Sometimes he thought he’d never understand women—and he had a small one to raise, so it was going to be a tough road ahead.
He sighed. “I forgive you.”
She swiped at her tears. “Thank you. I hate tears. Too many women use them to manipulate the men they care about. I’m not like that, and I’m sorry I couldn’t control myself. I care about you and Hailey. To know I hurt you tears me up inside. I didn’t mean to. I’m doing the best I can in a situation that’s spinning in crazy ways that make me feel out of control. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I like things to be neat and tidy in life. And this situation is anything but.”
“No, it’s not.”
She stared across the breakfast bar at him. “Can we put this behind us? Or have I ruined everything?”
The tremulous smile she lifted his way tore at his heart. “Even though I forgive you, it’s hard to get past the differences in our social status, Torie. You’re a Bergstrom, and I’m just a marine researcher. I probably couldn’t afford your shoes.”
“I can buy my own shoes. A relationship is a partnership, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes. But a man likes to feel he’s needed.”
“You have something way more important than money that I need.”
His pulse jumped at the tenderness in her eyes. “And what’s that?”
“Courage. Stability. Honor. Steadfast support. You’re a lot of things, Joe, but the bedrock in your character holds me up.”
He swallowed hard. “I’m not sure I can live up to that pedestal you have me on.”
“You climbed there all by yourself.”
She took a step closer, and he opened his arms. Her cheek nestled on his chest, and she fit as if she’d been made for him. Maybe she had.
* * *
Joe seemed to have put her duplicity behind him and had pulled out a skillet to fix breakfast. She wanted him to know the real her. The Torie few people saw.
She took another sip of coffee. “People have always wanted something from me because I’m a Bergstrom. Very few people have gotten past the walls I’ve had to erect. Lisbeth was one of those. But since meeting you and Hailey, I have realized it’s really lonely inside this thorny prison.”
He stopped stirring the eggs for a moment, and their gazes met. He looked good this morning with his brown hair still wet from his shower. His broad chest and arms strained his T-shirt, and his tan made his eyes look all the greener.
He gave another brisk stir with the spatula. “Not everyone wants something from other people.”
“They seem to when you have more money than Midas. When you have the power to offer jobs and influence. Until someone has walked in my shoes, they don’t understand what that’s like. Some people take to using that power without a thought. I never did. I don’t want power over people. I thought if people didn’t see the real me, they couldn’t hurt me.”
She fell silent, not sure how to make him understand when it was something as natural to her as breathing. That second skin she wore to present to the world was a shell that shielded her.
He piled her plate with eggs, bacon, and toast, then slid it over to her. “Eat up.”
She’d ordered an omelet from the restaurant this morning, but didn’t take one bite and she was suddenly ravenous. She forked some eggs and deposited them onto her tongue. “Delicious.”
Could she change for Joe and Hailey? The reserve she’d donned all her life had made ruts through her soul, tracks she followed like a mule plodding a well-worn trail. It wasn’t a pretty thought to realize those patterns she’d allowed had shaped her when she should have been brave. She should have been forging her own path. Nothing said she had to be a traditional Bergstrom.
What did a nontraditional Bergstrom look like?
He refilled her coffee. “I think I kind of get it. Probably no one really can, but as a parent, I have certain expectations of Hailey’s behavior. Lately I’ve noticed she wants to go her own way. If I say I like red, she likes blue. If I want chocolate ice cream, she wants strawberry. I would never want her to become a carbon copy of me. She has to make her own way. And there’s a girl at school who picks on her, and it’s made her self-conscious about what clothes she wears. Trying to fit into a mold isn’t what God wants for her either. She’s unique.”
His gaze held her in place, probing places inside her heart. She swallowed the suddenly tasteless bite of egg.
“And you’re unique, Torie. I understand why you would feel the need to fight hard against being used for your name when someone doesn’t even get to know you. That would be a painful thing. It would make anyone wary.”
At his affirming words, moisture burned her eyes and she sniffled, then took a sip of coffee to hide her emotion. Maybe she could be herself with him. She prayed so. It helped that he’d liked her before he knew her identity.
She pulled out her red plastic file and withdrew the two pictures of the vehicle Bella had gotten into. “What kind of car is this, and do you recognize the driver?”
Joe took the pictures and studied them one at a time. “Looks to be a Chevy Impala, maybe a 2018. I can’t tell the color, but it’s a common vehicle. The outline of the driver’s head seems vaguely familiar, but I can’t place who it reminds me of. Honestly, I can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman.” He handed them back to her.
She put them back in her folder. “I couldn’t tell either. I was in my office at midnight, and Kyle came in. He’d heard who I was and was a little aggrieved. He told me he went out with Bella a few times, but she wasn’t his type. I’d guess she ditched him though. He made it sound like she dated one guy after another, even though she was engaged. I’d love to be able to talk to someone she went out with a few times. Her fiancé too. And I talked to another of Bella’s friends this morning. She claims Bella planted the bottle of pills because she was pressured to in order to save some kind of plan.” She told him everything Felicia had said.
He frowned. “A plan. That sounds ominous. No idea what it could be?”
She shook her head. “I need to talk to more of Bella’s friends.”
“Talk to Amelia Rogers. She and Bella were friends. Bella worked for her part-time during busy times. She was learning all about glassblowing. I saw her there a few times. The two were working together on plans for the banking summit.”
She glanced at the clock above the sink. “It’s seven thirty, and I have to be at work at eight. Do you know what time she opens?”
“I think she’s there early working on her glass, but the shop doesn’t open until ten. But why would you continue to go to work in the IT department now that your cover is blown? You can look at the files all you want while you pursue any leads.”
She nodded. “Good point. I hadn’t thought it through. Lack of sleep does a number on the brain synapses. I could run over there right now and knock on the back door where she has her furnace.”
“That area is called a hot shop,” Joe said. “It’s an interesting process to watch. She might let you hang around if you don’t get in her way. Go on ahead, and once Hailey gets up, we’ll join you. We have an open invitation to watch her work anytime. The kid should be up any minute.”