by Gail Sattler
Long fingers wrapped over the top of her menu and gently lowered it down until all she could see were Brent’s deep-brown eyes melting into her soul.
“Are you sure?”
She cleared her throat. “No, I’m not sure. I don’t know why you’d want to celebrate that you have to spend hundreds of dollars for an update to your accounting program, or that you’ll probably have to reenter the last week’s worth of data. Or…”
His voice deepened. “Or?”
She gulped. “Or why you’d want to celebrate in a place like this.” At her words, she ducked her head then jerked it a little to the right, pointing his attention to the couple in the booth beside them who were doing more smooching than eating.
“Because this place was highly recommended.”
She didn’t want to ask if whoever had recommended it happened to mention it wasn’t a place to eat and run. This was a romantic hideaway.
Although, from the look of Brent sitting back in his chair, casually sipping his coffee and reading the description of every item on the menu, he didn’t appear to be in much of a hurry.
“Don’t you have to get back to work?”
“I texted Luke. I told him we were having a meeting and to cover for me. I’ll do extra hours for him next time he wants some time off.”
Annie scanned the area. It was rather early for suppertime, and while there were enough people there, none of the other couples were conducting business. At least not the corporate kind.
“Relax.” Brent smiled. “I just thought we could talk and get to know each other better.”
The waiter returned to take their orders, sparing her an immediate need to reply.
But when he left, Brent leaned forward, clasped his hands together, and rested them on the table. “So tell me about yourself. Something I don’t already know. Who’s your favorite author?”
She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. This one was easy. She smiled. “T. J. Zereth.”
His smile faltered. “Really? I would never have pegged you for a murder mystery reader.”
Annie’s smile widened. “But he’s so great. There’s always a mini-mystery within the big mystery, and it just keeps you hooked until the last page. Zella and I always fight over his new releases, about who gets to read it first. The last one, neither of us could wait, so we both bought a copy.”
“Yeah, I enjoyed the last one, too. Any idea when his next one comes out?”
She didn’t know, but they found plenty to discuss about the last book, barely pausing when the waiter arrived with their meals. While they ate, Annie learned as much about Brent as he learned about her, and she found it very interesting that they enjoyed many of the same movies and television shows.
She wanted the evening to last forever, except the staff was starting to give them not-so-subtle hints that they wanted to seat others at their table.
Brent’s cheeks darkened when he glanced at his watch. It wasn’t often she’d seen a man blush, and Annie found the trait quite endearing. Despite the fact that the night hadn’t been a date, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed herself so much in a man’s company.
What made the evening even less like a date was when instead of driving her home, he drove her back to Mufford Brake and Muffler so she could pick up her car and drive herself home. To her surprise, when she got out of his car, he turned it off and stood beside her while she fished in her purse for her keys in the otherwise empty lot.
“You don’t need to watch me get in the car. I do this every night,” she said as she flicked through her key ring for her car key and inserted it in the lock. “I hope you’re not going to follow me home and spend another night sleeping in my front yard. I’ll be fine. I’ve booby-trapped every window, including the patio door, with a board, fishhooks, and marbles. I also have my cell phone fully charged and I’m going to sleep with it in the pocket of my pajamas, besides having the house phone beside the bed in easy reach. You don’t have to follow me home. I’ll be fine.”
He broke out into a wide grin. “Fishhooks and marbles? That’s pretty creative. I’m impressed. However, that’s not the reason I’m walking you to the car and waiting for you to get in safely. What I’m really doing is waiting to ask if you would like to accompany me to church on Sunday.”
She pulled the door open but didn’t get in. “Church?” If he’d asked her for a real date, she didn’t know what she would have done. Church she could handle. Annie flicked her hand in the air in her best imitation of a Southern belle, even though she’d never been farther east than Arizona. “Why, sir,”—she attempted to mimic a sweet Southern drawl—“are y’all askin’ me for a date?”
Brent shuffled closer. Almost in slow motion, his hands raised until he rested them on her shoulders. “No. This was a date. And now it’s over, so I’m going to say good night.”
