Silver Falls - Anne Stuart [58]
She expected Sophie to reply with another wise-crack, but her daughter’s grin had faded. “You’ll notice long before that, won’t you, Ma? If anyone starts to get twitchy you’ll see it, right?”
“Don’t let this doom and gloom atmosphere get to you, sweetie. I’m sure the crazy man is halfway to San Diego by now. Or up in Canada. He’s long gone.”
“That’s not what Sheriff Bannister says. Or Caleb. They say there’s bad stuff going on, and to be very, very careful.”
Funny, that was essentially what Stephen Henry had told her, in between his endless self-praise and egocentric reminiscences. And that’s what her instincts told her, those treacherous, irrational instincts that were pushing her in Caleb’s direction.
Her brain knew better. Caleb’s bantering and flirtation were a way to get at his brother, nothing more. It would almost be worth taking him up on his sexual offers just to see the look on his face.
Almost. She pulled the chilled bottle of chardonnay out of the wine cooler. David was waiting for her in his study, looking at something in his drawer when she walked in, and he closed it carefully, locking it.
“Something interesting in there?” she asked, taking the sofa and setting the tray down on the walnut-inlaid table.
“Nothing but confidential student material,” he said easily. “Ridiculous to lock it up in my own house but you know how touchy the lawyers can be about confidentiality. They wouldn’t let me take the records home unless I swore on the grave of my mother that I’d keep them locked at all time.”
“Then you should.” She leaned over to struggle with the wine opener.
“Here, let me do that,” David said, rising from his desk and moving around to the sofa. “It seems as if we’ve had no time together recently. We need to get out more. We could take a weekend, go up north. I know my father would be more than happy to have Sophie stay with him.”
For some reason the idea, which would have seemed like a gift from heaven a week ago, no longer sounded so appealing. “But what about my idea of taking Sophie away? Maybe I could do that first, leaving you some time to visit with your brother.” She ignored his doubtful expression. “Besides, it sounds as if the campus is in turmoil after the murder, and I’m sure you’re needed. What if he strikes again and you’re not here? I think I should just take Sophie away for a bit. You and I could go later.”
David smiled tenderly. “If you go then I’m going, too. I hate to admit it but I’ve really gotten dependent on your presence—it would feel so empty here without you. But there’s no need for you to go anywhere. I don’t think there’s going to be any more problem with the killer. He’s long gone—I sense it in my bones.”
She kept the disbelief from showing in her face. Maybe the killer was gone. She just couldn’t bring herself to believe it. “And just how reliable are your bones?”
He poured her a glass of wine, a little more generous than the one he did for himself. “Sometimes very reliable. They told me you were the woman I’d been waiting for. And they were right about that, weren’t they?”
She wanted to say something flippant, some light, sexual innuendo, but she knew David wouldn’t like it. “Absolutely,” she said, taking a sip of the icy chardonnay. She’d missed having wine with her meals.
And she had to stop mocking David’s diet. Indeed, she respected his refusal to eat or wear things that came from animals—no leather shoes for him, and Caleb’s leather jacket must have been an appalling affront to his sensitive soul. But then, it was quite clear that Caleb’s very existence was an affront to David, no matter how he tried to hide it.
“You’ll sign those papers, won’t you, Rachel?” he said, taking a cautious sip of his wine. He took her hand in his, running his thumb over the back. He had soft, delicate hands—someone who used his intellect for a living, not his body. He had a fair amount of strength in his hands despite his scholarly life, though he never used his strength when they made love. She might have even liked a little more forcefulness….
“We should