Kingdom Come by Jane Jensen Page A

up the door a crack and letting more of that incredible smell out.
    â€œJa. And beans and cornbread.”
    â€œWould it please you to eat with us?” he asked, turning to me. He looked a little nervous.
    â€œUh . . .” I was taken by surprise. Lord, I’d kill for a hot, home-cooked meal, especially one that smelled like that, but I knew I should refuse. I checked my watch. I’d probably work until at least ten tonight. I had to get back to the station and see what Grady had found out from his rounds. And there were a number of things I wanted to check based on what we’d learned about Jessica Travis.
    Then again, I did have to eat sometime. Right?
    â€œIf you, uh, really don’t mind. I haven’t had a chance to stop today. Thank you.”
    â€œI’ll put coffee on too.”
    He went to the cupboard and got out some cups. As he did, he looked over at me and met my eyes. He held them, hand paused on the cupboard door. Then he smiled. It was a deliberate smile, a tentative outreach of a smile, warm and personal and a bit timid, like he wasn’t sure how it would be received.
    It was received like manna from heaven, like the first drops of rain after a killing drought. Something hot and joyful rushed through me like a scouring tide.
    Dear God. I smiled back and made myself look away.
    â€”
    The conversation was stilted over dinner because Martha sort of
lurked
in a way that made me self-conscious. I asked about their childhood and learned they’d both grown up in the area, of course. Their parents’ farm was only two miles away. There were ten children in their family. Martha was the third and Ezra the fifth. I talked a little about New York but neither of them seemed to be able to relate to it. A lot of the meal was spent in silence. Thefood was hearty and tasty and just what I needed. I wished I had someone to cook for me like that at home. I rarely made the effort. Even when I had time, it seemed pointless to make a meal for one.
    I made a successful bid not to stare at Ezra. In fact, it seemed like the two of us looked everywhere but at each other. Dessert was pound cake with berry syrup and fresh whipped cream—meaning an extra hour at the police gym this week. Totally worth it. Just as we finished, I got a text from Grady. It gave me an excuse to eat and run.
    Ezra walked me to the front door and bid me good night. He stood silhouetted in the doorway as I walked to the road. Backlit like that, his body was long and rangy. He stood leaning against the doorjamb with his arms folded on his chest and one boot hooked up on his other calf like some Clint Eastwood poster. Damn it. The girls I’d once hung out with in the city would be spontaneously birthing kittens over this guy.
    â€œCome back again,” he said wryly as I stumbled my way to the car.
    â€œI’d like that,” I stupidly replied. My tongue felt like it had swollen to three times its size, and I mumbled.
Ahlahtha
. Idiot.
    Holy cow
, I mused as I drove down Grimlace Lane. I had no freaking idea what this thing with Ezra was. No clue. Or rather, I knew exactly what it was, only it couldn’t be that. I had to be wrong.

CHAPTER 6
    What She Hid
    We caught up with Charlie Bender, LeeAnn Travis’s ex-boyfriend, the next morning. He worked at the John Deere store near Mount Joy. The bright green of his button-down uniform shirt looked honest and reliable. Charlie’s face, less so. He carried an extra eighty pounds and his face was weathered past his fifty years—by cigarettes, probably. There was a wary set to his eyes. He wasn’t thrilled to be called off the showroom floor for a quiet conversation outside, especially in the cold gloom of an overcast winter’s day.
    â€œJessica Travis? Yeah, I know her. So?”
    â€œYou were seeing her for a time?” I asked casually.
    â€œMe?” He reacted with a huff of surprise. “Jessica? Nah! I dated her