They’d need dental records to positively identify the person, though the clothing might be helpful. No one had been able to say with one hundred percent certainty what Sheila had been wearing the night she’d disappeared, though Eli had been able to remember what she’d had on the last time he’d seen her, as had Coral.
“I’m heading back now,” the coroner said.
“Me, too.” The detective dropped his cigarette butt and ground it out with his heel.
“Hope you plan to pick that up,” the coroner remarked as he walked past him. “The last thing we need is a forest fire.”
Kieran fought the urge to smile as the detective bent and picked up the cigarette butt, muttering curses under his breath as he followed the coroner. Though he would have liked to head out too, he stayed there until the last person had left, then finally, he headed back to the station.
He wished that this would be his case to work, but while he’d probably be a part of the team and would get regular updates, another detective would take the lead. Possibly even the detective who was working on Sheila’s case.
As Kieran drove back to the station, he took his time, needing the drive to quiet his mind. It was rare they had such a horrific crime in the area, and whether he wanted to admit it or not, this had shaken him a bit. At one time, something like this wouldn’t have made him blink. He would have taken it all in stride and not even thought twice about it. However, he’d become very accustomed to the slower pace of New Hope in the years he’d been there.
He found that all he wanted to do was to go see Cara. She was a light in his life these days, and just being with her brought him a sense of peace. They’d even gone running a couple of times together. That was something Toni had never been interested in. She’d always said that if he ever saw her running, it was because something was chasing her or there was a good sale on at Neiman Marcus.
It was nice that Cara enjoyed doing something that he also enjoyed. It was just one more opportunity to spend time together. Maybe, if he didn’t need to stay at the station too late, he’d see if she wanted to go into Everett and grab a bite to eat. He wasn’t up for anything more than some good conversation and a good meal, but he didn’t think Cara would mind.
Back in his office a short time later, Kieran made a few phone calls to follow up on the case. He was invited to attend the briefing the next morning, which he definitely planned to do. If the body ended up being Sheila’s, he wanted to know what was going on with the investigation.
Once it looked like he’d be out of the office at a decent hour, he called Cara, and she quickly agreed to go with him for a late dinner. They didn’t go anywhere special. He’d just wanted to go somewhere that was open late, so they weren’t rushed.
“Did your day turn out okay?” Cara asked once they’d given the waitress their order.
“Well, what happened today was just the start of an investigation.” He told her about what had transpired, knowing that he could trust her to not spread information about it.
“So you don’t know if it’s Sheila?”
“Not yet.” Kieran hesitated for a minute then said, “Can I talk to you about something else?”
When she gave him a weird look, he realized how dumb the question was. “Of course you can.”
“I’m just curious how you feel about my job.”
Her dark brows rise slightly. “Your job?”
“Yes. Some people have not-so-great feelings about cops and the risks they have to take on the job.”
“Oh.” She sat back in her chair and regarded him with her soft gray eyes. “Maybe I’d feel differently if you worked in a city with more dangerous crime. I mean, undoubtedly I’d worry more than I do at the moment, but my life has taught me that any of us can die at any time. My mom was a stay-at-home mom who homeschooled me. I mean, could you find a less dangerous life? And yet, one day, she was gone. Taken away while she was in her car, doing something most people do without ever considering it to be dangerous.”
Her gaze remained on him, but Kieran had a feeling that she was seeing something else. Someone else. Sadness took over her expression, and he wished he could do something to take it from her.
“What I learned was that we need to make the most of our days, and to let those we love know how much we care about them.” Her gaze came back into focus. “I asked my dad if he would have chosen not to love my mom, knowing that she would be taken like that, and his answer was no. He wouldn’t have given up all the days he did have with her even though she was taken away from us far too soon.”
“I was engaged before.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t say anything.
“When we first started dating, my girlfriend said she could handle my career. We ended up getting engaged, and we were just a couple of months away from the wedding when my dad was killed in the line of duty. That really shook her up, and she ended up calling everything off. I guess seeing firsthand how my dad’s death affected my mom brought home the danger of the job in a way it hadn’t occurred to her before.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Cara said, her gaze sympathetic.
“I won’t lie. It was hard. My brother had died only a short time before that, so in the space of a few months, I lost my brother, my father, and my fiancée.” He sighed. “I’m not glad that my father died the way he did, but at least his death stopped Toni and me from making a mistake. It showed her before our wedding that she couldn’t handle the danger the way she thought she could. Quite possibly we would have ended up in divorce if she’d realized that after the wedding.”
He paused then gave her a half-hearted smile before adding, “I’m not proposing marriage or anything like that, but I…like you, and I needed to know where you stood before we let our relationship get any more serious. Provided that’s what you want.”
