“About dinner,” Daniel said. “I was thinking we could have a little something here instead of going out. Maybe watch a movie on TV.”
“There’s nothing here to eat or drink,” she said quickly. “I was really looking forward to a nice dinner somewhere before the movie.”
He groaned. “I’ve had a really rough day.”
Daniel had no idea what a rough day was. She doubted he’d gotten a package with a dead mouse in it or seen his dead stepsister. “Do you like the dress?” she asked, trying to change the subject as she twirled around. “I bought it with you in mind.”
He nodded and closed the distance between them, cupping her bare shoulders with his hands. “It’s a great dress. Another reason to stay in tonight.” He slipped one strap down her arm. “Why don’t we get you out of it—”
She pushed the strap back up. “I’m starved. We can talk about my dress later. I have my heart set on dinner and a movie just like we planned.”
Daniel groaned again. “You’re killing me. All right,” he said with a heavy sigh. “It’s freezing cold outside but if you’re determined...” He sighed. “You drive a hard bargain.” He put his arm around her and they headed for the door.
She’d been looking forward to this date, but she felt as if she was juggling not only her job and the Amanda problem and Lindy and Shep but also now Daniel.
Of course Shep was right. She should just tell Daniel everything and then she wouldn’t have to keep secrets from him.
Why was she so worried about how Daniel would take the news? If he loved her as much as he said, he would understand. He’d probably be protective and concerned about her.
Was she demented? Of course he wouldn’t understand. She’d had years to think about it and she didn’t understand. Anyway, he’d just said he’d had a rough day. This wasn’t the time to tell him about the worst thing she’d ever done in her life.
CHAPTER FOUR
WHAT A JERK, Shep thought as he heard the two of them leave. He opened the bedroom door to peek out. He’d gotten enough of a look at Daniel to know he didn’t like him—even before the man had opened his mouth.
Going to the window, he looked down on the street in time to see them drive away. No surprise, Daniel drove a muscle car with a muffler that made it sound more souped up than it was. As the two sped off, Shep studied the spot across the street where Charlie had seen the figure she thought was this Lindy person.
There was no one standing there at the moment, but he could see how it was a perfect spot for someone to appear—and disappear—quickly.
He turned from the window and looked around the apartment, aware of how much it reflected the Charlie he’d known. The place felt cozy, lived in, loved. He stepped to one of the pen-and-ink drawings on the living room wall. It was a girl standing at the edge of a lake, the water shimmering with the last of the day’s warmth as the sun set off to one side of it. On the other side of the girl, black clouds gathered for what appeared to be an oncoming storm.
The one side of the painting radiated hope. The other...fear of something approaching? Maybe he was reading too much into it, but it made him wonder about the woman who’d drawn it. He couldn’t help the disturbing feeling that came over him. He thought of the girl he’d known. Whether or not she was the woman in the painting, he feared trouble wasn’t coming for Charlie. It had already found her.
Opening the refrigerator, he found a beer in the far back and helped himself as he wondered what else Charlie had lied about to her boyfriend. Taking the beer into the living room, he settled on her turquoise couch. All of the furniture he noticed was brightly colored. Somehow that seemed like a good sign, he thought, like the sunshine in the drawing.
The place had been tastefully decorated. No clutter. Just a few books and some photos of what appeared to be Charlie with young women friends. He took a sip of his beer and noticed a worn leather binding facing him on the bookshelf. Recognizing it, he rose and went to it.
Pulling out the old leather-bound photo album, he ran his fingers over the soft cover. At the judge’s boot camp, everything of value that they had was stored in lockers for the day they either returned to society or the police bagged their personal possessions and took back to jail.
Shep recalled Charlie saying she had only one thing she would never part with—a family photo album. He’d gotten the impression it was her only valuable possession. While she’d never let him see the photos inside it, he wasn’t surprised that she still had it.
Plopping down on her couch, he slowly leafed through the pages. There was Charlie as a baby with her mother and father. Apparently she’d been named after her father, Charles Farmington. He continued through the album until he realized there were no more photos of Charlie’s mother. Just a teenage, sad-looking Charlie and her father.
After that, there were only a few photos. One of Charlie’s father with another woman. It appeared to be a wedding photo. It had never been tacked down.
Like the wedding photo, the last photograph was also loose on its page. It was of Charlie about the same age as she was in the photo with her and her father. But in this one, she stood next to a blond girl. The other girl looked older. Neither girl appeared to be happy about having her photo taken. They stood just far enough apart that he suspected they weren’t friends. Charlie especially seemed wary of her.
He started to put the album away when another single photo fluttered to the floor. Stooping to pick it up, he was surprised to recognize a much younger version of himself. The shot had been taken at the boot camp the judge had sent them to. It was a photo of the two of them, both grinning, both sunburned and looking tired—but also happy.
Shep couldn’t help but smile at the young Charlie and Shep. Fraternizing with the opposite sex at boot camp was prohibited. But still, they had, even knowing what it could cost them because they couldn’t seem to stay away from each other. This photo alone could have gotten them kicked out.
That she’d kept the photo sent a wave of warmth through him. They’d broken the judge’s rules that day by slipping away and going skinny-dipping in the icy creek. He chuckled, remembering the foolish chance they’d taken even before they’d dressed and were heading back and asked a kid from a neighboring boot camp to take the photo with his instant snapshot camera he’d snuck in. If they had gotten caught... Where would they be now if the judge had kicked them out of the program?
And yet the judge had asked him to help Charlie as if... Shep smiled. As if he’d known about the two of them.
At the sound of a key in the lock, Shep quickly slipped the photo into the photo album and put it back where he’d gotten it. He glanced at his watch as he picked up his beer. What was Charlie doing back so soon?