Page 29 of Little Hidden Fears

I leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. “Lenore is single, right?”

“Yeah, she is, why?”

“When I saw her at Dominic’s house yesterday, I got the feeling she may have been checking in because she was interested in him.”

“Interested... in a romantic way?”

“Yes.”

“How could she even consider such a thing? He’d just lost his wife.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “It was just an observation. Inviting Lenore to your engagement party didn’t bother you at all?”

She shrugged. “It didn’t. Lucas sees her like a sister now, and she’s always been respectful of our relationship. He wanted her to come, so I thought, why not?”

I could think of a few reasons, though I didn’t say.

“What happened yesterday, when you went to see Dominic?” she asked.

I paused a moment, considering how much I wanted to say.

“After I was there for a few minutes, Dominic asked Lenore to leave, and we talked for a while,” I said. “He wasn’t in the best of spirits. At first, he didn’t want to talk to me, and then he changed his mind, telling me I could ask him anything I wanted. Why didn’t you tell me about the women’s center?”

“It didn’t come to mind when we spoke the first time.”

“Seems to me it’s an important detail, one I should have been told about.”

“Why?”

“What if the reason she was murdered is tied to the center in some way?”

Zoey raised a brow. “You think so?”

“I do.”

“I don’t see how it could be. Noelle was careful, not just with the alias she used. To my knowledge, none of the women who came to the center knew much about her personal life, or even where she lived.”

Someone knew where she lived, the same someone who wanted her dead.

Zoey went quiet for a moment, then said, “Sorry about ... you know, my attitude when you first got here.”

“I’m just glad you’re in a place where we can talk now. I’m sure hearing about Dominic was unsettling. I’d hoped to tell you myself, but Lenore beat me to it.”

“I’m upset about Dominic’s suicide, but that’s not all. Lucas called off the wedding last night.”

“Why? What happened?”

“He’s been struggling with the way I’ve handled Noelle’s death. I’ll admit, I haven’t been the best person to be around lately.”

“I lost someone once, someone who was my entire world, and what I learned is that we all grieve in our own way, in our own time.”

“How did you get through it?”

“I quit my job, bought an Airstream, and I went off the grid for a while.”

“You seem to have it together now. How did you get past it?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get past it, not all the way. I just decided to focus on what I can control instead of what I can’t. It will take time. You’ll get there.”

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