When the Heart Lies - By Christina North Page 0,56

for anyone.

He looked over at Scar. “Do you have all your equipment?”

“You asked me that already. Don’t worry. I’m going to do the best I can.” She seemed a little jumpy, fiddling with her equipment. “And why would I carry all of my photography equipment into a café?”

“You’re coming from a shoot, where would your equipment be if you’re waiting for a ride home?”

She giggled. “Oops, sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“I don’t know about this,” he said. “Do you think I should go in?”

She made one of her bizarre faces. “Jackson, if I go in and don’t get anything, then you can go in some other time. If you go in first, then I go in another time, it’s gonna seem like you sent me. Shit, she’ll think we’re stalking her.”

“Good point. I’m not thinking clearly.” The case was too personal now; he needed to put his affections for Kinsley aside. He noticed Wayde’s truck turn the corner and head toward the café. “Okay, they’re here. Once she goes in, we’ll wait about ten or fifteen minutes.”

~ ~ ~

When Wayde pulled up to the café, he gave Kinsley the same stern face he always gave her and the same lecture. She didn’t need to hear the words again. She could never bring herself to put Max in jeopardy, not again.

“You know what the routine is. Just remember, Jim’s watching. I’ll pick you up in two hours.”

“I need three.”

“Two’s plenty, besides, Jim leaves at five.”

“You know, when I came here I wasn’t planning on being held prisoner.” She was docile when she spoke, but still, the statement had strong impact.

He slammed his hand down onto the steering wheel. “Stop saying that shit.”

This might be her only chance to get Max out of the house. She had to do something; things just kept getting worse. “Should I call Nick? Maybe he should take Max. Things might be different between us if I didn’t have to worry about him.” She’d try to get Wayde to trust her somehow. Bucking him had been the wrong choice when she had come back from Lakeside. If she could get Max to Nick, she would worry about herself after.

“Now you’re making some sense, but what makes you think I believe you? Ya ain’t done nothing to prove anything to me.”

If she could only keep her mouth under control long enough, but she felt so back and forth. Sometimes she wanted to … she didn’t want to think about what she wanted to do. “So, can we can talk about calling Nick?” She tried to sound insecure and obedient when she asked.

He crooked his upper lip and kept looking through the windshield. “Yeah, we’ll talk later.”

First Max, then her. That would be the way out. She slipped out of the truck and into the café without a backward glance. The small establishment was warm and inviting, with dim lighting, upholstered armchairs and side tables. There were even some ottomans scattered here and there. It was probably the nicest place in town. To her, being there was almost as good as being in her favorite bookstore, sitting in the comfy chairs and reading the beginnings of all the bestsellers. She didn’t even mind the view from the window. Orangevale was a crappy little town, but the place had character. When she scanned the street, the scenes took her to a place and time she’d only experienced in movies and books. The women scolded their children as they walked along, the men smoked cigars in front of the drugstore, and the cars and pickups were generally rusty and old. Jim spotted her right away when she walked in.

“Hey, beautiful, the usual?” Jim wasn’t a bad guy. She didn’t mind him calling her beautiful. He was just being nice unlike most of the men around town. She wondered if he ever thought about why Wayde was so controlling. He didn’t seem like the type who’d want to put anyone in harm’s way.

“Hi, Jim. Yeah, the usual.”

She got her coffee and settled into a seat at her customary table, which always had a ‘Reserved’ sign on it. She’d never asked him to put one up. He started putting the sign on the table when he noticed she always chose the same place to sit. She settled in, opened her computer, and pushed reality away. As she began to brainstorm ways to get Max home and to get away from Wayde, she started to write. Writing was the one way she could work out