Embracing Danger by Olivia Jaymes Page A

would say in that infuriating pompous tone he liked to use so he sounded superior.
    Arden scrubbed at her face, a sob catching in her throat. “It feels like I’ve lost her all over again. Isn’t that weird? Shouldn’t I be over this by now? I mean, I never really knew her, after all. How can I mourn a stranger?”
    “She’s not a stranger. You see her every time you look in the mirror, honey. I’ve seen a picture of her and you look just like her.”
    The resemblance had been uncanny except that her mother’s hair was a darker shade of blonde and slightly shorter.
    “That doesn’t mean I know her.”
    He couldn’t take this bullshit any longer. If she didn’t want him she could push him away but he simply couldn’t stand to hear the pain in her voice any longer. He reached out and placed his hands on her arms, pulling her close. “I think it’s actually normal that you’re going through this right now. Finding out that your mother died a violent death and then that she’s buried here. You want answers and we’re going to get them for you.”
    “I am afraid, Shane.” Her voice quivered and more tears fell down her face. “What if she’s nothing like what Daddy told me? What if she’s not a good person? If I look like her am I going to become like her?”
    Crushing her small frame to his much bigger body, he rocked her in his arms and whispered soothing words in her ear. She shook with sobs for a long time and then finally quieted, her head lying on his chest. He didn’t stop himself from stroking her golden curls and then down her spine before wiping her damp cheeks. “You are not a bad person and I’d lay odds your mother wasn’t either. But even if she was that doesn’t mean you’re going to be just like her. I look like my dad but he and I are very different people.”
    She gave him a watery smile. “You both like to fish and eat super hot wings.”
    “But he likes Hemingway and I prefer Fitzgerald. We have things in common but we’re not exactly the same. I don’t want you to let this worry consume you, baby girl. Let yourself mourn and don’t put a timetable on it. Your hopes and fears are natural and I’d be feeling the same way if I were in your shoes.”
    She stepped back and placed her hands on his chest and he was sure she could feel the thump of his heart under her palms. “I don’t think I could have done this without you.”
    Throwing caution to the wind, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and breathed in her heady scent. “You’ll never have to know because I’ll always be there if you need me.”
    Because he was a fool and an idiot who loved Arden way too much. He’d thought nothing could be worse than to be this close to her and not have her love, but he was wrong. The worst thing was not being near her at all.
    *     *     *
    “Do you want to get some lunch then?”
    They’d knocked on Susannah’s best friend’s door but there was no answer, so now they were sitting in the rental car on the main drag of the little town after visiting the gravesite. Arden was paging through a few messages on her own phone and was feeling much better than she had at the cemetery. It was amazing how cathartic a good cry could be but she felt a hundred percent better.
    She’d been too nervous to eat this morning and now found herself with a ravenous appetite. “Actually I’m starving, so that sounds good. Are we going to stay here and eat or go back into Indianapolis?”
    Shane sighed and rubbed his chin, which only drew her attention to his square jaw covered in dark stubble. He’d always hated to shave and it looked like he’d skipped it this morning.
    “That’s an excellent question. Lydia Tate wasn’t home and we don’t really know where she is. Do you want to try again today or come back tomorrow?”
    “I’d like to try again today but we can do anything you want.”
    Shane had already gone above and beyond the call of duty finding out the truth about her mother