He stopped with his hand at the doorknob. “Yes. Why?”
“You told Matthew and Rylla that, but I thought you told me when you found me that you were scared when you heard the gunshots andthensaw someone shooting at my house.”
He bristled. “So? Everything happened quickly, things get jumbled up.”
“I know, Luke. I was there too. I'm just trying to get a picture in my head of exactly what happened because it might help me figure out who might shoot up my house while I was inside it.”
“I'm doing the best I can to remember things correctly,” he said defensively. “I'm not deliberately giving conflicting stories.”
“I'm not suggesting you're lying, I don’t know why you’re implying that.”
Luke said nothing, just unlocked her door, then turned to help her through it. Although he tried to hide it his face was more sad than angry.
She’d hurt him.
She truly hadn’t meant to imply that he wasn't being truthful, but she could see why perhaps Luke had interpreted it that way. He’d just been accused of murder, then Matthew and Rylla had made it clear they were suspicious of him, and now she doubted what he had said happened.
“Luke …”
“It’s fine. Let’s get you off that leg.”
He went to take her arm and help her inside, but she stopped him. “It’s not fine. I truly didn’t mean to give you the impression I thought you were lying. I don’t. You saved my life. I could not be more grateful that you came to see me this morning. I'm sorry, Luke. Hurting you is the last thing I want to do right now.” She looked at him anxiously, worried she had soured things between them already. His presence helped to calm her, and she knew that she was as serious about wanting to see if something could develop between them as he was.
Luke relaxed, his eyes cleared, and his trademark smile returned to his face. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. “It’s okay, Summer. We’re both just a little edgy.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her nose, then in one smooth move scooped her up into his arms, careful to place his arm past her knees to keep them from bending.
Momentarily startled, Summer wrapped her arms around his neck. Then she relaxed, she hadn’t been carried like this since her husband, but being in Luke’s arms felt different. With Carlton it had always been about a display of power. He was the big strong man who could pick her up and cart her around at will. At the time she had liked that, she’d been young, and she had loved how big and strong her husband had been. But now she wanted more. She wanted a real connection, safety and security, and love. In Luke’s arms she felt that connection, she felt safe, she felt secure, and maybe one day she would feel love.
They lingered in front of the lounge room door. The smell of bleach was strong. Once the crime scene unit had finished in there someone had thoroughly cleaned it, getting rid of the blood and vomit, the glass shards, and the rest of the mess.
Deliberately, Luke kept moving. “I’ll make you something to eat. Do you want to take a shower?”
She did, but she was too tired to manage it right now, and she wasn't sure her injured leg could cope with standing on it for the amount of time it would take her to feel clean. “No, I'm not really hungry either.”
“You need to eat,” he said simply. In her family room, he set her down on the sofa, then fussed about stacking pillows to prop up her leg, then pillows to prop behind her so she was comfortable. He grabbed an Afghan from the neighboring couch and spread it over her, then just stood there and stared at her.
Summer wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure what.
It looked like Luke felt the same way.
He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and said, “I’ll get you settled, then I’ll leave you to get some rest.”
She caught his hand when he turned to go to her kitchen. “No, stay, please.” She took a deep breath and admitted, “I'm scared to stay here on my own tonight. Will you stay with me?”
“Of course.” He looked and sounded relieved. “I thought you’d never ask.”
She let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding and smiled. As she watched Luke bustle about her kitchen, preparing something for her to eat and taking care of her, she couldn’t remember why it was that she had sworn off dating for so long.
No, she thought. She knew the reason. She just hadn’t met the right man.
February 20th
8:23 A.M.
“All right,” Heidi included them all in her grim stare, “do we think Luke Sleigh is the Nursery Rhyme Killer?”
Jonathon wanted to say no, wanted to say there was no possible way that he could have murdered five people. He wanted to say they'd been wrong and everything that suggested it could be Luke was merely a coincidence.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t.