The Perfect Bride - By Kerry Connor Page 0,62
reasons why, if he is the killer.”
“He might be if he was completely out of control, the way the killer has to be.”
“Did he seem that unhinged to you?”
“No,” Adam admitted, not particularly happy about it. It would be easier if he could believe Zack obviously was their killer. It would mean this nightmare was finally over, that Jillian was out of danger. But even when Zack was clearly angry, Adam hadn’t sensed any real danger or threat of violence from him.
“I’d been wondering what really happened to Ray’s wife,” Jillian said quietly. “Guess now I know.”
“If Zack was telling the truth.”
“True,” Jillian agreed. “Though his story does make sense. It explains why he came back when he doesn’t really like the job and the librarian in town told me he always wanted to leave the area.”
“Well, he won’t have to worry about the job for long,” Adam said grimly.
Jillian glanced up at him. “So you’re going to fire him?”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
“And Ray?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. It might be for the best, though I don’t know if it’s fair to him.”
Before Jillian could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps reached them. A few seconds later, Meredith stepped into the foyer.
As soon as she spotted them she came to an abrupt stop. “Oh,” she exhaled in surprise. “I was just coming to check on you, Jillian.”
Adam didn’t miss the way her eyes slid between him and Jillian, a contemplative—and apprehensive—gleam in them. He doubted Zack had a chance to tell her that he’d found the two of them together. Could she sense something had changed between them, or did she just still have the same suspicions she’d had earlier?
“I’m sure the two of you have a lot of work to do,” Adam said. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to check on a situation in the basement.”
Meredith’s eyebrows raised. “Everything all right?”
Fighting a twinge of guilt at keeping the truth from her, he worked up a smile. “Nothing to worry about from the sounds of it.”
He met Jillian’s eyes. She nodded shortly before turning toward Meredith. “Should we finally check out the ballroom?” she asked with a smile.
Adam watched them go for a moment, fighting the unease rising in his gut. He wouldn’t be gone long, and they should be safe together. But as they disappeared from view, it took everything he had not to follow. The thought of anything happening to either one of them was unimaginable. He’d let Meredith be hurt far too much for one lifetime. And Jillian... He’d just found her.
He couldn’t let anything happen to either one of them.
More importantly, he wasn’t going to.
* * *
DINNER WAS EVEN more uncomfortable than usual, tension lying thick and heavy over the dining room. At the head of the table, Adam sat as grim and remote as a statue, seemingly deep in thought. Even Meredith made no attempt at conversation, leaving the meal to pass in uneasy silence.
Jillian figured the storm was the main reason for it. The dining room curtains were drawn tight, but they couldn’t completely block out the sound of the raging wind and the lash of the rain on the glass. The noises were loud in the relative quiet of the room, making it impossible to forget that nature was raging all around them.
Still, she had to wonder if that was the only reason, or if Zack had told anyone how he’d found her and Adam together.
Rosie avoided looking at anyone as she served the meal, a heavy frown on her rounded face. But she’d been the same way that morning when Jillian had seen her at breakfast, her mood edgy and distracted, so Jillian didn’t know if she could read anything new into the woman’s behavior.
As for Grace...
Even as she thought it, Jillian suddenly sensed someone was watching her.
She looked up and met Grace’s eyes.
It wasn’t the first time Jillian had caught the woman looking at her. Grace’s cool gaze was steady and appraising, her face as stoic as ever. After a moment, she slowly lowered her attention back to her plate.
But not before Jillian caught the subtle change in her expression, the knowing gleam in her eye.
A sudden chill rolled through her from both the knowledge and the look she’d seen in the woman’s stare.
She knows.
It was all Jillian could do not to reflexively reach out and straighten her clothes further, fully aware it would only make things look worse. There wasn’t a doubt in her