The Secrets of Rosa Lee by Jodi Thomas Page B

drill if anyone decided to test for oil below.” She studied him. “You think someone was trying to tell the committee something this morning? Or trying to hurt one of you?”
    â€œIt could have been an accident. Kids may have foundthe bit and thought it would be great for shattering windows.” He stacked the empty plates and stood. “Maybe they didn’t take the time to notice people were sitting at a table on the other side of the glass.”
    She followed, sipping her beer as he scraped the dishes. “Maybe someone wanted to stop the committee. I don’t know who else serves on the panel with you, but the Rogers sisters must have been frightened half to death. They’re tough old birds, but I’m not sure they’ll be interested in going back into that house. To tell the truth I’m surprised it didn’t fall down around the committee this morning.”
    Micah dried his hands. “It bothers me to think that someone could have been hurt. Really hurt.”
    She put her hand on his shoulder. “It could’ve been you.” Her words were soft against his ear.
    He took a long breath and for once in his life decided not to think, but to act. In half a turn his body brushed against hers and he lowered his mouth toward her lips.
    She slowly molded against him, as smooth flowing as liquid passion. Then, when they were so close their breaths mingled, she smiled. A smile that told him she could read his thoughts.
    â€œI think it’s time we call it a night,” she said as she stepped away.
    She walked across the kitchen. “You know,” she said in that low voice of hers, “I was wrong about you, Mr. Parker. You’re not safe.”
    He didn’t know if he should apologize or try again. It seemed a lifetime since he’d known the rules—if he’d ever known them.
    He thought it best to say good-night. “Thanks for the steak.”
    â€œAnytime,” she answered. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Parker.” The look she gave him said so much more.
    â€œNice to meet you,” he echoed, thinking she was a blast of fresh air in the cellar he’d been living in for years.

CHAPTER TEN
    L ora Whitman folded her napkin and tried to give at least the appearance of paying attention to her mother. She should have pretended sleep longer and cut the time at the breakfast table in half. Working for her father was easy compared to having to live with her mother. Luckily, the house was big enough for Lora to have her own wing on the third floor with a study, a bedroom and a small workout area. Her mother rarely ventured into her rooms, claiming the stairs were too much for her.
    â€œI can’t imagine how frightened you were, dear. I told everyone how you just couldn’t face talking about the accident yesterday. Not even to me.” Isadore Whitman finished her coffee. “Of course, you were so worried about that Professor Dickerson from the college who had a heart attack that you rode with the first car leaving for Wichita Falls to check on her.” Isadore stopped long enough to spread her lipstick just wider than her lip line. Her own private answer to BOTOX.
    Trying to keep her voice calm, Lora corrected, “First, Mother, it wasn’t an accident. A ten-pound drill bit almost the size of a football isn’t something that just flies into a window. Second, Sidney Dickerson didn’t have a heart attack. We feared she had, but the hospital checked her out.”
    Lora knew she was wasting her time. Isadore lived in a fairy-tale world. Oh, not with giants and dragons, but the kind of make-believe with parties and parades. In Isadore’s fairyland, streets could be named Candy Lane just because she bought the only house on the block and daughters grew up and married well. And never came back home to live.
    â€œMorning, ladies.” Calvin Whitman’s booming voice entered the room a few seconds before he did. A