All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy [13]
"If it's about Emily, you owe it to her to find out."
"All right, I'll come," she said finally. The sooner they got to the bottom of this mystery the better. Then she could get back to her life. And Cole could get back to his.
Chapter 3
Come with me. What devil had possessed Cole to utter those words? He didn't want to spend time with Natalie. He still couldn't believe she'd been living in San Francisco the past few years. Had she come here in the hope of a reconciliation? If she had, why hadn't she tried to contact him? If she hadn't come back because of him, then she should have stayed away.
He looked into his rearview mirror and saw Natalie's car behind his. The paint on the hood of her Ford Taurus was peeling, reminding him that she was a woman who had never had much in the way of material things. She'd always struggled to keep her head above water, and it appeared she was still struggling. But she was a doctor now. She'd made it, just like she said she would, and he couldn't help feeling a grudging admiration for that success. Not that he intended to tell her that. In fact, the less personal information they shared the better.
He shouldn't have asked her to go with him to the book signing. He didn't need her. He was a trained journalist. He knew how to sniff out a story. Unfortunately, this story struck too close to home.
He was still reeling from the cover copy he'd read and what Natalie had told him about the story line.
How had this happened? How had his sister's life come to be the plot of someone's novel? This must have been the book his cousin Cindy had called about the day before. She must have seen something in the review that reminded her of Emily. How did the author know so much about his sister? He had to have had an inside source. Who?
Still pondering that question, Cole pulled into a parking space down the street from the bookstore and got out of the car. He waited on the sidewalk as Natalie put money in the parking meter. Her red hair was a bright splash of color against the gray day. She'd changed out of her sweats and put on a cream-colored sweater, a pair of dark brown slacks and shoes with two-inch heels. She'd always loved a good pair of high heels. And he'd always loved her legs in a good pair of high heels. His body tightened at the unwanted thought, and he hated his physical reaction to her. The connection between them should have died with Emily and all that had happened. But one look into those brilliant blue eyes, and he'd felt sucked back in. He couldn't let that happen. Natalie was his past. She had no place in his present or his future.
A moment later, Natalie joined him in front of the bookstore where the double doors were held open by a line of people spilling onto the sidewalk.
"Is this for the signing?" she asked in amazement.
"It looks that way." They moved around to the back of the line, not talking as conversation swirled around them. Cole's uneasiness grew as the line lengthened. He wasn't much of a reader, but he'd been in the media long enough to know that most book events were not standing-room-only attractions, especially for an author no one had ever heard about before.
"This guy must have a hell of a publicist," he grumbled. Checking his watch, he realized it was almost noon. The line would probably move quickly once the signing began. He needed to think about what he wanted to say. He could hardly confront Malone in front of all these people. He'd never expected it to be this crowded.
"Oh, no!" Natalie said.
What now? He followed her gaze to the slightly overweight woman crossing the street. Of average height, she had short dark blond hair that just touched her shoulders. She wore black pants and a matching jacket. A heavy black purse hung from one shoulder and she carried a copy of the novel in her hand. Dark glasses covered her eyes, but he had the distinct feeling he knew her.
"Laura," Natalie muttered, putting her hand on his arm. "I think that's Laura Hart. She's