Page 98 of The Woman Left Behind

“You can only do what you can do,” I said quietly.

“I have to withdraw from actively being involved in this investigation. I’m with you. I’m not impartial. It could cause problems down the line.”

Oh, my good guy.

“It’s okay. I get it. You have to do what’s right,” I reminded him. “You’re you. That’s what you do.”

“We’ve got something now, Lilly, and we’re gonna follow it until it leads to answers for you.”

“Honestly, honey, you don’t have to try to make me feel better by making promises you’re worried you can’t keep.”

His fingers tightened around mine. “We’re gonna follow it until it leads to answers, Lillian.”

“Okay, baby,” I whispered.

He stared at me, the heat in his eyes warming my heart.

Then I watched as he wrestled the depth of his emotion under control, the heat turned to a warm glow, and he said, “Let’s make dinner.”

I smiled, leaned in for a kiss, pulled back and agreed, “Let’s make dinner.”

TWENTY-FOUR

The Deep Stuff

Lillian

“So, Stormy. Anyone else?” Harry asked.

We were lying in the dark in my bed, limbs entangled, dogs ignoring their new beds seeing as I knew Smokey lay on the rug beside me, and Lucy and Linus were on the other side by Harry.

Harry liked the salmon farro veggie bowls with spicy ginger, sesame and soy sauce we made (shocker: so did I). While we ate, and after we cleaned up, we watched some cooking shows.

But we went to bed early, even earlier than I would normally, and I was usually in bed with a book by nine.

I knew why now.

We were chatting in the dark about deeper stuff we needed to know, in a safe space for both of us (or at least I hoped Harry thought it was safe).

And Harry was affecting a maneuver to take my mind off other things before I fell asleep.

It wouldn’t work, but the thought was sweet.

“There was a lot of dating,” I told him. “I met someone really nice who I liked a lot once, but he was here on a fishing trip. He lives in Oregon. We did the long-distance thing for nearly a year. Then he met someone closer to home.”

“And he ended it?”

It was so lovely how his question sounded entirely disbelieving, like someone ending things with me was unfathomable to him.

Oh yes, that was very lovely.

“No, he gave me an ultimatum. Either I move there, or he moves on. I wasn’t going to move there…” I blew out a breath, “for obvious reasons.”

See?

No matter what he tried, my mind would circle back to my parents.

“He couldn’t move?” Harry pulled things back on target.

---