Cavanaugh Heat by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-01-09T09:40:32+00:00

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Chapter 9

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Lila stared at the folder Brian was holding as if it was some sort of a foreign object. "I didn't put it there," she protested, taking it from him.

How the hell had it gotten into the refrigerator?

"Maybe it hopped in by itself," Brian suggested whimsically. "Death by frostbite?"

"It's not funny, Brian," she insisted. "I don't know how it got there. Am I losing my mind?"

The look of distress in her eyes got to him. Brian searched for a way to comfort her. "Honey, we do so many things without thinking—"

At any other time, the term of endearment, used for the first time, would have been savored and cherished. But right now, she was too upset to focus on anything but the cool folder she held in her hand.

"I don't put folders into the refrigerator," she said tersely, struggling not to lose her temper. Things were spinning out of control, beyond her reach and she didn't know how to fix it.

"Let me finish," he told her, his tone patient. "We do so much that sometimes we get things confused. Put a spoon in the medicine cabinet, a folder in the refrigerator. You've had a lot on your mind lately, one of which," he injected a sidebar, trying to get her to rise above her concerns, "I'd like to think is me—"

Lila cut him off, shaking her head. "I did not put the folder in the refrigerator. I haven't even opened the refrigerator since I came home and this damn folder was on the desk in the back room when I left for work this morning."

Brian looked at her for a long moment, trying to get her to center her thoughts. "You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. It's always there." The words rushed out of her mouth. If she said them fast enough, she could outdistance the doubts that crowded her mind. But she failed. "No, I'm not sure." Defeated, she sank down on a kitchen chair facing the refrigerator. She bumped the table with her hip. "I'm just so used to seeing it there, I just assumed..."

He nodded. "Could one of your kids have come in and accidentally—"

Her head jerked up. "And accidentally what? Put the folder into the refrigerator? Why would they? They don't have anything to do with my bills and they don't come over unless I'm here. If they want to see me, they usually stop by the office at the precinct and we get caught up there." She looked accusingly at the folder she'd tossed on the kitchen table. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Moving behind her, Brian dropped his hands on her shoulders. Silently he let her know that he was here for her. That, like old times, he had her back no matter what.

"Don't waste time making too much of this," he advised. "These things happen."

Without thinking, she placed her hand over his, taking comfort from the contact. "They've been happening too often."

Brian dropped his hands and came around to face her.

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