Page 44 of Running to You

“She’s staying with me for the time being.” By Sam’s tone, the matter was settled. He was less confident when he added, “If that’s all right, Eliza. It just seems like, with everything going on—”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

Jeanette’s open expression closed. “He hurt you.”

“We’re not together,” Sam said. “There’s more happening than you understand.”

Eliza added, “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“What danger? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “That’s the problem.”

The walkie-talkie squawked again.

“I have to go. You’ll be all right? Keep in touch?”

“One more thing,” Eliza said. “Do you have any idea where my mother is?”

A look of confusion crossed her face. “Should I?”

“No. I just hoped…” Eliza forced a smile. “I’ll reach out when this is over. Can you write down your phone number?”

Jeanette pulled a business card from a container on her desk and handed it over. “My cell’s on there.”

Eliza hated to leave her friend, but she didn’t want to put Jeanette in danger. And, despite what had happened between her and Sam, she wasn’t ready to leave him.

They said their goodbyes, and Sam walked Eliza to the exit, staying right beside her, a hand on the small of her back. The slight pressure there felt protective. Maybe possessive.

Eliza was glad she wouldn’t be putting Jeanette in danger, but what about Sam? He’d already been attacked once.

By staying with her, he was risking his safety. If anything happened to him, how could she live with it?

CHAPTER NINE

Sam’s stomach growled as they reached Shadow Cove. He had a fridge full of food, but he didn’t feel like cooking. Or going home to an empty house with the woman he was trying very hard not to fall for again.

Eliza had been quiet for most of the drive. He wanted to question her about what they’d learned from Jeanette, but maybe she needed to process on her own.

“Are you hungry?”

“It’s been a long time since breakfast.” She was staring out the window at the little downtown area. “I can see why you chose this place. It’s darling.”

Darling. Not the word he’d have chosen. He tried to see it through her eyes, the little souvenir shops and restaurants and galleries and boutiques along both sides of the road. Most of the businesses were in old houses—or new structures built to look like old houses—all painted in bright colors. Flower boxes overflowed with mums in shades of yellow, orange, brick-red, and white. Pumpkins and potted plants decorated steps. Trees canopied the sidewalk and main street, their leaves already showing hints of the color that would burst in a couple of weeks. Giant hydrangea bushes lined the front of a few structures, their blooms aging, beautiful in their own way. Just a couple hundred yards farther and they’d bump into the coastal road that lined the rocky shore.

Sam loved the town and the people he’d met here, workers in the restaurants he frequented, friends from church. Shadow Cove fit him a lot better than the oversize house he’d chosen. “It’s not too far from the office.”

“Which is…in Portland? Is that right?” At his nod, she said, “In the same building?”

“Yeah. My assistant works there all the time. I go in when I have meetings.”

“Do I know your assistant?” Eliza asked.

“New guy. Hired him a couple years ago. He’s good, sees things I miss.”

“You miss things?” The humor in her voice had him glancing her way. “I can’t imagine.”

That wasn’t true. She knew his flaws firsthand. He was good at what he did—finding buyers for business owners who wanted to sell and negotiating the terms—but he’d gotten better when he’d slowed down and started asking more questions rather than assuming he knew everything.