He thought she wasn’t too enthused about the idea and wondered why, but decided not to press the issue for now. “How about your family? Parents? Siblings?”
His gut clenched when sadness fell over her face.
Moriah knew she was wading into dangerous territory with all his questions and should head back to her room, but for some reason, she couldn’t force herself to stand. Even worse, she found herself answering him. “I never really knew my dad. He was in and out of our lives a lot until he finally left for good when I was fourteen. As for my mom, sister, and nephew, they died in an accident a few months ago.”
If you called being murdered an accident.
She shook the morbid thought from her mind.
“I’m sorry, Maura. That must have been awful for you.”
The sympathy in his voice ripped through her, and she fought the tears welling up in her eyes. “If you don’t mind, I'd rather not talk about it.”
“I understand.” He waited a few moments beforecontinuing. “Both my folks were killed in a plane crash when I was seventeen. They were taking a vacation, without us kids, for their twentieth wedding anniversary. A hundred and forty-two others were on board. There were no survivors.”
Horrified, she gasped and brought her hand to her lips. “Oh, how awful. I’m so sorry.”
His mouth flattened as he shrugged and stared at the fire. “Anyway, I know how it feels to lose people close to you. Uncle Dan took legal custody of my brothers and me until we finished high school. Sean was the youngest, at fourteen, and Brian was sixteen. After graduating from high school, we each enlisted in different branches of the military—Sean in the Army and Brian in the Air Force.
“Thank God for my uncle. It took a lot of courage for a bachelor to take in three recently orphaned teenagers. Dan is my father’s brother, and at the time, he was the best thing that could happen to us. He became our rock at the worst time of our lives and made sure we lived up to our parents’ expectations. We rarely gave him any trouble, but when we did, he straightened us out really quick.
“Dan served in the military, as did my father, and neither of them took any crap from us as we were growing up. But they also made sure we alwaysknew we were loved. All in all, I think we turned out pretty darn good.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, alone in their own thoughts. Moriah’s heart rate and anxiety were still elevated after seeing KC squatting down near the woodpile. She’d panicked, thinking he would find the duffel bag, and blurted out the first thing she could think of. While he’d seemed skeptical at first, she’d been relieved when he changed the subject to something safe.
Huh... safe... will I ever feel safe again?
She doubted it.
KC shifted in his seat, drawing her attention back to him. After he had taken a sip of his coffee, he brought up the one subject she wished he hadn’t. “So, tell me about this ex-boyfriend. What’s the jerk's name?”
Caught off guard by the question, she gave the first “jerk's” name that popped into her head. “Leo Simmons.”
Oh, my God!
She couldn’t believe she’d given him the name of her sister’s drug-dealing boyfriend. How could she be so stupid? She had to end this conversation before she said something that would get her introuble. “I’m sorry, KC, but I’m getting tired. I think I’ll head up to bed and read for a while.”
When she stood, ready to run upstairs, he also got to his feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Moriah held up her hand to keep him from saying anything more. “It’s okay. However, I’d rather not talk about the past. Thanks again for dinner. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He watched as she turned and headed for the stairs. “Hey, Maura?”
Pausing, she glanced over her shoulder at him but remained silent.
Sympathy filled his eyes. “I want you to know that I think you’re doing fine. You’re a strong woman. I’m sure everything will work out for you.”
She couldn’t tell him how wrong he was, so instead, she nodded. “Thanks. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Chapter Nine
Blood.Oh, God, so much blood. Splattered across the room. On the floor, the walls, the furniture. Crimson red blood everywhere. The raw stench of death hung in the air, surrounding her like a thick, suffocating blanket.
What happened?
Momma? Susan? Nicholas?
