Again, Grandma took her time, but her expression wasn’t that enigmatic mask.There was something morenakedthere, which made Jill realize how much her grandmother kept so secretly under wraps.
I don’t know, Grandma signed.
And the worst part was, Jill believed she didn’t.
Chapter Twenty
Honor’s Edge Investigations Office
Court had beena killer the rest of the week.Perhaps made worse because they all knew with every passing day, Cal was getting closer and closer to having to get on the stand.
Not that Sam was eager to watch Nate on the stand either, but she thought he was just… in a better place to handle the stress of it.And so was Landon.Even Aly.
Sure, Vanderbilt wasn’t going to be hard on the brothers on the stand—or harder than recounting everything required.But the defense…
Sam really didn’t want to think about Cal being cross-examined.Not when so much of this rested on his memory having been faulty, and then not.Not when Vanderbilt was building this case that should be airtight—but every time the cross-examination went through, Sam felt less sure.
But Saturday dawned, giving them all a reprieve.Well, at least until dinner tonight.And maybe telling Bo about dinner this morning wasn’t exactly going to be reprieve.
But at least they weren’t in court.
Sam rolled over in bed, unsurprised to find it empty.Nate would be out in her little kitchenette making coffee or trying to find the perfect setting on her toaster, or if any more snow had fallen last night, outside shoveling the walk.
He’d slept here every night since that first one.They’d even gone by his rental cabin and picked up a few things for him to keep here.That might have freaked her out a little, but she knew what he was doing.And maybe if court didn’t weigh on them all so heavy, she would have argued with him about it.But if playing bodyguard all because someone had made one little break-in attempt made him happy while a trial dug up the worst moments of his childhood, she figured she’d let it slide.
For now.Maybe it was kind of nice to wake up to someone—especially someone who made coffee before she even fully woke up—but they were hardly jumping from zero to sixty forgood.Once the trial was over, there was going to have to be some sensible, adult choices made on the…relationshipfront.
God, she hated that word.But there was no denying that was what they were doing.
And she was happy to procrastinate awhat the fuck are we doingtalk untilafterBenjamin Bennet was put behind bars for good.
She got out of bed, tossed on a sweatshirt and some socks against the chill.On a big yawn, she stepped out of her room and into the living room.
Nate was in the kitchen.He was just too big for this small space, but he moved around it like that didn’t bother him at all.His hair was getting longer, long enough it was sleep tousled.Or maybe tousled from her hands last night.Or both.
“Morning,” she offered.
He looked over his shoulder at her.Held up a piece of perfectly toasted bread.“I have fixed your toaster.”
“So handy.”
He grinned at her.Oh man, the crash when all thishappywent away was going to be a killer, and yet she was having a hard time doing the sensible thing of hardening her heart against it.
Instead, she slid onto the stool at the counter, watched him move around her kitchenette andwaiton her.It was the weirdest, best damn thing.
“Bo’s supposed to be here at ten.”Because if she piled on enoughreality, maybe she wouldn’t feel so happy.“I’m going to show him how to do the job I hired him for.I’m going to look through the answers he brought me.And then you’ll invite him to dinner at your family ranch due to your uncanny resemblance.”
“Iwill?”
“Yep.Because it’s your family, and it’s going to mean more coming from you.”
Nate didn’t argue with her, and she couldn’t quite read what he felt about that, but he studied her.“Are you going to prewarn him about Glenda being there?”
Sam kept going back and forth about that in the privacy of her own head, but something about the careful way Nate asked that question made her decision for her.“I think you’ll trust him a lot more when he shows up and you realize he doesn’t know her.”
“And if he does?”
“Then you can say I told you so.And I’ll say,Oh my God, Nate, you were right!You win!”
