laptop to cruise the Amazon.com site for a while, hoping to occupy her mind with something else.
Colin phoned. Emily smiled as his photo popped up on the screen of her cell phone.
“Hello, Colin.”
“Hey, Babe, how’s your day going?”
“I took Isabel out to the storage unit.”
“How’d that go? Did you girls find anything useful?”
“Actually, yes. We found a printout of a background check Evan had done on Delia McCall.”
“Why is that important?”
“Delia Banderas McCall.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“I didn’t tell you about the note I found, did I?” she asked sheepishly.
“Note? What note?”
“I found a note Evan had left me in the safe deposit box. I hadn’t seen it before when I first checked the box.”
“When exactly did you find this note?” The suspicious tone of his voice told her he wasn’t pleased she had kept this from him.
“Right before you left. Are you sure I didn’t mention it to you?” She tried to shift the onus on him. After all, she hadn’t been sure she could trust him until she had spoken to his old friend, Ernie, the night of the party at Isabel’s, which put her suspicions about Colin to rest. Then later that same night, Colin had professed his love for her. That wouldn’t have been the time to tell him about the note. Then he was leaving for San Francisco early the next morning. She knew she was making excuses, but she hoped he’d let it go.
“No, I’d remember something like that.” His voice was flat and almost accusatory. “Tell me now.”
“Please don’t be cross with me. I’m sorry. It must have slipped my mind. I have had a few other things jostling for front position lately.” She waited for his response, which took a painful few seconds for him to formulate.
“All right. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. I’d hate to think you were keeping something from me on purpose.”
“I promise, from now on I’ll be totally upfront with you, whenever I can.”
Colin choked out a sarcastic snicker. “What do you mean whenever you can?”
“Look, Colin. I want to be honest with you about everything. But in my line of work, as in yours, there will always be things we can’t divulge.” She hoped he would understand. She also hoped he wouldn’t notice that the note had nothing to do with her work.
“Keeping something confidential is one thing. Hiding something is another entirely. I need to know I can trust you, Emily.”
It felt peculiar having the trust-table turned on her. “Okay then. You can’t see me, but I’m raising my right hand to take an oath. I promise from here on out, not to hide anything from you. I want you to trust me, to be confident that I love you and I have our best interest as a couple at heart.”
“I can live with that.”
“I want to hear you say it too. Raise your right hand.”
Colin repeated her promise, word for word, in his deep, rich voice, and she enjoyed hearing every syllable of it. As for the hand, well, he didn’t say.
“Now tell me about the note,” he insisted.
CHAPTER 7
When Emily arrived at Isabel’s, she was mixing together a big green salad. Alex was out on the patio trying a new recipe for grilled pizza.
“Grilled pizza?” Emily was a little dubious. She peeked out the window at him standing before the hot grill. “Has he ever grilled pizza before?”
“No. It was a recipe he found in a magazine and wanted to try it.” Isabel brought the large glass salad bowl from the kitchen island to the table. “I got a text from Maggie and Molly this afternoon.”
“Me too, with a photo. They looked like they were having fun.”
“It’s good to see Maggie smiling again, what with her son having been arrested and all.” Isabel opened the refrigerator and hunted for something.
“Not to mention the scumbag she was engaged to,” Emily added, noticing four glasses on the table. “Why are there four glasses?”
“Alex didn’t know you were coming. He invited Peter.” Isabel grabbed a few bottles of dressing from the refrigerator door. “I guess Camille and Jonathan had some function to go to.”
“I see.” Emily hadn’t told Isabel about Peter having asked her out.
“Is that a problem?” Isabel grabbed a stack of dinner plates from the cabinet.
“No, why should it be?”
“Just the way you said, I see.”
“No problem, but—”
“But what?” Isabel stopped what she was doing and focused on Emily’s reply.