California Schemin' - Kate George [5]
I liked Beau. A lot. Enough to leave my whole life behind? Probably not. It was so dang unlikely that we’d actually last. I didn’t have the best track record with relationships. Things inevitably went wrong. I didn’t want to be three thousand miles away from home when that happened.
I heard the sliding door open, and Beau came to stand beside me at the rail.
“I should have asked you first, shouldn’t I?” He slid his arm across my shoulder and pulled me to him.
“I don’t know. Probably wouldn’t have made any difference. You would have bought the cabin anyway, and I would have eventually gone home. The outcome’s the same.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “So. What are you going to do with your house in South Royalton?”
“I’ll keep it. I’ll have my own space when I go back to visit. I’ll get old Jamison to keep an eye on it for me.” Beau paused for a moment. “What if we shipped Lucky and the dogs out here?”
“I don’t know. Let me think about it.” I knew in my heart the answer was no but didn’t want to disappoint him. “I’m not sure I’m the California type.”
“Bree, there isn’t a mold that would hold you.” One bark of laughter escaped him. “You are completely unique. I’m pretty sure you could adapt to any place you wanted to.”
I smiled at him, thinking he’d put me in a difficult position. If I didn’t stay, it meant I didn’t want to try. At least to him.
“Stop looking so gloomy.” He took my right hand in both of his, turned it palm up and examined the abrasions. “It’s not as bad as all that. I bet I can make you forget all about today.”
“I bet you can.” I smiled up at him. Then a memory struck. “Do you know that the last guy who said that to me broke up with me just a few days later?”
“That dickhead, Jim?” Beau laughed. “You were better off without him. Come on. I bet I can make you forget better than he could.”
“I bet you can.”
He bent and kissed me. My fingers curled into his shirt as he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me to him. He broke off the kiss, and I took a quick step back to keep from falling over. He took my hand and led me toward the house.
“Come on, Sweet Cakes, I got something to show you.”
I laughed.
“Something new? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it all before.” I grinned up at him as he slid the sliding door closed.
He slid his hand under my chin and kissed me lightly.
“You know I can’t resist a challenge.”
“I know.” I broke free and ran down the hall, hearing his footfalls behind me. He caught me in a heartbeat, and all thoughts of the day were forgotten.
The next day I had an email from Sheriff Fogel: Ms. MacGowan, it may be quite a while before we are able to return your photo disk, but I thought you would appreciate having the pictures that were on it. I’m not able to send the photos that are pertinent to our case, but the others are attached.
I scrolled through the photos and noticed he’d made a mistake. There were two photos of the bridge before the woman fell. She was visible as a bright pink spot. I squinted. A bright pink spot flanked by a couple of dark figures. I should enlarge these. Are you out of your mind? The less you know, the better.
I shut down my laptop and stashed it under the bed. I felt kind of silly, but those pictures bothered me. I could have deleted them, but nothing is ever truly deleted. At least that’s what I’m told. I’m only tech savvy enough to be dangerous.
Beau had one of his crew take him to work in the morning so I could have the car. I drove into town to pick up chips and beer. The road into Auburn was beautiful, and the weather was perfect for driving, so instead of stopping at the store I kept going down Highway 49 past the grocery, merged west on I-80, and headed toward Sacramento. Past Auburn the valley flattens and the highway widens as the farmland gives way to residential subdivisions, industrial buildings and shopping centers. The closer I got to Sacramento, the more congested the freeway became. Cities are not my