Copper Lake Confidential - By Marilyn Pappano Page 0,29

They’re not generally known for being soft touches.”

“Yes,” she agreed with that breathiness in her voice again. “Stubborn. That’s exactly what I was going to say.”

Chapter 5

Darkness had fallen, their meals were pleasant memories and Scooter was snoring softly beside the table in the grass. With a cool breeze off the river and the faint sound of music from down the street, Stephen couldn’t think of anything that could improve the evening.

Then his gaze settled on Macy, and he immediately amended that thought.

She was more relaxed tonight than he’d ever seen her. Not saying much since they’d met for the first time yesterday, but it seemed a lot longer. A long time, but nowhere near long enough. He knew a lot about her but wanted to know more. Everything. Including how she felt. How she tasted.

Slowly she stirred the straw in her tea, the few remaining ice cubes clinking against the sweaty glass. “Tell me again all the places you’ve lived.”

“Why?”

“I’m looking for a place, remember?”

If she asked his opinion, he would put in his vote for staying in Copper Lake. He liked it. He’d come with the intention of spending four months and hadn’t found any reason yet to leave.

Macy could be a damn good reason to stay if only she would, too.

Ignoring the thought, he began ticking off names on his fingers. “Los Angeles and El Cajon, California. Tucson and Flagstaff, Arizona. Los Alamos and Roswell, New Mexico. Baton Rouge and Slidell, Louisiana. Austin and Plano, Texas. I went to college in Albuquerque and vet school in Stillwater, Oklahoma, then worked in Cheyenne, Wyoming, before coming here.”

“Wow, you ran out of fingers. I feel like a slacker.” She held up her own slender, pink-tipped fingers. “Charleston, Columbia and Copper Lake.”

“Did you ever want to live a lot of places?”

Lowering her fingers, she began twisting the glass on its sodden napkin. “No. I always wanted...stability.” The way she said the word made it seem it wasn’t exactly the one she wanted. “I told you, four generations of Irelands have lived in the same house. I like that sense of home.”

“So why not find a place in Charleston?”

Her smile wavered as she sat back in the chair, hands folded in her lap. “Maybe I will. Not in Charleston itself, but Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island.”

“You’re close to your family, so it’s not exactly them you want to get away from, is it?”

“I love my family. I couldn’t have survived the last year and a half without them. They’ve done so much for me. But now I just need...want a little space.” Her head tilted to one side. “Does that sound awful?”

“Not at all. I love my mom and dad, but you don’t see me settling in Alabama or California to be near them.”

“But you did come to Copper Lake to be near your sister.” She gestured. “I’m assuming she was here first.”

“Yep. She got a job here six or eight years ago. She’s a lab geek for the Copper Lake Police Department. Her name’s Marnie Robinson.”

“Different last name. Married?”

“Different fathers.”

“What is she like?”

He laughed, and Scooter twitched at the sound. Stretching to the side, Stephen rubbed his spine until he settled in again, then rested both hands on the table. “Marnie is different. Best older sister I could ask for, but...she’s got bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and microbiology, a master’s in forensic sciences and forensic toxicology, and she’s getting a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology. She’s very logical, very rational, very unemotional.”

Macy feigned surprise. “Your sister is Dr. Spock?”

The comparison made him laugh, not because it was original but because it wasn’t. Marnie often put him in mind of Star Trek and Dr. Spock. “Yeah, that’s her. She doesn’t eat in restaurants because who knows what microscopic spores have been passed along in the handling of the food. She won’t eat birthday cake where someone’s blown out the candles because of all the germs in the human mouth. She handles body parts and fluids all day but doesn’t like to touch people. I’m pretty sure when she kisses, she sanitizes her mouth afterward, and of course, it’s got to be a minimal sharing of spit.”

If she kissed. She hadn’t had a serious relationship that he could remember. She was socially awkward and emotionally stunted and truly never seemed to need the simple warmth of human companionship. And yet she had a date for Saturday night’s party. He really wasn’t insulting his sister when he couldn’t imagine the guy