Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
“Where are the children?” she asked, not finding any sign of Rolex or Cheddar as Conrad led her from the porch to the kitchen.
“Cheddar is sleeping on my bed, and I last spotted Rolex sitting on my dresser, watching him. It was creepy,” he said at the same time she smiled and rasped, “So adorable.”
Chuckling, he released her, but only to help her sit upon a barstool. Such a gentlemanly thing to do, but also far too smolder-y for his own good. And if smolder-y wasn’t a word, it should be.
“You are the adorable one.” He gifted her with a soft smile before tweaking her chin and striding to the refrigerator.
She sucked in a breath. “Am I about to sample your famous cinnamon sugar french toast?”
“You are…not.” He withdrew two kinds of cheese, butter and peach jam from the fridge.
She pouted as he set the items on the counter.
He retrieved bread from the box and said, “You’re getting an almost as amazing grilled cheese sandwich.”
Okay. All right. Not a bad substitute. “You aren’t going to eat with me?” she asked when he poured a single glass of sweet tea and passed it her way.
“I ate all of yesterday’s diner leftovers as soon as I got home.”
She cut off a dreamy whimper. He considered the cottage his home?
Conrad added a generous dollop of butter to her cast iron skillet. “I spoke with the deputy again, but this time I did it in his office, with his files present. He remembered seeing the hearse but he didn’t recall noticing anything out of the ordinary.”
“And you believed him?”
“For now, I have no reason to doubt him.” As the butter sizzled, he added a slice of bread and grated creamy cheese on top. “I spoke with a second deputy on duty that day, just in case he’s the one with the crush on you, but he’s in his fifties and soon to celebrate his thirty-sixth wedding anniversary.”
“As if that would stop him,” she teased with a prim tone. A delicious scent filled her kitchen, and she breathed deep.
Conrad flashed her a smile as he slathered the second piece of bread with the jam and placed it in the skillet. “Before the deputies, I was with Adaline Crema.”
The woman ticketed the day of Jane’s accident.
“She promised to answer any questions I had,” Conrad continued, “as long as Cheddar and I drove her on her errands today. Which began at four o’clock in the morning, by the way. She wanted to provide us both with a decent meal before we got started so we’d grow a little fat on our bones.”
“Your bones are perfect just as they are,” she told him, then flushed again. “Cheddar’s too.”
He shifted his focus away from the food and onto her. “Perfect?”
Her stomach grumbled again, saving her from having to think up an answer.
“I better finish this before you get hangry,” he said, flipping the sandwich over to brown the other side.
She opened her mouth to protest. Lily Ladling’s granddaughter would never, ever, never get hangry, but that might skirt the edge of flirting. This late-night snack was already too intimate for comfort.
Focus on the case. “Where did you take Ms. Crema?” A woman known for her commanding disposition.
At first, Jane thought his heavy sigh would be her only answer. “Everywhere,” he finally said. “Absolutely everywhere.”
She snickered, and he laughed outright. It was the rustiest, most beautiful sound she’d ever heard, and she ached to hear it again and again and again until his funny bone no longer sounded neglected.
Was Fiona right? Did this man have feelings for her or not?
What was Jane going to do about it, if so?
She swallowed a mouthful of tea, almost choking as it threatened to go down the wrong pipe. “So. Did you learn anything during all this driving around?”
“I did. I learned the feisty bat has a granddaughter named Valerie, who happens to be a little younger than me, is more beautiful than I can ever deserve, and is a super smart general practitioner. But I don’t have to worry, because Miss Valerie is nothing like the monsters at Aurelian Hills Medical Clinic.”
AHMC, the very clinic Jane visited when sick. And yes, two of the three bodies she’d discovered here at the cemetery had occurred at the hand of an AHMC employee. She’d considered searching for a new doctor, but dang it, they were the only place in town in-network with her insurance, and there was no way she was paying out-of-network rates.
Conrad scooped the sandwich out of the skillet with a spatula, turned off the stove and set the plate before her.
“So, um, are you going to call the beautiful Valerie?” she asked, picking at the crust of her sandwich as she waited for it to cool.
Coming around the counter, he sat in the barrel back chair beside her. He arched a brow. “Should I?”