A smile curved Cara’s lips, and her expression softened. “It is what I want.”
“Just talk to me about any concerns you might have, okay? If you’re worried about something to do with my job, tell me. I’d rather have it all out in the open between us. Communication is important, especially about something like that.”
“I promise I’ll talk to you about it.”
“Good. Thank you.” He gave her a relieved smile, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “I really wasn’t looking for a relationship, and honestly, I’m not sure why it took me so long to notice you like this, but I feel so comfortable spending time with you and getting to know you.” Reaching across the table, he covered her hand with his. “I like you a lot.”
She turned her hand over, so they were palm to palm and gave him a smile that made his heart skip a beat. “I like you a lot too.”
It wasn’t quite the L-word, but it was close, and Kieran knew it was only a matter of time before it became love for him. He’d been a bit more cautious with Cara. With Toni, they’d exchanged I love you’s within weeks of meeting each other. Despite the short time they’d been dating, he’d known that he’d loved her and had been looking forward to the life they’d have together.
Things with Cara were moving slowly, and yet he knew his emotions were as deeply engaged with her as they had been with Toni, maybe even more so because they connected in ways he never had with Toni. All he knew was that he’d almost given up on the idea of finding love again, but somehow Cara had entered his life after being on the periphery of it for a few years, and her gentle nature had drawn him in.
When the waitress reappeared with their food, Kieran reluctantly released her hand and sat back in his seat. Over their meal, he learned a bit more about her childhood and how close she’d been to her mom. How it was often just the two of them because her father had traveled a lot on business. In return, he shared about his early years growing up in New Hope Falls before moving to New York City, so they could be close to his dad’s family.
He liked the times when their world narrowed down to just the two of them, and they c
ould learn even more about each other. Though there would be plenty of people with opinions about their relationship, what was important were the moments when it was just the two of them.
It was almost ten before they headed back to New Hope. When he got back to town, he pulled into the back lane behind her building and put his Jeep in park. He jumped out and came around to the passenger side as the garage door began to rise.
He opened Cara’s door, and when she got out, she hesitated in front of him for a moment. Kieran reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand.
“May I kiss you?” he asked, his voice low.
They’d hugged before, but he hadn’t felt like they were in a position for anything more intimate. After having the conversation they’d had earlier that evening, however, their emotional closeness had led them to a place where a bit more physical intimacy felt natural.
Instead of answering, she stepped closer and lifted her face to his. Her hands moved up his arms to his shoulders as he lowered his head to brush his lips against hers. He slid his arms around her back, holding her loosely.
Their kiss was a soft and gentle press of lips, and Kieran felt their connection deepen and take a firm hold on his heart. He wanted this with her more than he’d wanted anything in a long time. When the kiss ended with a final brush of his lips against hers, he prayed that their relationship would only continue to grow and strengthen.
“Have a good night,” he said softly.
She rested her hand against his face, her touch gentle. “You too.”
His arms slid from around her waist as she stepped back toward the open garage.
“I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
“I look forward to it,” she said with a smile. “Thank you for tonight.”
“It was my pleasure.”
As the garage door began to lower, she gave him a quick wave. Kieran waited until the door was completely closed before he went around the Jeep to get back behind the wheel. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he drove home.
The day may have started out badly, but it was certainly ending on a high note. He hadn’t woken up that morning with any plan to talk to Cara about the future, but he was so glad he had. It gave him hope that he might be able to attain the family he’d thought he’d lost when Toni had called off their engagement and wedding.
It was odd that before getting to know Cara, whenever Kieran had tried to imagine being in a relationship after what had happened with Toni, he’d had a hard time picturing how it would be. Toni had been his first serious relationship, so he’d never experienced the differences of relationships with different women. All he could imagine was that another relationship would be similar to how his had been with Toni.
And yet that was totally not how things were with Cara. Though Cara had been a bit reserved and aloof at the beginning, the more time they spent together, the more at ease she became. She was so easy to be with, and Kieran hadn’t realized how much he needed that. Her being so easygoing meant that he was more relaxed too. He wasn’t constantly worried if she was okay, or if he’d chosen the wrong restaurant, or if she wouldn’t approve of the plans he’d made.
So far, she seemed to have enjoyed everything they’d done together, and that made him happy. Making her happy made him happy. And he hoped he could do that every single day.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Cara snickered as she listened to Kieran complain once again about the group they’d ended up with on their latest venture to the escape room.
“I thought we weren’t going to rely on random groups again,” she said as Kieran turned out of the parking lot onto the street.
Kieran sighed. “I know, but since we haven’t really made our relationship public, it’s kind of hard to find people to go with us.”
