If Karen was on welfare, she was no doubt eligible for Medicaid. Amber would see she got a physical and mental work up before she left town.
If she left town.
Bakersville held nothing for her now. Angie no longer lived there, Catie was busy with her new baby. Judy could easily replace her at the shop. And Harper? Well, he’d made it clear where he stood.
Yet staying here in San Antonio didn’t feel right either. Too many memories—none of them good—haunted her.
“Come on, Mama.” She stood and took her mother’s arm. “Let’s put you to bed.” She led her to the bedroom.
“I thought you were sleeping in here.”
“The couch won’t kill me. I didn’t see any evidence of fleas or anything.”
“The bed is big. You can sleep in here too.”
“It’s not that big. The couch is fine. I washed all the sheets in the house earlier.”
She helped her mother lie down and pulled a coverlet over her body. On a whim, she leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“’Night, Mama.”
* * *
His stomach hurt like he’d been punched. A vile taste threatened in his throat.
The photos. They were like a train wreck. He didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t stop clicking on Blake’s stupid laptop until he’d gone through all twenty-six of them.
Amber masturbating. Amber with a woman. Amber with a man’s cock in her mouth.
How could he have been so wrong about this woman?
He’d wanted to believe her—believe that she’d had no knowledge of the photos ever been taken.
But no. Clearly she was an active participant in the photos. An active participant in possibly contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Granted, she wasn’t actually having sex in any of the photos, but still…
How much had she been paid? A lot, obviously. Or maybe not a lot. Maybe she liked posing.
He had no idea.
No fucking idea at all.
And damn, that bothered him. This was a woman he had some major chemistry with. A woman he liked a lot. Thought he might be able to love.
Dear Lord, I slept with her. Thank God for condoms.
He’d been right all along. She was definitely not his type.
He handed the laptop back to Blake. “That’s her all right.”
“Told you. You still want to go after her?”
He nodded. He’d promised Angie, after all. And as much as he didn’t want to, he couldn’t stand the thought of anyone involved in this getting their hands on his Amber.
Amber. Not his Amber.
“Pack some stuff. Our flight leaves in four hours. We have to get to Denver.”
* * *