He watched her take a deep breath before letting it out slowly.
“She hates me, right? Blames me? Not that she shouldn’t.”
“Lindy died because someone killed her. If anyone shares blame, it’s Kat. I have no doubt that she knew her daughter was torturing you. She and your father weren’t there for you or Lindy. There are a lot of factors that play into what happened that night. The only one truly to blame is the killer.”
She smiled at him as she opened her eyes, then cupped his stubbled jaw. “I’ve always known you were a nice guy. It’s why I dumped you after boot camp. I didn’t want to drag you down with me.”
He chuckled. “So that was your thinking?”
She removed her hand. “Maybe I didn’t want to steal your heart so I ended it before I could.”
He laughed. “Sorry, you were too late. You already stole my heart.”
She looked at him as if trying to see if he was serious and apparently decided he wasn’t. “So back to Kat...”
“I don’t think she’s behind this. She’s married, has another daughter—”
“Another daughter?”
He saw the instant fear in her eyes. “She looks nothing like Lindy or her mother. Dark brown hair with blue streaks. Her name’s Cara.”
Charlie nodded mutely. “I think I’m going to be sick again.”
Shep helped her up and followed her into the bathroom to hold her hair back as she upchucked.
Once he had her back in bed, she said, “If not Kat, then who?”
He shook his head. “But don’t worry, I haven’t given up.” He rose from the edge of the bed. “Try to get some sleep. You should feel better in the morning.”
“Shep?” she called before he could reach the door. “Thank you.”
He nodded and stepped out, closing the door behind him. All he could think about was the woman who’d made Charlie sick. Did she know about Lindy’s murder? Was she motivated by more than jealousy? He couldn’t for the life of him see a connection between Charlie’s past and Amanda.
But that didn’t mean there wasn’t one.
WT COULDN’T HELP being nervous. It was one thing to flirt with Meg years ago in law school—back then it had been safe. He’d known she was happily married, so it was all in good fun. Not that he hadn’t meant it. He’d been attracted to her—just like most of the other male law students.
Meg had always had that extra special something that made her stand out. She wasn’t classically beautiful. She was interesting, full of life and a challenge intellectually. She’d finished in the top five of her class, along with him.
But now there was no husband. No safety net. It would be just the two of them. What if they found out they had no sparks?
Meg had laughed when he suggested that after asking her out.
“What do we have to lose, WT, at our age?” she’d asked. “One dance. That’s all I’m asking.”
When he picked her up at her house for their date, she opened the door in a drop-dead gorgeous fire-engine red dress. She twirled, spinning the skirt out and exposing some damn good-looking legs.
“Wow.” That’s all he could say. He was seldom tongue-tied. Until now.
She laughed. “You look pretty good yourself, Judge.”
“Retired,” he said. “Thanks.”
“We never really retire,” she said and winked at him. “We’re too young.”
He had to admit, he felt young as long as he didn’t try to remember the last time he’d been out on a real date. He’d felt that all of that was behind him for some time now and he’d been okay with it.
She grabbed her wrap and they headed out to his pickup.
“Sorry for the Montana transportation.” He hadn’t brought his sports car because he felt it would be broadcasting the wrong message. He wasn’t sure exactly what that message was. He feared that he’d look like a man going through a late midlife crisis, which he suspected had been the case when he bought the damned thing.
“It won’t be my first truck ride,” Meg said as he opened the passenger side door.
He took her elbow to help her in, but she didn’t really need it. She hopped in as if she was a teenager and he closed the door. The cold winter night air seemed to invigorate him. His step felt lighter as he walked around and slid behind the wheel.
“I didn’t know what restaurant to pick so I asked around,” WT told her. “I understand we can’t go wrong with this one.”
“You really think what food we have will matter?” she asked, clearly amused.
Was he trying too hard? He just wanted this night to be everything she expected. Unfortunately, he really had no idea what her expectations were—if any.
They talked about the weather, Christmas holidays and an update on her grown children and so far, lack of grandchildren, until they reached the restaurant.
Once seated, they caught up on people they’d gone to law school with and how many of them had stayed in the profession. He ordered a good bottle of wine.
“To old friends and lovers,” she said, clinking her glass against his, her summer-sky-blue eyes dancing with mischief.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re paying me back for the way I behaved in law school?” he asked.
“What? You think I’m flirting with you, WT?” She laughed. “I am.” She opened her menu and disappeared behind it, leaving him surprisingly a little flushed with the attention.
When the waiter returned, WT ordered salmon and salad for himself and closed his menu. Meg turned to the waiter and shook her head. “I know what I want, but we’re going to need a moment.”
“Why did you just send our waiter away?” he asked, confused.
“Because you aren’t having salmon and salad. Tonight we’re having beef, rare, with a big fat loaded baked potato.”
“I haven’t eaten red meat in five years, and if I eat all that, I won’t be able to move, let alone dance,” WT told her.
She grinned. “We’ll see,” she said, then signaled the waiter over and ordered them both rib eyes, rare, loaded baked potatoes and side salads. “You still like blue cheese?” she asked him but didn’t wait for a reply. “Throw some blue cheese on them both,” she said, picking up their menus and handing them to the waiter.
“If you’re trying to lead me astray—”
“How am I doing so far?” she asked, leaning toward him, elbows on the table. Her eyes sparkled in the candlelight and he felt a tug on his heart.