Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts

with him. ‘Well,this is interesting, Deputy Todd, perhaps you could conjure something for me for the recorder.’ ”
    “Did he ask you to do magic?”
    “No.” Ripley rubbed her hands over her face. “No,” she said again. “But I . . . Damn it, he pissed me off, and I . . . I burned him.”
    “Oh, my God.” Coffee sloshed at the rim as Nell set her cup down.
    “I didn’t set him on fire or anything. I burned his wrist with my fingers.” She stared down at them now. Harmless, ordinary, maybe a little on the long side, with short, unpainted nails.
    Nothing special.
    Lethal.
    “I didn’t think about it, not consciously. All the mad went to heat and the heat went to my fingers. I haven’t needed to think about it, to worry about it, in so long. The last few months . . .”
    “Since you opened back up to help me,” Nell finished quietly. She rose at the buzz of the oven timer.
    “I don’t regret that, Nell, not for an instant. It was my choice, and I’d do it again. It’s just that it’s been harder to lock everything down again. I don’t know why—”
    Wouldn’t admit why, she thought, and ground that thought to dust. “It just is. I caused physical harm. I had to fix it, but that doesn’t make up for causing it.”
    “How did he deal with it?”
    “Like it was no big deal. Got me a glass of water, practically patted me on the head and went back to conversation like I’d done nothing more than spill some wine on the tablecloth. The man’s got cajones , I’ll give him that.”
    Nell walked back, stroked Ripley’s hair as she might have stroked a child. “You’re too hard on yourself. I can’teven count the mistakes I’ve made in the past few months, even with Mia guiding me step by step.”
    “It’s not a good time to bring her name up.” Ripley leaned over again, began to eat as if the food would ease the clenching in her stomach. “If she hadn’t brought him here—”
    “She didn’t bring him, Ripley.” The faint but unmistakable edge of impatience in Nell’s voice had Ripley hunching her shoulders. “And if she hadn’t rented him the cottage, he’d have found another, or stayed at the hotel. Did it ever occur to you that by renting him her cottage, by agreeing to talk to him, she controls the situation to an extent that she couldn’t otherwise?”
    Ripley opened her mouth, shut it again. “No, it didn’t. It should have. She never misses a trick.”
    “I’m going to talk to him, too.”
    The spoon clattered into the bowl. “That’s just a bad idea. All-round bad idea.”
    “I’ve thought about it. He’s promised Mia that he won’t use real names without permission. I’m interested in his work,” she continued, scooping cookies off the tray and onto the cooling rack. “I’d like to know more about it myself. I don’t have the same feelings for what I am as you do.”
    “I can’t tell you what to do.” But Ripley would make certain Mac didn’t push too hard, or in the wrong direction. “How does Zack feel about it?”
    “He’s left it up to me. He trusts me, respects me. That’s every bit as wonderful as knowing he loves me. I’m not worried about Dr. Booke.”
    “He’s sneakier than he looks,” Ripley muttered. “He sort of lulls you into thinking he’s like this harmless puppy dog. But he’s not.”
    “What is he?”
    “Smart, slick. Oh, he’s got those puppy-dog qualities in there, and the combination throws you off. One minute he’s looking around with that lost look, wondering where he put his head last time he took it off. And the next . . .”
    Nell sat again. “And the next?”
    “He kissed me.”
    Nell’s fingertips tapped together before she laced them. “Really?”
    “It was supposed to be like a joke. Guy has to walk you to the door like you’re coming back from prom night. Then he just sort of . . .” She trailed off as she tried to mime the way his arms had slid around her. “And you know, reeled me in.