Annie’s heart pounded. This hadn’t been a date. This had been…What had it been? They’d talked, they’d had fun, they’d shared some laughs, and she’d had a good time. He’d even insisted on paying for her meal.
She didn’t know what to think. Unlike Luke, Brent trusted her accounting skills, and he was the only one who truly believed she didn’t steal Cindy’s car. Setting up his tent for the night to watch for her safety had been valiant, even if it was over the top.
Still, she appreciated his concerns for her safety. Brent was a nice man, and she couldn’t help but like him.
All thoughts disintegrated as she felt either Brent’s thumb or a finger under her chin, nudging it up. “Good night, Annie,” he muttered, and his lips covered hers. Not a peck. A real kiss. Like the kind that ended a real date. Tender, gentle, but insistent. Like he meant it.
His hands drifted down to her back, pressing her closer. Her brain turned to mush as she slid her hands around his waist and kissed him back, sinking into the heat of his kiss and the warmth of his embrace.
The blare of a horn from a car driving by jolted them apart, making her realize what they’d been doing—in the middle of the parking lot, no less.
Before he could say anything, she got into her car and yanked the door shut. She didn’t look up at him as she inserted the key in the ignition and drove off without giving the engine any time to warm up.
She didn’t want to think about what had just happened.
But she knew she was going to anyway.
Chapter 10
Brent picked up the wastebasket under Luke’s desk and dumped the contents into the green garbage bag then walked to his own desk to do the same.
He didn’t mind working every second Saturday; he loved his job. But as a co-owner, regardless of the number of employees, his joy didn’t extend to cleaning the office. He didn’t mind wearing his jeans to work and washing cars, but he drew the line at washing the floor.
Although, one day when he became a parent, he knew he would appreciate it if his son’s boss gave him a day off to be with his family for a special day.
Brent had made a joint decision with Luke to cancel the contract with the janitorial service and give Evan the job of cleaning the office on Saturdays for extra money. It had been a good financial decision as well, because paying Evan by the hour was cheaper than paying a flat fee to the cleaning service. It was even cheaper on days Evan wasn’t working, because both he and Luke had to do it for free. Like today.
While he was taking out the garbage, he wondered what Annie was doing.
Thinking of her, he looked into the parking lot, empty except for his own car.
He couldn’t believe he’d kissed her in the parking lot. Yet at the same time, he couldn’t have not kissed her.
His eyes drifted shut as he emptied Walter’s wastebasket. She was a good kisser. He felt the warm fuzzies wash over him as if he were a teenager, making him want to kiss her again. He would see her again tomorrow, only this time he wouldn’t kiss her in the church parking lot. He’d wait until he took her home. After he took her out for lunch.
The rustle of papers made him look at the floor. If he hadn’t been holding the garbage bag in one hand and a wastebasket in the other, he would have smacked himself in the head. He’d been so lost daydreaming, he’d missed the garbage bag and dumped Walter’s trash on the floor.
He hunkered down to gather the strewn papers, frowning that most of the things in Walter’s wastebasket should have been put through the shredder.
He picked up a couple of second pages of invoices that were blank except for the customer’s name and address and the total invoice amount. For this, he would have to speak to Walter. He shook his head as he picked up a receipt. After scanning receipts, the originals were supposed to go into a box to be stored for whatever length of time the IRS required. Brent stood and laid the paper on the desk to smooth it out then froze.
This was a receipt from the hardware store—for two keys.
He sank down into the chair to press it flat with his fingers to make out the date.
It was the last day that Walter had been in. The day before Cindy’s car had gone missing.
Events of the morning flashed through his mind. It was the day he’d first introduced Annie to Walter. Walter had not been very pleased that they’d gotten him help. Then later in the morning, Walter had left to pick up a prescription. Brent only remembered because he’d been annoyed that Walter had stuck a sticky note on the monitor, and Brent had thought it wouldn’t be good for the screen.
Sure enough, the crumpled sticky note was also in the pile of paper on the floor.
Brent didn’t remember the time, only that it was later in the morning. The time on the receipt for the key appeared to be in that time frame.
