Read Between the Tines (29 page)

"That's what I thought, but she told me she and Nathan Jacobs had stopped by so I wanted to check."

"She's obviously lying." Yolanda glanced at Karen who was standing woodenly in the receiving line. "I better get back."

I watched her rejoin Karen just as Adam approached and gave Karen a warm hug.

Lisa came up next to me with Perry, his arm snugged around her waist. "You might want to talk to him instead of staring."

"If it helps, I think he's ready to talk to you," Perry added.

I nodded. "Yeah, thanks, it does help. Not sure if I have the courage to approach him, though."

Lisa pulled away from Perry and clamped her hands on my arms forcing me to face her. "You made a mistake, Paige. You know it was wrong, and you deserve the chance to ask for his forgiveness. If he refuses to talk to you then he's not the man we thought he was."

"Says my best friend. You have to be on my side."

Perry snorted. "Since when has Lisa ever sided with you when you're way off base?"

He was right. She'd support me no matter what, but she'd also tell me the truth.

"Okay, I'll talk to him before we go."

Lisa released my arms. "That's my girl."

I glanced at Adam one more time, but cringed when I saw Nathan Jacobs take his place with Karen. Nathan may not be guilty of killing
Gary
, but he was still a wife-beater.

"That's Nathan Jacobs approaching Karen," I said. "And that's his wife with all the hidden bruises."

Both Lisa and Perry spun to stare at them. Olivia wore a black suit over a silky blouse that circled her neck like a clerical collar, probably covering up bruises. Nathan still had his hand clamped on her wrist, dragging her with him as he moved. He briefly let go to shake Karen's hand, but grabbed Olivia again as he headed our way.

We were standing near the buffet table where Nathan now focused. I hoped he was hungry for food, not for making a scene with me.

I stepped closer to Lisa. "I wish Mitch can do something to help her."

"It's not likely," Perry said. "He has to follow the law."

"Well, I don't," I said. "I talked to Olivia this morning and tried to convince her to turn him in. She didn't bite, but I'll keep after her."

"Are you sure you want to get in the middle of this?" Lisa asked, her face taking on a here-we-go-again look.

"Someone has to," I said and let my heated gaze lock onto Nathan and burn him with my frustration.

But he was oblivious to my look and arrived at the table with a broad smile. He picked up a plate and handed it to Olivia then nudged her toward the food. It took all my willpower not to rush over and nudge him back. Hard, really hard.

"So did you find anyone to help you on the project?" Lisa, bless her heart, must have sensed I needed a distraction.

"Uma's nephew, Lyle. He runs a small lawn mowing service to save up for college. He's going to work with me today. I can handle the rest of the job by myself."

"When do you think you'll be done?"

"I hope to finish by the weekend." I stepped closer to Lisa and Perry to let Nathan and Olivia squeeze behind us. I forced my thoughts off pushing him into the large bowl of potato salad and back to the project. "Karen wants the house listed like yesterday, so the project has been scaled back. I'll replace the patio with one that has the proper slope and finish the beds we started then lay some sod and call it quits."

"I can help this weekend if you need me to," Lisa offered but her voice wasn't all that enthusiastic.

"I shouldn't need you. If Lyle and I finish hauling off the concrete today, I'll be in good shape." I glanced at the odd couple again to see if they'd moved on.

Lisa's gaze joined mine. Nathan's smile had turned ugly, and he scowled at Olivia. What could she possibly have done to make him mad? She dabbed at a spot on the tablecloth. Was his anger over spilled food? Not a reaction the average non-wife beating person could understand. I took a step to intercede, but Lisa grabbed my arm and held me in place.

"Leave it, Paige. This isn't the time or the place."

I fisted my hands and nodded. She was right, but I wouldn't forget about it.

"Here comes Adam," Perry announced in the tone of a professional sports caster. I could just see him giving a play by play of my upcoming conversation with Adam as if he were announcing a boxing match.

As the words 'knock out' darted around my brain, I shook off the vision and turned to Lisa. "Don't leave me alone with him. Please."

Lisa slipped her arm under Perry's. "Hey, you were just willing to duke it out with Nathan Jacobs. Surely you can handle Adam all alone." She waved at Adam then dragged a bewildered Perry to the line forming at the food table.

It took all the strength I had not to stare at my feet, but I let out a shaky breath and kept watching Adam. No need to panic. He stopped to talk with a couple from our Bible study group. But I did panic. What if he wasn't coming over to talk to me? What if Perry was wrong and Adam never wanted to talk to me again?

"Paige." My name was called from behind.

I turned to find Mary Stills. "Mary. How are you?"

She shook her head. "I didn't think this would be so hard. I mean, I knew
Gary
, but not that well."

I felt the same way and it seemed as if many people around us did. "There're a lot of Pacific Pickle folks here today."

Mary looked around as if she hadn't noticed her coworkers. "
Gary
was a good guy. Guess we all just had to say farewell."

"Hey, speaking of Pacific, I met Cara Long this morning. You know her?"

"Sure. Everyone in the company knows Cara. She comes into town for meetings all the time."

Say what? This was news to me. "All the time, like once a year? Twice a year?"

"Oh, no, at least every month."

Well tie me up and call me stupid. How did I miss learning about this? "Any idea how long she'd been here this time?"

"I'm not sure exactly when she arrived, but I had a meeting with her early Monday morning, so I guess she flew in Sunday night."

