Free All That Lies Broken (Ashmore's Folly Book 2) by Lindsey Forrest Page B

through the filtered light from the kitchen annex that he looked weary and drained. He had his suit jacket slung over his shoulder; his tie was loosened and the top shirt button undone. He leaned down to brush a kiss across her lips, and surely he felt her lack of response. She avoided his questioning look, but, when he motioned to her to move over, she shifted so that he could sit down beside her.
    They sat shoulder to shoulder, as they had so many times in their past, and for a few minutes, he respected her need for distance, letting the silence lie between them. Laura felt his body touching hers, warm and secure, inviting her to lean on him and lay all her problems in his hands. She wanted to howl. He was her problem, he and his disastrous marriage, he and the wife he should have divorced years ago, long before she ever came back.
    She’d wondered how they would cope with the real world – now, without warning, the real world was upon them.
    She noticed a small paper bag at his feet next to his briefcase. “What’s that?”
    Richard glanced over at her. “Coffee.”
    That startled her into a normal response. “Coffee? Why?”
    “Because all you have in your kitchen is instant.” She heard the amusement in his voice. “I’ll keep some over here so I can have a decent cup of coffee.”
    She turned to look at him, and her cheek brushed against his shoulder. “Is that a hint?”
    He turned towards her, and now she saw a faint smile through the dusk. He put his hand warm and flat against her back. “Could be. It’s been a long day.”
    His touch soothed away some of her tension. She buried her face in her hands. “Mine too.”
    “I know. Lucy left me a message. I’m sorry, Laura.”
    At his words, her shoulders lost their rigidity, and she felt her anger start to seep away. She still couldn’t look at him. “Di subpoenaed me to testify about you and Francie.”
    “Tom faxed me the notice last Friday.”
    So he wasn’t trying to hide that he’d known about it the whole weekend. If she was keeping secrets from him, he was keeping just as many from her. “Then you knew before—” she swallowed hard— “you came back Friday night.”
    He was silent for a moment, and then she heard him sigh. “I see what’s going on. Yes, I did, but – you can’t seriously think that’s why I came back to you.”
    She lifted her face from her hands. “Richard—”
    “No,” he interrupted, “stop whatever you’re thinking. You know better than that, Laura. You know me better than that. You can’t possibly—”
    “Do not even think about calling me dumb.”
    He sounded irritated. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I was going to say that I hope you have more faith in yourself – and in me – than to think I’d make love to you to keep you from testifying. Forget the subpoena, Laura. Nothing’s going to happen. I don’t know what Diana’s game is, but I can promise you that, as of this evening, she has bigger problems than this.”
    Laura turned her head to look at him. “Like what?”
    “That’s what I came over here to tell you about.” Richard swatted at the air. “Look,” he said, and his voice gentled, “can we go inside? The mosquitoes are out in force, and I want some coffee. I’ve been on the go since six this morning. We’ll talk about the subpoena, but let’s do it in some comfort.”
    She said lowly, “I don’t want to testify. This isn’t fair of Di. She shouldn’t expect me to do this.”
    “You are not going to. Let’s get inside.”
    He rose to his feet and then extended his hand to help her up, but, instead of letting her go, he pulled her loosely against him until she dropped her resistance and put her arms around his waist. Max threw himself against Richard’s legs in ecstasy at the return of his hero.
    “Traitor cat,” Laura said with mock resentment. “I feed him, and he fawns all over you.”
    Richard looked down at her levelly. “You are a goose,” he said.