AllFreeNovel
Share Us
By mutual agreement, she prepared breakfast. They each looked after their own lunches, and Roland cooked dinner. She’d thoroughly enjoyed the casseroles he’d puttogether and one day, he’d grilled steaks on the back porch. It had been a wonderful meal.
But today, she felt restless. So she’d gone through the pantry and when she’d discovered she had all the necessary ingredients, she decided to whip a batch of chocolate chip cookies. She was in the process of putting them in the oven when she glanced up and saw Roland leaning in the doorway.
There was just something about him--that stance, the way his jeans molded to his thighs, how his shirt showed the strength in his hard chest—that brought her up short. He was one fine-looking man.
And now, he had a full-grown beard. It was neatly trimmed and made him look even more handsome, enhancing those penetrating dark eyes and highlighting those incredible lips.
“You’re baking?”
As if he didn’t know… She had a feeling that Roland knew exactly what she was doing, twenty-four hours a day. Even when she was in her room reading, he would occasionally knock on the door just to check to see if she was alright.
He never let her go outside alone during the day, but they would take a walk together every afternoon to the lake and back. She looked forward to those times. This was a part of Pennsylvania she’d never visited before. It was full of lakes, with waterfalls, cliffs and mountains. It was a perfect place to stay for anyone wanting to get back to nature.
Roland had told her that if they’d brought hiking boots, they could have climbed up the side of the waterfall. Butsince they hadn’t, they had to be satisfied with walking the trail around the lake.
“Yes. I’m baking. Chocolate chip cookies. You like them?”
“I’d like any cookies you bake.”
That was good to know.“You talk to any of the guys today?” she asked, although she knew he had.
“Yes. Stonewall said Joy doesn’t like it that the FBI isn’t sharing information with her.”
Lennox shrugged. “They never do when they take over an investigation. They don’t know the meaning of teamwork.”
“You would think they’d learned their lesson after that federal case involving Murphy Erickson a few years ago,” Roland said, sliding onto the stool at the breakfast bar.
Lennox had heard about that particular case—it had happened before she’d moved to Charlottesville. Erickson had been the leader of an organized crime ring that had been found guilty of ‘arranging’ more than thirty deaths. He’d even put a hit on some of the jurors, after they’d found him guilty in a court of law. Margo had been one of those jurors.
“Yes, you’d think they’d be a little smarter now. Can you imagine what would have happened if Dr. Randi Fuller hadn’t assisted on the case?” she said.
Randi was a psychic investigator who’d been dismissed by the Feds, but had been called in by the local authorities. In the end, the FBI had admitted they would not have solved the case if it hadn’t been for Dr. Fuller’s help.
Most people were unaware that law enforcement agencies around the country often called in psychics to assistwhen they’d reached a dead end in their investigations. Even before assisting in the Erickson case, Dr. Fuller had garnered national attention when she’d helped rescue a US senator just before his execution by ISIS.
Roland grinned. “I don’t want to think about what would have happened to Margo and Striker if she hadn’t. And, of course, she’s Dr. Randi Fuller Patterson. Quasar loves it that she’s wearing his name.”
She smiled. “I’m sure. And I bet she made a believer of some people. Those skeptics…” Lennox said, shaking her head.
“I was one of them. And she certainly made a believer of me,” he replied.
Since the conversation was going so well, Lennox decided to ask Roland the question she needed an answer for. “How much longer will we be here?” Surely, he’d noticed that the two of them sharing a one-bedroom cottage was not a good thing.
Case in point--at that moment, the room got silent and he caught her glance. She quickly turned to check the cookies, just for something to do. But when the hot air from the oven hit her in the face, she realized her mistake. The last thing she needed was more heat.
Closing the oven door, she glanced back at Roland and saw him watching her. She wished he wouldn’t do that. Her stomach was fluttering all over the place. She moved to stare out the window. It was mid-day and appeared cloudy. That meant it would probably rain later.
She turned back to him. He still hadn’t answered her. “Roland?” There was something about the way he waslooking at her that unnerved her. His gaze just wasn’t fixed on her, it seemed all into her.
“Do you not like it here?” he asked.
“Yes, but…” Her words trailed off. She couldn’t tell him what she honestly thought.
“But what?”
Roland was an astute man. Very observant. He had to feel the chemistry they had, and realize that this was not the time nor the place. But then, would it really matter if they went somewhere else? They’d still be residing under the same roof.
“But nothing.” Deciding to change the subject, she said, “What’s for dinner? Another casserole?” Not that she was complaining. She liked everything he’d prepared so far.
