Dead Certain by Carla Cassidy

Author:Carla Cassidy
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-07-10T23:31:47.859000+00:00

* * *

Chapter 8

«^»

She'd made a conscious decision not to return his phone calls over the past three days. She told herself they really had nothing to say to each other. Clay was still processing the evidence he'd gathered at the Frazier house and none of Riley's messages indicated any urgency.

Even though she hadn't returned any of his calls, she had to confess to herself that seeing him standing at her door had sent a wave of pleasure through her.

As he went out to get the things he'd purchased for the kitten, she belted her robe more tightly around her, then carried the cat into the kitchen and set her on the floor so she could make a pot of coffee.

She couldn't believe he'd bought her a kitten, and such a sweet little baby at that. She couldn't believe he'd paid that much attention to the conversation they'd had on the back deck at his parents' home. For the past year she hadn't felt as if anyone listened when she spoke.

Friends. He'd said he'd like to be friends, no strings attached. There was no fooling herself about the fact that she could use a friend. She hadn't realized until after Jimmy's death that most of their friends had been his, and they had vanished soon after Jimmy.

For Savannah, her family had always been enough, but now her family was fragmented and there were moments when her feelings of isolation threatened to consume her.

But a friendship with Riley? Was that possible? They'd already overstepped the boundaries of friendship with the kiss they had shared, a kiss she'd had difficulty forgetting.

Once the coffeepot was steaming and spewing hot brew into the glass container, she picked up the kitten. At the same time Riley came back inside, his arms laden with supplies.

"My goodness, it looks like you bought out the place," she exclaimed.

"I bought the things I thought a kitten would need to live a long, healthy life."

"Obviously a long, healthy, pampered life," she said with a small smile as he unloaded the items on the floor near the kitchen table. "Let me repay you what you spent, Riley."

He looked shocked at the very notion. "A gift isn't a gift if the recipient pays for it. And she and everything that comes with her is a gift."

"Then, thank you." She looked down at the kitten, her heart filled as it hadn't been in a very long time.

"Now all you need to do is name her."

"Happy," she said without conscious thought, for that was what she felt at the moment.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed. "And that coffee smells great."

Minutes later, with Happy contentedly eating gourmet cat food, Savannah and Riley sat down at her kitchen table, each with a cup of coffee.

"Now, how are you? You look tired," he said.

"I am," she admitted. "The last couple of days have been frantic. I've been dividing my time between the hospital, work and distributing posters of my mom all around town. I came home from work tonight ready to collapse.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.