down to the toes of my boots.”
She raised a brow. “You’ve been in town for a few days. I’m sure you have one in your sights already.”
“Oh, I do,” he said, realizing it was true. He just wondered if he’d ever get the chance to kiss her.
LORELEI CALLED HER stepmother after James left. “I was thinking we could have dinner together tonight if you don’t have any plans. I could pick up—” She was going to suggest something vegan for her stepmother, when Karen interrupted her.
“You don’t have to pick up anything. I can make us a nice salad for dinner.”
She felt off balance. She’d been half expecting her stepmother to make an excuse because she was seeing her...lover again tonight? “Sure, that would be great.”
“Good, then I’ll see you about six thirty,” Karen said.
“See you then.”
She disconnected, telling herself that James was wrong. That what she’d seen last night might not even have been the senator. That her stepmother’s name being on Del Colt’s list meant nothing.
When she arrived at the house a little after six, her stepmother answered the door smiling and seeming excited to see her. She ushered her into the kitchen where she’d made a pitcher of lemonade. “I thought we could eat out on the patio. It’s such a beautiful evening.”
Lorelei had planned to question her after they ate, but she realized she couldn’t sit through chitchat for an hour first. She watched her stepmother start to pour them each a glass of lemonade over ice.
“Are you having an affair with Senator Bayard?”
Her stepmother’s arm jerked, lemonade spilling over the breakfast bar. Without looking at her, Karen slowly set down the pitcher, then reached for a dishcloth to clean up the mess. Without a word, she’d already admitted the truth.
“I can’t believe this,” Lorelei cried. “When did this happen? How did this happen? He’s married!”
Her stepmother turned to her, her face set in stone. “He’s getting a divorce and then we’re going to get married.”
“That’s what they all say,” she snapped. “Don’t you watch daytime talk shows?”
“He’s separated and has been for some time. He’s been staying at the family’s summer home here when he isn’t in Washington.” Karen looked down at the dishcloth in her hands. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while now.” She looked up.
“Before he and his wife were supposedly separated.” It wasn’t a question.
“I’m not proud of it. It just happened.”
Lorelei shook her head. “It just happened?”
“I love him and he loves me.”
She bit her tongue, thinking how different this conversation would have been if she’d been the one having the affair. Her stepmother would be hitting the roof right now. Look how upset she’d supposedly gotten over James Colt being in the building next door to her stepdaughter. “You haven’t said how you met him.”
“Our paths crossed a few times while he was here building his summer home,” she said. “We found we had a lot in common.”
Lorelei wanted to ask what, but she wasn’t ready to hear this. “You’re serious.” Of course her stepmother was. That glow she’d noticed. Karen was in love. That her stepmother would even consider an affair with a married man told her how head over heels she was with this man.
“With him possibly running for governor, the timing isn’t good, but we’re going to get married once the fallout from his divorce settles.”
She couldn’t bring herself to say that she wasn’t holding her breath and neither should her stepmother. But she was so disappointed and angry right now that she couldn’t deal with this. Karen had cautioned her about men since she was thirteen.
“Let me get the salad and we can go out on the deck and—”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve lost my appetite.” With that she turned and started for the door.
“Lorelei, wait.”
She stopped at the door, closing her eyes as she heard her stepmother come up behind her. She thought of all the tantrums she’d thrown as a teen, all the arguments she and Karen had had over the years. They’d always made up and gotten through it.
“I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you.”
“I am too, Karen.” She started to open the door, felt her stepmother tentatively touch her back and flinched.
Her stepmother quickly removed her hand. “Disappointed in me or not you have to understand, I’m an adult. I get to make my own decisions, right or wrong.” Her voice broke. “I’m still young. I’ve been lonely since your father died. Can’t you try to be happy for me?”
Lorelei felt herself weaken, her love for her stepmother a constant in her life. Karen was right. She was still young and she’d been a widow for years now. Of course she was lonely; of course she wanted a man in her life.
“I’m trying,” she said and turned to face her. “Tell me you aren’t involved in what happened to the Sherman boy. Swear it on my life.”
Her stepmother looked shocked. “Why would you ask—”
“Because I know you. For you to get so upset over James’s questions about the case that you’d run to your lover and be seen, you must have something else to hide. Tell me the truth.”
Her stepmother took a step back. “So, it was James who saw us and ran right to you to tell you. I should have known.”
“He didn’t run right to me. I cornered him, demanding to know why he would question you. But you still haven’t answered my question,” Lorelei said, that knot in her chest tightening. “Swear. On my life.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Karen snapped and took another step back. “I would never swear to anything on your life. You’re upset and don’t know what you’re saying. You should go before either of us says something we’ll regret.”
Lorelei felt tears burn her eyes. “You already have.” With that, she opened the door and left.