Jenna snorted and Carter agreed with her skepticism. “See what you can find and let me know.”
“You got it.” She paused. “Do you want the good news or the bad news on this video?”
“Good news.” Please let it be something helpful.
“It isn’t doctored,” she said.
At his car, he pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it a moment. “Isn’t that bad news?” If the video wasn’t manipulated somehow then the police would be convinced Paige was at the scene.
“Maybe it’s both?” Jenna didn’t sound as certain as usual. “I labeled it good news because we needed some. Really, this means the time stamp is accurate. Narrows down my search window.”
“I guess that is good news,” Carter agreed reluctantly. “Keep me posted.”
“Be safe out there,” Jenna said, ending the call.
At the driveway, Carter looked through the iron fencing to the police car keeping tabs on Paige. Safe seemed doable. Proving her innocent, not so much.
Chapter Four
A bodyguard was living with her. Not a situation Paige had ever imagined. She had no etiquette training for this and no idea what to expect. Worse, what did he expect? The only silver lining she could see was that her father had to explain it to her mom. Cora held onto some very traditional values about propriety.
She wasn’t sure what to do with Carter’s insistence that she was his top priority. That felt significant. A simultaneous pressure and relief. Sure her criminal defense team—another unanticipated scenario—had sent Carter out to protect and investigate, but was he limited to the scope of that assignment? She had no idea how to find answers that wouldn’t turn her life upside down, but maybe he could make some suggestions.
If only she knew how to ask without making a fool of herself.
She had tried to take a nap and when that proved futile, she’d considered an at-home spa day. But the idea of pampering herself with a facial or a long soak in the tub put a pinch between her shoulder blades. Melissa would never enjoy those things again.
Her mother had called twice and Paige couldn’t bring herself to pick up. Maybe it would’ve been better if she’d surrendered her phone to the police along with her passport. She didn’t want to talk about party details or dinner plans. She wanted—needed—to wallow, to let her mind and heart process all these momentous changes.
Curled up in the glider swing on her back patio, she watched dusk fall over the marsh and decided not to talk about the case until tomorrow. Carter would respect that. She’d given him everything he needed about the day of the murder.
Tomorrow was soon enough to figure out how to confirm or adjust the catering situation. Maybe it would be better to call it off. Not like she was in much of a mood to celebrate her father’s accomplishments with these questions rattling around in her mind.
“Paige?” Like a good bodyguard, Carter had been close, keeping tabs on her.
She didn’t turn around, blatantly ignoring years of manners and courtesy.
“It’ll be dark soon and I need you to come inside.” He huffed. “I sound like your mother. But it is a necessary precaution.”
He was the expert and she really should comply without an argument. Standing, she tried to smile. “You don’t sound anything like my mom.” Although she could only assume. What she meant was that he didn’t sound like the woman who’d raised her.
And that was way too much misplaced bitterness, even for her, even right now.
Cora Coker had been a wonderful nurturing mother, aside from a few episodes of depression and a serious overprotective streak. What mother worth her salt didn’t have imperfect moments?
“How is your investigation going?” she asked as she followed him back into the house, by way of her office.
He gave her a nod of approval as he watched her lock the back door. “We’re only a few hours in, but we’re making progress.”
That didn’t sound promising, but why dwell on one more thing she couldn’t control? “I guess we need to pull something together for dinner,” she said when they reached the front room. His laptop was on the coffee table, closed, so she had no idea what he’d been working on.
“Your father called me and invited us to the house,” Carter said.
She cringed. “And you accepted.”
“No. He mentioned that your mother hadn’t been able to reach you, so I assumed you’d rather not go. I told him we’d be staying here.”
She gaped. She’d been attracted to him from their introduction. Now, he’d just leaped into legendary hero status. Her breath backed up in her lungs. “You said no. For us.” She couldn’t believe it.
“For you,” he corrected. He cocked his head. “Did I do the wrong thing?”
“No.” She felt like dancing a jig. Or kissing him. Better to stick with the jig. “You did the best thing ever.”
“I’ll make myself a note that you’re easy to please.”
“Is that part of the deal? Making me happy, I mean.”
“In a way.” A wariness came into his golden-brown eyes. “Always harder to wrangle unhappy clients.”
“I bet.” She might’ve given him the wrong impression about what she wanted. She didn’t want to jump him. Well, she did, but she wouldn’t. Grief was ridiculous. She had self-control. Somewhere. “You’ve said I’m the priority and I’m not used to that.”
“Then let’s make food the first priority for right now,” he suggested.
“I can work with that,” she agreed, eager to find the quickest route back to solid footing. She went to the fridge and did a quick assessment. “We can keep it simple with grilled cheese and soup or order in.” She sighed. “Or ask for leftovers from whatever Mom and Dad are having.”
“Grilled cheese works for me.” He turned to the pantry and pulled out a can of soup.
“You learn your way around a place fast,” she observed as she pulled bread, butter, and cheese from the refrigerator.
“Part of the job,” he said. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“No,” she replied.
It wasn’t much of a fib. Years of practicing poise through dance classes, cotillion and public speaking classes gave her the ability to suppress the alternating tremors of panic and shivers of awareness that kept rolling through her. Panic that her days of freedom were numbered and awareness of the hunky guy helping her fix dinner. It was such a familiar task, but it felt new and different to tackle it beside Carter.
“I do appreciate your help with all of this.”
“Haven’t done much yet.” He set the soup on the stove and stirred it as it heated through.
He’d asked her about the afternoon meeting and he wasn’t the kind of man to forget she owed him an answer. How was she going to explain that meeting? She sensed he would see through any attempt to lie and if his assistant could track her text messages, Paige was sure they’d tracked her phone’s location too.
She decided to focus on that technical aspect when they sat down to eat at the kitchen island. It was roomier since her dining room had been adjusted for the Christmas tree and she didn’t have to look him right in the eyes.