Cara wondered how long he wanted to wait before they made things a little more official. Lately, she’d become even more convinced that she wanted something serious with Kieran. After their conversation a couple of nights prior, she was confident that he wanted that too. But when would the time be right to let the people of New Hope Falls in on the secret of their relationship?
Since he would be more impacted than her by people finding out, Cara was leaving that decision up to him. She wasn’t going to pressure him. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to make sure that things were a go for them before sharing the news with others, especially his mom.
She was planning another trip to see her dad in a couple of days, and she intended to tell him all about Kieran and what had developed between them since her previous visit. It was hard to believe that her dad was still hanging in there despite the cancer ravaging his body, but he was, and she was beyond grateful for that.
“How do you feel about meeting me at Norma’s for dinner tomorrow night?”
Cara turned to look at him, wishing the streetlights did a better job of illuminating his expression. Had she said part of her internal monologue out loud? “What?”
He shifted both hands to the top of the steering wheel and gave her a quick glance. “Well, unless you’d rather not.”
She reached out and rested her hand on his arm, giving his forearm a light squeeze. “No, I would like that very much.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure, and I’ve been sure for a couple of weeks now.”
“So, you want to make it official?”
Cara laughed softly. “New Hope Falls official?
“Yes, and that’s even more important than Facebook official.” He moved his hand from the wheel and took hold of hers, interlacing their fingers. “Though we could make it official there too.”
“I don’t have Facebook, though I suppose I could sign up for it if you want it to be official on social media as well.”
Kieran lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “I don’t need that at all, babe.”
Babe. The endearment warmed her, and she tightened her fingers around his. “I’d set up an account just for you, though. I probably won’t ever post on it, but I’d set one up.”
“I’ve had my account for ages, but I really don’t post much. I think my mom just likes to have a way to share silly animal videos with me, and occasionally tag me in pictures.” He looked over at her. “You didn’t have any friends you wanted to keep in contact with after you moved?”
And those were the questions that put her in the uncomfortable position of having to lie as long as she didn’t tell him the whole truth about her previous life. “As a kid, I didn’t have a whole lot of friends since my mom homeschooled me, and even though I had friends in the ballet company, when I left it, we lost touch, since, to be honest, ballet was pretty much all we had in common.”
That probably would have been true even if she’d left the company of her own volition instead of them thinking she’d died as a result of a horrific car bombing.
“You’re probably one of the smart ones who hasn’t let social media take over your life.”
“I think one could find a happy medium, though. It shouldn’t have to be all or nothing.”
“True, and to be honest, it’s been good for my mom. She’s been able to keep in touch with old friends and family in New York as well as her friends and family here.”
“I should confess that I do have Instagram, though I rarely post on it either. I just like to look at pretty pictures. And at this time of year, I follow accounts that post lots of holiday stuff.”
“That’s one platform I have never used,” Kieran said.
For the first time since her “death,” Cara considered setting up a Facebook account because she found herself wanting to forge connections with people. Perhaps she’d surprise him with a friend request later that night. Then maybe after their dinner at Norma’s where they made their relationship New Hope Falls official, they could also make it Facebook official.
Making that decision brought a smile to her face, and excitement filled her at the thought of people knowing that she and Kie
ran were a couple. That they belonged together. Now that they were committed to each other, she wanted everyone to know.
When Kieran pulled up behind her garage, Cara didn’t want their evening to end. However, they both had to work the next morning, and she knew his week had been long already, and it was only half over. Though he hadn’t gone into detail about the body that was found, she knew the case was stressing him out. She’d figured that it wasn’t her place to know all the details of what his work entailed, but rather to give him a place to escape it if he wanted or needed to.
He might have griped about their group at the Escape Room, but she knew the main goal of the evening had been for him to get a break from what was going on at work. That he wanted her to be part of that break made her feel really good. She wanted to be the person he went to when he needed an escape from the ugliness and stresses of his job.
After turning off the Jeep, he got out and came around to her door. She slid out of the car to stand in front of him, her heart thudding in her chest as he reached to take her into his arms. She slid her hands up behind his neck as she tilted her head back to meet his kiss.
His strong hands on her back made her feel protected while the gentle way he kissed her made her feel connected…cared for. She didn’t want this to end. Not the feeling of being in his arms nor the time they’d spent together.
When their kiss ended, Kieran rested his forehead against hers for a moment as he took a deep breath. “I’d better go.”
She tightened her hands briefly at the back of his neck before letting go. “Thank you for another lovely evening.”
He laughed. “Even though I was complaining about our group earlier?”
“Even though.” She let her hand rest briefly on his cheek, his stubble prickly against her palm. “As long as I’m spending time with you, I don’t mind what we’re doing.”
“I agree, which is why I’m looking forward to dinner with you at Norma’s tomorrow night.”
Because of Him: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 2) Page 16
