Today's Reading
She walked away, straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin, like she was preparing herself for battle. Because that's what the investigation was going to be. A battle to find the arsonist before he struck again. They both knew the odds were that he would. They'd have to alert every church in the vicinity.
On that cheerful thought, he turned to his smirking partner, who'd snuck up on him. "What?"
"Why don't you just ask her out already?"
So much for Andrew minding his own business. But Nathan heard the friendliness behind the mild teasing. "Why would I do that?"
"Because you want to?"
He really did, but... "I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"Both."
Andrew's smirk turned into a frown, but Nathan ignored him and headed for his Bucar—a Dodge Charger. While he liked the vehicle, he much preferred his Rhino XT—despite the ribbing he got from fellow officers for having such an expensive ride. But his brother-in-law, Kip Hart, was a personal injury lawyer and had presented the vehicle to him as his Christmas present. Nate tried to refuse, but the pleading look on his sister Carly's face had him caving—with the caveat that when his twelve-year-old nephew was old enough to drive, Nathan could gift it back.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Carly said.
And now, Nathan had two more years of driving the cool SUV before he had to figure something out. In the meantime, he had an arsonist to find and a woman to put out of his head.
As soon as he climbed into the driver's seat, his phone rang, and he answered it with a quick swipe of the screen before he registered the name. Rats. "Hey."
"Wait, is this a recording?" Eli, Nathan's eldest brother and all-around know-it-all, said.
"Stuff it, bro. I've got reports to write. What's up?"
"Ah, you didn't check your caller ID before answering, huh?"
"Eli..."
"I know you avoid me until you just can't anymore."
"Only because you annoy me." Saying the words without heat didn't make them any less true. Lately, his brother's calls were about to send him over the edge. Changing his number was starting to look like a good option.
"Why do you think that is, Natty?"
His brother the psychiatrist. Always trying to psychoanalyze him. Did Eli truly not understand how obnoxious he was? For a guy who spent his days counseling people and helping them navigate their relationships, Eli refused to let go of the one topic Nathan didn't want to talk about. And that one topic was driving them further apart than they'd already been.
"It's Nathan." Natty was in the past when life was fun and innocent. But Eli would call him whatever name Eli wanted to call him because he was Eli. And Eli only cared about himself. Always had, always would. "Tell me what you want or I'm hanging up."
"Fine," Eli said, "but one day you're going to need to stop taking your anger at yourself out on others. Come to counseling with me, Nathan. Please? We can go together. It's way past time you forgave yourself for—"
Nathan hung up.
Ten seconds later, his phone buzzed again and he let it go to voicemail. Through the driver's window, he could see Jesslyn standing beside her car three spaces down, on the phone. He watched her, wishing once more things could be different. That he could be different. That his past was different. She lifted her head and caught his eye before he could look away, freezing him on the spot. He lifted his hand in what he hoped was a casual wave and drove out of the parking lot.
CHAPTER TWO
Jesslyn had planned to leave the scene and go grab some rest before writing her report. Instead, she stayed put, reluctant to leave. She wanted answers and she didn't have them. Not that staying here was going to make them magically appear, but still... she stayed.
The crime scene photographer was gone, the evidence was collected and on its way to the lab, and she was the only one left—not counting the two firefighters taking first shift on watching for any residual sparks that might reignite the blaze. A chill swept through her that had nothing to do with the dropping temperatures, as her uniform kept her nice and toasty.
This excerpt ends on page 22 of the paperback edition.
Monday we begin the book The Queen's Cook by Tessa Afshar.
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