Liz Sullivan 5 - Murder Crops Up by Lora Roberts

Author:Lora Roberts [Roberts, Lora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-21T04:00:00+00:00

I played back the messages on the answering machine, wanting to hear some reassurance from Drake about his future plans, dreading that he might have just left a message saying, the movers are coming, give them the keys. Of course, he wouldn't do that. But having so much emotional dependence on one person was infuriating. I preferred to slip through my life, hindering no one, finding no impediment myself. This policy, though it had served me well for many years, was no longer working. The thought of never seeing Paul again, of living without him, was not just an impediment, it was a total roadblock.

The first message was someone from the city, reminding Drake about a deadline for filing some kind of paperwork. I made a careful note of caller, subject, and phone number in Drake's phone log. The second message was a hang-up. The third was a woman with a cool, authoritative voice and a tone of casual intimacy I found shocking.

"Paul, it's silly to call long-distance to leave you a message, but in case I can't reach you at the hospital, you might pick up your messages from home. Daphne says your dad is better, so I assume we're on for dinner after all. Please give me a call." She didn't give her name or phone number.

I switched off the answering machine. Though I hadn't written anything down, every word of the last message was engraved in my recollection.

My hand holding the pen trembled too much to form letters. I set the pen down on the notebook and found myself standing by the living room window with no thought of how I'd gotten there. Staring blindly into the night, I took deep breaths until the panicky beating of my heart slowed.

It's always painful to face the evidence of your own folly. I had been devastated by a man once before, and it had been life-threatening and horrible and had made me so wary of human contact that I had thought I'd never recover. In the past year, my feelings had changed, due in no small part to Paul Drake. I had resented his pushing and prodding me out of my safely frozen emotions, but I had found myself warming up to relationships with those around me -- especially him.

Now that I was thawing nicely, perhaps he'd grown tired of waiting for the rest of the ice to melt.

I leaned my forehead against the cool window glass and tried to control the chaos that swirled through me. Because the living room was dark, I could see clearly through the front window.

Carlotta's car was parked there again. She was actually blocking the end of the driveway, no doubt to see better down it to my cottage in the back.

All those swirling emotions coalesced into one pure feeling: rage. I straightened, my hands tightening into fists. Bad enough that I should have to cope with the fear that I had blown any chance of creating a strong bond with a man I cared for.

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