“You can stay on the couch.” She pointed at the small love seat she’d put in the corner.
“Okay. This town is kind of nice. And the motel is quaint. It’s not the high-powered real estate life you’re used to, but you seem to have settled in.” His gaze met hers. “You’ve changed, and it suits you. Oh, and by the way, I love your pies. When did you learn to make those?”
“You’ve tasted my pies?”
“Yeah. If you don’t want someone nibbling the crust, maybe you shouldn’t leave them in the windowsill. Sorry if I ruined the pie, but I was starving.”
CHAPTER19
Cole lingered in the Beachcomber motel parking lot with Sam. They’d driven their separate cars home from the marina where his dad kept the sailboat and had arrived at the same time. Now, they were standing a safe distance of four feet from each other halfway in between their rooms.
Cole was surprised at how much he’d enjoyed her company that day and how reluctant he was to say good night. It was dark now, and the sound of the waves, the stars twinkling in the sky, and the slight floral scent in the air made it feel like they were at the tail end of a date, the part of the date where he would typically kiss the girl. But this was no date, and kissing Sam would probably be something he regretted later on.
“Today was really fun. I haven’t seen my mom this happy in a while.” Sam’s eyes twinkled in the moonlight, and Cole resisted the urge to step closer.
“My dad seems happy too. I never pictured him to be the type to make chocolates.” Cole shrugged. “I guess if he likes doing it…”
Sam laughed, and Cole took a step backward. Yep, he could definitely get caught up in that laugh. Best to put some distance between them. A noise over at the motel caught his attention, and he glanced over. All the windows were dark, which was unusual. Didn’t Gina usually leave a light on?
Sam followed his gaze. “The motel looks kind of weird. Maybe Gina lingered downtown after the celebration?”
That must have been it, except there was that weird noise again.
“Do you hear voices from over there?” Cole asked.
They were silent for a few beats, both straining to listen, but there were no voices.
“I thought I heard something. Maybe just the waves.” Sam yawned.
“Well, I guess we should get some sleep.” Cole started toward his door.
“I’m beat. Sailing takes a lot out of you.” Sam paused at her door and looked over at him. “Good night.”
“Night.”
Cole brushed his teeth, wondering if Sam was brushing hers at the same time on the other side of the wall. What did she wear to bed? Did she sleep on her side or her back? Cole pushed those thoughts from his mind and got into bed.
As he drifted off, he felt content, happy even. He hadn’t felt that way in a long time.
He hadn’t seen his father this happy since before his mom got sick. Apparently, all his worry had been for nothing. He had been overreacting about Deena, just like Audrey had suggested.
He turned on his side and looked out through the gap in the curtains, toward the motel lobby. Maybe he wasn’t overreacting about his suspicions that something odd was going on at the motel.
* * *
Sam turned down the bedsheets and fluffed her pillow. It felt strange that Cole was just on the other side of the wall, probably going through a similar bedtime routine. She’d been surprised at how much she’d enjoyed his company at the town celebration and also later when they’d gone sailing.
And tonight, when they’d lingered outside their motel room doors, she thought that maybe he… well, it didn’t matter what she’d thought. They seemed to be getting along, and that was good, especially since it appeared that their parents planned to be together for a long time.
She had to admit that Chuck really did seem to care for her mother. She hadn’t seen any evidence that he was trying to take over the business, either, which made the fact that she still had his wallet tucked away among the underwear in her drawer weigh heavily. She had to return that as soon as possible.
So what if she’d feel guilty for years? Confessing to her mother and Chuck about it would serve no useful purpose. Better to slip it between the desk and wall and let them think it had fallen down in there.
Good thing she didn’t hire the investigator that worked for her law firm to dig into Chuck in that system that used the Social Security numbers. That would’ve been a huge invasion of privacy. It was embarrassing that she was even considering going that far. What had she been thinking?
She glanced over at her laptop. She had several windows open to articles she’d dug up last night while researching Chuck’s name on the internet. She hadn’t had a chance to look through all of them yet. And she wasn’t going to, either.
She closed the laptop and shoved it into the laptop bag.
