“I was in a car accident ten years ago. My leg was badly burned.”
Kat sucked in a breath. That’s what was wrong with his leg? She couldn’t even imagine the pain of having a burn like that. Guilt wrapped around her chest. And she’d made him do all those physical things. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“I don’t tell you for sympathy. I wanted to let you know because sometimes women react poorly when they see my leg.”
Kat couldn’t believe that. “Poorly, how?”
“The last woman I dated said it was disgusting, and she’d never dare be seen with me in public if my leg was showing.”
“Wow.” Kat couldn’t imagine how a person could be so insensitive. And how had that made Damian feel?
“So, I wanted to let you know in case it mattered to you.”
“No,” Kat said quickly. “That doesn’t matter. It won’t affect anything.” Her heart squeezed in sympathy for him. How horrible to have someone treat you that way.
Damian was silent on the other end of the phone, and Kat couldn’t stop the next question from coming out. “How did the car accident happen?”
There were rustling noises before he spoke. “I don’t like to talk about it. Suffice it to say, I was at fault.”
The way he said it made Kat think someone else had been involved in the crash as well. But she didn’t want to push him too far, so she bit back the rest of her questions. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s the past. I’ve gotten over it.”
Kat snuggled under the covers. He hadn’t gotten over it, she could tell by his voice, but she let it go. “It was nice talking to you tonight,” she said.
“Yes. I hope I can call you tomorrow.”
“I look forward to it.” Kat closed her eyes. If only those words were a lie.
Chapter 12
Damian sat at the small table, his knee bouncing. No one else was in the breakfast area. He wasn’t even sure if anyone else had stayed at the hotel last night. It had been eerily quiet.
The scrambled eggs from a box weren’t doing much for his stomach. He downed his orange juice and stood. It was time to get to the bottom of the small-town newspaper. He pulled out his phone and dialed Kat. She answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Do you have a key to the office? I need someone to let me in.”
“Yes,” she said, but she sounded hesitant. “What exactly do you need?”
“Can you meet me there in ten minutes? I’ll tell you then.”
“Okay.”
He hung up and went back to his room to get his coat. Soon he was sitting in the parking lot behind the newspaper office. Kat pulled up in her car and got out. He met her at the door. “Thanks for coming.”
Kat unlocked the door and let them inside. She flipped on the lights then turned to him. “Okay. What are you looking for?”
“You want to be a reporter, right? Here’s your chance to dig something up. I need to know why my father bought this place, and why my mother freaked out when I mentioned Pleasant Hollow. The only thing that comes to mind is my father had an affair with Lydia years ago, but I need to find proof.”
Kat’s eyes widened. “An affair? Why would your mother hide that? You’d think she’d have exposed it.”
“I don’t know. That’s the only thing that makes any kind of sense though. Do you have a key to Lydia’s office? Maybe we can find something in there.”
Kat swallowed and bit her lip. “Yeah, but she’d kill me if I let you in there.”
“Then we won’t tell her.”
“I don’t know about this,” Kat said, but she walked to Lydia’s office and unlocked it anyway. The door swung open with a creek.