“I’m not leaving because of that.” She was leaving before she fell in love with his son.
“Good.” He moved to set Aiden in the baby swing. “Then we’ll talk later to set up a time for you to come into the station. Give a formal statement about what happened to you.”
She almost tripped over her feet on the trek to the door.
Turning, she stared back at him while he gathered his keys and his wallet.
“What statement?”
“What you told me last night. Your testimony against Jeremy Covington. We can get it recorded and submitted for evidence today along with Faith Wilkerson’s.”
Oh crap.
He thought she was going to tell her story publicly.
Because he was one of those people who identified a clear line between right and wrong. And he assumed everyone else saw that line in the same way he did.
At that moment, she understood Cynthia’s decision to keep a lid on her pregnancy for as long as possible. Amy wished she could keep a lid on her news, too.
But she wouldn’t hurt Sam that way.
Not when her refusal was already going to upset him.
“I’m sorry, Sam.” She took a deep breath and hoped hewould understand. Knew that he wouldn’t. “When I confided in you last night, that was just between us.”
His coffee mug hit the counter with a thud.
“Excuse me?” His voice was deep.
She wished she had better news for him.
“I’m not ready to give a statement about what happened that night.” She watched his face fall for an instant before it hardened in resolute lines.
“Even if it would help your sister? Even if it would increase Covington’s jail time and keep a public menace behind bars?” He tilted his head slightly as he studied her, as if her decision would make more sense to him if he viewed it from another angle.
But there was more at stake here than just his case.
Her new sense of self-worth was fragile. A shell she needed to protect until she was stronger. Until she made peace with her family and with her past.
“I can’t, Sam.” Shaking her head, she wished their night together had ended on a different note. “I’m not ready to do that yet.”
She half expected him to stalk after her and demand answers about when she would be ready.
But he didn’t say a word as she walked out the door. He just let her leave, his disappointment ringing in her ears louder than any parting argument.
Chapter Fourteen
“OF ALL THE foster kids I met in my years in the system, you are the last guy I would have pegged to go into the party-planning business.” Clayton Travers’s voice boomed through Sam’s truck later that morning, delivered in stereo thanks to Bluetooth.
His former foster brother’s call wasn’t exactly unexpected since Sam had sent out the first round of electronic invitations for the Hastings’ foster family reunion. But he had a world of other things on his mind after being with Amy.
He’d thought they’d really connected last night. Turned a corner in their relationship. He’d awoken twice during the night with her arms around him and her hands roaming...
Hell. It had been damned amazing. But apparently sleeping together had been more about exorcising demons for her than about any deeper bond with Sam. Yet he’d let himself read into it. Made assumptions about it. But no matter what he’d thought, she had no intention of letting him use her story to build his case.
“Catch you at a bad time?” The disembodied voice filled Sam’s truck again, forcing him back to the present.
“Definitely not.” Sam appreciated the call, in fact. “I’m on my way to work but I’ve got an eight-week-old son and I’ve clocked about ten minutes of sleep in the last two weeks. My reaction time has suffered, to say the least.”
