of course—couldn’t be counted on to be there in a pinch.
Just one person had Amber’s best interests at heart: Amber.
She could tolerate having dinner with Haley and Matt or a cup of coffee with Kara Spencer, her longtime friend and sometime therapist. Beyond that, Amber wasn’t interested. She couldn’t afford to be.
On her arrival at the barbecue, her eyebrows rose as she noted the number of cars in front of Matt and Haley’s large house. And the moment she walked into the living room, Amber realized she’d been set up. Not only that, but it was a setup operating on two fronts.
“Hi, Amber!”
Trapped.
Too late to turn and head back out the door.
“Hello, Caleb,” Amber greeted. “Funny seeing you here.”
She cast her eyes toward her cousin, who merely smiled sweetly as she presented a tray of almost depleted hors d’oeuvres to Cliff Baines, Reverend Cliff Baines, pastor of Haley’s church.
A single guy and the preacher. Great, Amber thought. Just great. Maybe instead of eating dessert, they could just get married.
“Why don’t you replenish that,” Amber suggested, as Haley came around with the tray. “I’ll help you,” Amber said, lacing her voice with sweetness.
Haley wasn’t fooled, though, as she followed Amber into her kitchen.
“You wouldn’t hurt a pregnant lady,” Haley said, as the swinging door closed behind the two of them. Outside on the deck, under an awning that protected him from the rain starting to fall, Matt waved.
Amber waved at Matt, but glared at her cousin. “I’m deciding,” she said. She glanced at Haley’s stomach. “You’re not even showing yet.”
Haley lifted her hands to frame her face. “But Matt says I have a glow.”
“You’re glowing, all right. This was no spur-of-the-moment cookout, Haley. You know I hate setups.”
“What setup? It’s just a few friends.”
“Uh-huh,” Amber said. “Your pastor and his wife to hound me about not going to church, and that puppy-dog-eyed policeman.”
“Cliff and Nancy are friends. They aren’t going to hound you or anybody else. And I’d hardly call Caleb puppy-dog-eyed.”
Amber reached for and munched on a celery stick filled with cream cheese and pimento. “He reminds me of the Ebb character from Classic TV.”
Haley shook her head. “You do need to get out more. Satellite TV is addling your brain. And for the record, Caleb is also a friend. You’re family. What’s wrong with having friends and family over for dinner?”
Amber knew she wouldn’t win this round with Haley, but she had a trump card. “When you’re eight months pregnant and craving a lemon tart or a honey pecan roll, I’m going to be all sold out.”
“That’s mean,” Haley said, but she laughed.
Matt came in, greeted Amber with a “Hey, cuz” as he leaned in to buss her on the cheek, then carried a bowl of something to the dining room.
Haley moved to follow him. “Come on. Let’s get these out to everyone.”
The doorbell rang as they reentered the living room.
“I’ll get it,” Matt said.
A moment later he opened the door to Paul Evans and Marnie Shepherd.
Amber saw the pair and let out a shaky breath. Is that what Marnie had meant in the rest room at Sunshine and Rainbows? That Amber didn’t have to fear Paul because Marnie knew him to be an honorable man. Her man? They’d never really talked about personal stuff, so Amber had no way of knowing whether Marnie was seeing the police chief.
“Did you make these?” Caleb asked.
“Huh?”
Amber took her eyes off the pair at the door, turning her attention to Caleb, who was enjoying a corn fritter. “No. Haley did. Or maybe Matt.”
“They’re probably not as good as yours.”
Amber looked at Caleb as if seeing him for the first time. “Excuse me.” She fled to the kitchen.
Caleb looked from her retreating back to his boss at the front door.
“He followed me home, can I keep him?” Marnie said with a smile, indicating the police chief.
“Come on in,” Matt invited.
She knew it was a little crazy but Amber had to talk to someone right now. From the wall phone in the kitchen, she called Kara—and got an answering machine.
She slammed the phone down, then tried a little deep breathing. If she kept jumping at shadows like this she’d be a basket case, not to mention right back where she’d been three years ago when she first came home to Wayside.
Leaning against the sink, she considered her options. She could escape out the sliding glass doors and go home, or she could face her fears and walk out into that living room.
The choice, to some degree, was taken away from her when the kitchen door swung open and in walked Wayside, Oregon’s Police Chief Paul Evans.
Amber gripped the edge of the sink behind her. She assessed all of him. Tonight he didn’t wear the uniform that marked him as an officer of the law. Gone also were the gun, club and cuffs. He stood at the door in jeans, work boots and a chambray shirt. He looked more like a cowboy than a cop.
He’s just a man, Amber coached herself. You’re in a safe place. He’s just a man.
“Hello, Miss Montgomery. I waited at the day care the other day to have a word with you, but I got a call and had to leave.”
She didn’t say anything.
He took three steps forward. Amber forced herself not to flinch.
He must have noticed something because his eyes narrowed a bit, and the smile on his mouth fell a notch, not enough that any casual observer would even notice. But Amber wasn’t a casual observer. Fight-or-flight kicked in. Since he now blocked both exits, it would have to be fight.
“I don’t see how that concerns me.” She deliberately aimed for belligerent and defensive.
“I want to apologize,” he said, glancing at her arm. “About the other night. I didn’t mean to grab you or to leave a bruise.”
“The complaint letters are already mailed.” That wasn’t true, but he didn’t have to know it.
“I mistook you for one of the Revelers.”
“So I look seventy years old?”
A smile tilted the corners of his mouth and a dimple showed.
