Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,27
at further risk.” I shook my head again, forcing myself to pull my hand out from underneath his. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Okay,” he said, sitting back in his seat. “We’ll leave it be.”
Maybe so, but I couldn’t help thinking that he only intended to leave it be for now.
Standing, he picked up his plate and walked over to the sink. “Let’s agree to check in with each other at some point today. Where are you going to get started?”
I stood too, pursing my lips. “Ewing. I’m thinking I might go see Thelma at the nursing home. She knows a lot about Bart’s favors. I think I found the house fire she mentioned in my research. A lot of innocent people died. If we can link Bart to that one, we might have something. Maybe she’ll tell me more this time because I have names and dates.”
Thelma was my friend Greta’s grandmother, and she’d proven a wealth of information about all things Drum related. Particularly the Drummonds.
“Just be careful what you allude to.” Since Hank didn’t have a dishwasher, Marco plugged the sink and filled it with soap and water. “We don’t want to tip anyone off to what you’re up to.”
“Thelma won’t tell anyone.”
“Probably not, but there’s a chance other people might be listening.” He held out his hand, reaching for my plate.
“You sound paranoid,” I said, handing it to him with a weak smile. “But so am I. I’ll be careful.”
He washed a plate and handed it to me to dry, I took it without even thinking. We’d spent enough time together to have a comfortable routine when we were at Hank’s—he preferred washing and I liked to put the dishes away.
“If you’re planning on bringing Pam’s daughter a casserole today,” he said, scrubbing the next plate, “you might want to run to the Dollar General to pick up some ingredients that are more Drum friendly.”
I laughed. “You think the good people of Drum won’t like cauliflower rice?”
He shot me a grin over his shoulder. “Not likely. I love you, and even I won’t eat it.” He froze for a second before turning back to the sink. “You know what I meant.”
Still, some of the awkwardness from the night before had leaked back in. My heart stuttered. Marco’s affection for me went deeper than friendship, and however reluctant I was to admit it, I knew the same was true of my feelings for him. But if we brought it out into the open, we’d have to do something about it, and I still wasn’t ready. So I ignored his profession, even as it burned inside of me.
“Message received,” I said in a teasing tone. “No casseroles with cauliflower rice for you or the citizens of Drum.”
He handed me a plate, his ornery grin back. “Trust me. We all thank you.”
We finished up the dirty dishes, and he helped me decide on what to bring Pam’s daughter and Sandy from the ladies club. Chicken and rice casserole for Ashlynn, and brownies for Sandy. I had all the ingredients for both and wouldn’t have to run into town to get anything.
Marco pulled the drain stopper and let the water out of the sink, then cast a glance at the clock on the wall. “I need to get going, but if you’re still in Ewing this afternoon, give me a call. I have an interview there at one.” He hesitated, sounding unsure of himself. “Maybe we can do a late lunch.”
“I’d like that,” I said, hating that we were suddenly tiptoeing around each other. A week ago we would have just planned it and been done with it.
He dried his hands with a towel, his biceps reacting to the simple movement in a way that attracted my eyes. Then he turned to me, putting his hands on my upper arms as he held my gaze with a serious expression. “Be careful, Carly. Very careful. Try not to look too suspicious.”
“Okay.”
He hesitated again, acting like he wanted to give me a hug, but instead he dropped his hold and headed for the front door.
I followed, my heart heavy. Hank was in his chair, still petting his kitten. I realized too late I hadn’t been careful about letting Letty out. She bolted over the threshold, straight for the bird feeder. Birds went flying, some squawking in protest.
“Look what you did,” Hank grumbled, then pushed out a sigh.
“She’s a hellcat, Hank,” Marco said with a grin as he opened his car door.