I felt my face drain of blood. Had Cara come to town and killed
Gary
? Had they continued their affair even after he married Karen? And why hadn't Irene told me Cara was a frequent visitor to the corporate office?

"Paige," Mary said. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, no. Nothing."

"You know about the affair
Gary
had with Cara, don't you?"

I nodded woodenly.

"I'll bet you were wondering if it was still going on. Well, if it was, no one at the office knew about it. She was just as cold to him as she had been since he moved here."

"She could be cold in public, but that could just be a cover up." I opened my mouth to ask another question, but I caught sight of Adam coming my way and all thoughts about Cara drifted away.

His eyes met mine, and surprisingly, he didn't look away as he sauntered closer in a self-confident swagger that I found so attractive. The sparkle that I could usually find when we first saw each other was missing, but he seemed as if he was trying to smile and that gave me a smidgeon of hope.

"Mary," I said as if in a dream. "There's someone I need to talk to. I'll catch up with you later."

Not hearing her reply, I took a few hesitant steps in his direction. I was so out of my league here, I had no idea how to proceed. Did I say something or wait for him to start? Maybe I should suggest we go somewhere to talk so all eyes weren't on us as they seemed to be right now.

"Paige," he said, his voice curt as he stopped in front of me.

"It's good to see you." All my feelings for him rushed into my words, which came out sincere yet desperate.

"You want to go outside and talk?" he asked, his tone still terse.

I nodded, and, thankful for the short reprieve, I set off for the door.

Once in the hallway, Adam chuckled. "Hold up, Paige, I won't bite your head off."

I slowed but didn't look back at him.

He came alongside, his posture very relaxed while my shoulder muscles were as tight as Scrooge's wallet. He slipped ahead and held the door. "I'm sorry I got so angry and left you at the restaurant like that," he said as I passed.

I tried not to show my surprise and relief, but my mouth flew open. To gain time to control my emotions, I went to a bench on the patio surrounding the building. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Karen," I said as I sat, and looked deep into his eyes. "I wanted to tell you, but after you forbade me to help Daisy, I couldn't. I thought it would be better if I waited until we were alone before bringing it up."

He sat next to me. His knee brushed my leg, and he snapped it back as if I had a fungus or blight. "And you were planning on telling me after dinner?"

"Absolutely. I don't want to keep anything from you."

He gave a forced smile. "Maybe we can start over with this."

"Please, that's what I want, too."

"I'll admit I was way out of line when I forbade you to help Daisy. I can see how that might make you want to keep Karen a secret. But I had my reasons, Paige. In my job, I see all the horrible things one human being can do to another. After you were almost killed last month, I couldn't stand the thought of you putting your life on the line again." He stopped and breathed deeply as if trying to expel thoughts of me in danger. "So, tell me. What's so important about finding this killer that you're willing to risk your life to do it?"

"Well, if you put it that way, I don't see this as risking my life. I see Karen suffering and the little bit of relief she gets when she thinks about me finding the killer, and I just have to keep going."

"So you're not doing this simply because you like the chase?"

I wanted to say, no, it was all about Karen, but if I were honest with myself, I might still be doing this whether Karen asked me or not. And I had to be totally honest with Adam, but how did I explain it so he understood?

"Paige?" His troubled expression sent my stomach to my knees.

I opened my mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out.

His eyes narrowed, and his back stiffened. "Let me rephrase my question. If you found another body, and there was no grieving widow or accused friend to help, would you still look into the murder?"

I shrugged then knowing I would probably get involved I nodded slowly, all the while recognizing that I'd likely just ended our relationship. "I can't explain it, Adam. I might not be so obsessed with finding the killer like I am now, but depending on the situation it's a good possibility that I would at least start asking questions."

He stood and looked down on me. "Thanks for telling me the truth. I'm not sure I can be in a relationship where the woman I love takes extreme risks like this."

Did he say woman I love? As in he loved me or as in any woman he might love?

I forced out a smile. "If it's any consolation, I can't imagine there will ever be another murder around here. I mean, what are the odds?"

"What were the odds that there'd be two of them?"

"Good point. All I'm saying is once
Gary
's killer is behind bars, my life will go back to normal."

"Will it? See that's the thing, Paige. This has shown me that you're willing to take risks. Big risks. Even if it's not risking your life there will likely be something else that would trouble me. I'm just not wired that way. I want things more predictable and orderly."

"But so do I. I'm not a big risk taker. I'm all about control."

"So tell me, then. How are you controlling this investigation? How will you control the killer and stop him from trying to hurt you when you get too close?"

I shook my head, sorrowfully. He was right. I was out of control, and I didn't even know it. Was my true nature one that liked risky undertakings? Had I stifled it when my dad died in my teens, and I never wanted to feel that pain again so I set up rigid controls?

Adam bent down and peered at me. "Looks like we both have some thinking to do. How about we table this discussion and get together once we've thought things through?"

"Sounds good," I said and smiled when he gave me a soft kiss on the cheek. He walked away, and I watched as his powerful strides carried him across the parking lot. Somehow, I thought this was symbolic of his walking out of my life.

I wanted to yell at him that tabling the discussion didn't sound good at all. In fact, it sounded terrible, horrible and I didn't want him to go. Didn't want to think about this, but declare my love and promise never to do anything risky again.

But I couldn't. Not without thinking about it. I would have plenty of time to think about this conversation at night when I was home alone.

Home alone. I was like Macaulay Culkin in the movie. I was suddenly terrified of ending up alone. Except my alone time wouldn't just be for a vacation. It would be for life.