AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When she was done in the kitchen, she came for Davie. “Let me get him ready for bed before you put him to sleep, Dada.”
It was true, he no longer napped during the day, but at seven o’clock sharp, you’d better have him nearly ready to sleep because he was out cold. They’d undressed him many times and he hadn’t flinched. And then at seven the next morning, his eyes would open and he was ready to go. His room was safe in case he got out of the crib, which he always did. He could play until a parent let him out of his room; the door had a special handle that couldn’t be opened from the inside.
“I wish he’d stay up for Kat.”
“Ain’t happening,” Luann said. “Hand him over.”
At seven o’clock, he was in his crib. Luann left, and Katrina sent Dave a text. Touchdown! I’ll see you in an hour.
With Katrina on her way home, driving in the dark through the bayou, Dave couldn’t relax, so he paced, waiting for the lights of her car to sweep the front of the house. Friday night was their night, the prelude to a weekend filled with fun and activity. Katrina would meet her friends for coffee in the morning like they did every Saturday, and then the family would go to Bayou Cottage, where he’d find some project his brother needed help with. They were finished with the barn; now he wanted to finish the attic of the cottage, transforming it into a bunk room for their daughter someday.
During the afternoon, they’d saddle up the horses and ride. Their half brother Chris came along now, eager to do what he could to help and take part in the end-of-the-day ride, where they’d further their bond.
In the year they’d known Chris, there had been an elephant in the room, and it was getting harder to ignore. He didn’t know that their mother had accused Chris’s father of rape. Dave wondered if there wasn’t some evidence in a storage locker somewhere, but his father had said Emily, or maybe her family, had refused to go to the police, so a rape kit probably hadn’t been done.
Last night, Vic had dealt the final blow when he’d admitted to his sons that Emily had taken her own life. Dave hadn’t talked to Justin about it yet, but he wondered if Chris should be told. As Chris developed a relationship with his father, Val, a little jealousy had grown in Dave. He wanted Chris for his family. He didn’t want Val to take Chris’s time away from them. The revelation might cinch it.
Waiting at the window, Dave jotted down thoughts about Val Amotte. The key was gathering evidence. What if his mother had gone to the police without her family knowing? Dave would dig for information as soon as he could. Maybe while Katrina was at the park in the morning, he’d head over to the station to see if he could find anything.
Lights moved slowly along the street in the front of the cottage, so he ran to the door to meet her. Waving, she smiled, and he could tell that she was laughing and that it delighted and amused her that she had only been gone from home for twelve hours and he was crazed.
Opening her car door, he took her briefcase. “You’re home.”
“I’m home,” she said, threading her arms around his body. “God, I missed you.”
“Come in so I can have my way with you.”
“I need to shower in the worst way. I feel like a germ magnet after that disgusting flight.”
He led her into the house, telling her about the meal prepared for her and the bottle of wine in an ice bucket, and asked questions about how her boss had taken the news.
“I even invited him to come home with me,” she said. “He’s all talk.”
“Ha! That was a power move,” he said.
They got inside, and she took her briefcase and bag from him, sticking them in the hall closet for safety.
“I’m going to check in on the baby. Do you want to lock up and I’ll meet you in the bathroom?”
He kissed her on the lips. “I’ll be right in.”
The dinner was in the oven on warm. Everything would be ready for her. He met her in the bathroom, and they undressed in silence, the longing for him in her eyes unmistakable.
The thing that had changed in their lovemaking since the first time was the pace. Every move he made was slow. At the beginning, he had barely been able to stand waiting, and the urgency of having her, of being inside her, had dictated the rush. But now, he wanted to savor every touch, every taste, every scent of her.
When it was over, he thought she had fallen asleep, she was so still. He’d turn the food off and stick it in the fridge.
“Where are you going?” she murmured.
“I’ll put your dinner away.”
“I’m starving. What time is it?”
“Almost nine thirty.”
“I’ll eat.” She rolled over and sat at the edge of the bed for a while. “God, I’m so glad to be home. I never want to leave again.”
He ran his fingers down her back. “I never want you to leave, either. I hope you won’t regret quitting your job, though.”
