Shadows on the Sand by Gayle Roper

Author:Gayle Roper [Roper, Gayle]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Suspense, Christian, Religious, New Jersey, Investigation, Missing Persons - Investigation, City and Town Life - New Jersey, Missing Persons, Mystery Fiction, City and Town Life
ISBN: 9781601423061
Publisher: Center Point Pub
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

24

I set my coffee cup down on Greg’s table. I still found it hard to believe that I had actually caught some of our golden brown, crunchy, and delicious dinner. I decided I liked fishing. Talk about a good ROI—return on investment.

Conversation during the meal had been general—what television shows we liked and why, what channel had the best newscasts, who were our favorite actors. I allowed him a slight crush on Gwyneth Paltrow and he ignored my swoon over Ewan McGregor.

Earlier I had been much more open than usual about my growing-up years, but I’d wanted Greg to realize the worst about me. If who I was and where I came from were too much for him, we both needed to know that before we became any more involved.

Of course my emotions were seriously engaged already. I thought of the old saying about it being as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor man, and I disagreed. Falling in love seemed to be something beyond a person’s control, at least this person’s.

One individual called out to you on some elemental level, and something in you responded. Why a melancholy ex-cop/widower who disliked his current career appealed to me I didn’t know. He came with so much emotional baggage, baggage I wasn’t certain he’d ever jettison. That scared me, but it didn’t stop the pull he exerted on me. He was the magnet, and I was the iron filings; he was the moon, and I was the tide. Clichés, and corny ones at that, but true nonetheless.

Greg placed his knife and fork across his plate and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve got a question for you, Carrie. It’s highly personal, but I hope you’ll answer because it’s part of my crusade to learn all about you.”

I could feel his intensity rolling across the table, and I shivered. My stomach lurched. Maybe the fried fish wasn’t that great after all.

“Go ahead,” I said, wary. My hands gripped each other in my lap.

“How’s your mom doing today?”

I sighed. “I was afraid you were going to ask me something about her.”

“Hurtful topic.”

“You have no idea.”

It would have been nice if he’d said something about seeing that his question upset me so he was changing the subject, but he didn’t. He sat watching me, face grave, waiting.

I hunched my shoulders, knowing I might well be killing any good thoughts he had about me. “I have no idea how she is.”

I also had no idea where she was or whether she still lived at the last address we’d shared. Given her record for nonpayment of rent, she’d probably skipped in the middle of the night for a new place to lease and not pay on.

Greg stood and took his dish to the sink. He was frowning as he scraped the crumbs into the garbage disposal. He turned to me. “When was the last time you saw her?”

I couldn’t look at him, and I had to force the words out. “Seventeen years ago.

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