“Well, after all you’ve been through… And your mother might not want you to… I guess what I’m trying to say is that…” He gave her a fervent look, and suddenly clasped her hand in his again, then immediately let go again, as if feeling that it was an impropriety. “If you were to go, I would understand, Kirsten. But I would also be very sad. Because I like you. As a colleague, I mean,” he quickly added. “And if you would go, I wouldn’t… I mean I don’t think I could… I mean it would…”
Before she could change her mind, she pressed a kiss to his lips, effectively shutting him up. The kiss went on a little longer than she had anticipated, and the sensation was wholly pleasant. So pleasant, in fact, that she wondered why they hadn’t done this before.
When they finally broke the kiss, she didn’t notice that they had been observed from the other side of the staff canteen.
Scarlett, who’d been looking for her prot?g?, couldn’t have been happier with that kiss.
Her work was done here, she thought as she turned around and left before the young couple spotted her. Her romantic heart rejoiced!
37
The shocking events of the past two days had made quite an impression on Bob. Never in the twelve months since he arrived there had something like this happened. A murder? At Happy Home? It was too horrible to contemplate. And Desmond was the killer? A man who had been entrusted with their care? What he had done was anathema to the responsibility he had taken upon himself. And frankly Bob didn’t know if he still wanted to stay there. If members of staff were going around murdering residents in their beds, just so they could get their hands on their money, then nobody was safe. Not even he, even though he wasn’t rich, like apparently Henry had been.
He felt a little guilty now, knowing what he knew, and figured that he had been too harsh on the guy. Turns out the man probably had led an interesting life, if he had managed to amass a small fortune, and keep it a secret from everybody.
He wondered now, his writer’s mind digging a little deeper, and picking on every little fragment of information he could lay his hands on, what kind of person Henry actually was. Why had he chosen to leave his money to Happy Home? Why didn’t he have a family? He realized now that nobody had really known Henry. Not really. It was all so mysterious. And could provide excellent material for a fascinating book.
He looked up when a knock sounded at the door, and was pleased to see his daughter walk in. But when he saw that she wasn’t alone, and had brought Pete along with her, he was even more pleased. Though also very surprised.
“Pete!” he cried, getting up from his chair. “Well, how about that?”
“Pete called me,” Sharon explained as she placed her purse on a chair and pulled another chair out to take a seat at the table. “Out of the blue. We hadn’t spoken for months.” She glanced up at the man she had once been engaged to, and Bob watched anxiously, his eyes shifting from Pete toSharon, wondering what was going on.
“I wanted to call you myself,” he said. “Just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.” Even though his new neighbor had told him to call, he simply hadn’t been able to do it. But he was sure glad to see the man now.
“That’s all right,” said Pete, who was a handsome man of Sharon’s age, with a slim build, and a full head of dark hair. “I should have called you, but I thought it might be awkward, so I didn’t.”
“Awkward? Nothing awkward about it,” said Bob, though admittedly the situation was beyond awkward. “So how have you been, Pete?”
“Fine,” said Pete with a smile. “I’ve missed you, though. Sharon especially, of course.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” said Sharon, and Bob didn’t know what he was hearing. Did his daughter actually tell her former fianc? that she had missed him? Now that was news to him.
“Look, I’ve misread the situation,” said Pete. “And for that I apologize.”
“No need to apologize,” said Sharon, holding up her hand. “It was my fault.” She turned to her dad. “Pete heard about what happened here. With your friend being murdered, and now the murderer also dead. And he was worried, and asked if it was all right with me if he came for a visit. So Itold him he didn’t have to ask. Just because we’re not a couple anymore doesn’t mean you and Pete can’t still be friends.”
“The thing I don’t understand,” said Bob, offering a chair to Pete, who was still standing, “is why you two broke up in the first place. I mean, you guys are so good together. Now I don’t want to pry, and I know you’ll think I’m just some nosy old busybody, but why? It’s such a waste, you know. And I’m not saying that because I already had a whole speech prepared for the wedding,” he added with a smile that was meant to disarm and get rid of the tension that he could feel in the room.
Pete darted a quick glance at Sharon, but she was staring intensely at a saltshaker that had been left on the table. She picked it up and toyed with it for a moment.