His temples throbbed as he tried to recall everything that happened. Luke had been out on a sales call, and Brent had teased Luke about taking Cindy’s new car. Then Evan had called both him and Luke into the lot to check a dented car, and Annie had gone back to help Cindy with something.
Walter had been alone in the office, giving him access to both Annie’s and Luke’s keys.
But there was no reason for Walter to steal a car. Walter wasn’t a thief. He was a CPA and made a good income. Brent didn’t know how many other businesses besides theirs Walter handled, but he knew Walter’s schedule was very busy.
It also made no sense that he would hide a stolen car in Annie’s garage. Walter didn’t know Annie. Although, since they used Annie’s services, her address was listed in their account files as a vendor.
Brent flopped back in the chair and pressed his hands over his eyes. He was only letting his mind play tricks on him because he was desperate to prove that the thief wasn’t Annie. It wasn’t possible or likely that Walter would steal Luke’s wife’s car. He wouldn’t call Walter a friend, but he was certainly more than an acquaintance. He’d been with them, and well paid by them, since they started the business when Luke and Brent graduated together from business college.
But among the many things he’d learned over the years was never to assume and to be careful to whom he gave his trust.
He scooped the rest of the papers from the floor and sorted them like Walter should have, either into the shredder, the receipt box, or what was really trash, but he put the receipt for the keys in his pocket.
Before he saw Walter again on Tuesday, he needed some answers.
Even though he took the later shift, Brent arrived at the office at opening time, the same time as Luke.
He stood behind Luke while Luke unlocked the building and punched in the alarm code. “I’ve called Annie in this morning. I don’t care if you fired her. I unfired her.”
Luke spun around. “You, of all people, should know the reasons for that. Even if she didn’t steal Cindy’s car, which in my opinion is still not resolved, she’s messing up our accounting. Walter only has limited time to fix it, and it’s time to wrap up the fiscal year and submit everything for taxes.”
Brent’s stomach clenched as he pulled the receipt for the keys out of his pocket and handed it to Luke. “One issue at a time. I found this in Walter’s garbage. It’s a receipt for two keys. Annie and I went to the key kiosk yesterday after church. I showed the man Walter’s picture and the receipt, and he remembered the keys because he had a hard time with the Mustang key, and Walter was in a hurry.”
“Are you saying that Walter stole Cindy’s car and then hid it in Annie’s garage?”
“That’s what it looks like.”
Brent could see Luke’s confusion as he tried to make sense of what he’d just been told. He didn’t want to believe it either, but the facts were there. And as horrible as it was, it was what he wanted to be true, to prove Annie’s innocence.
“I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I have proof he copied both keys, and he was back with the originals before anyone noticed they were missing.” Now more than ever, he was glad he had the key. If it had Walter’s fingerprints on it, it wouldn’t necessarily prove Walter’s guilt in the eyes of the law, but it would in Luke’s and Cindy’s eyes, and right now that was what mattered the most.
At the sound of a car entering the parking lot, both men turned to watch Annie’s car back into the parking spot nearest the door.
“I asked her to give me ten minutes to talk to you before she got here.”
Luke swiped his fingers through his hair. “With Annie being Cindy’s stepsister, I’m trying to be gracious. But I still don’t feel good about having Annie come back. Everything is messed up enough without making it even worse.”
Brent steeled himself. “The mess isn’t Annie’s fault. We’ve figured out that the reason for the computer problems is a software issue. She made a backup file, I had the backup program disc, and we opened it on her mother’s computer. Everything worked so I’ve asked her to check it against the current file on our office computer. If we find our missing data, then the simple solution is to buy a program upgrade.”
Luke shook his head. “It can’t possibly be that simple.”
Brent could only hope that what worked in theory would work in fact. “It can. She’s bringing her mother’s computer in with her today because we know it works.”
“You’re sure about this?”
Annie cut the engine and opened her door. “As sure as I can be. Help me carry in the old computer and we’ll know for sure.”
Luke’s face tightened. “Be warned. I intend to watch everything she does. Like a hawk.”
Brent had to agree. If the situations were reversed, he would have felt the same way. He sent up a prayer that he was right and pushed the door open. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. The sooner we get started, the better.”
Chapter 11
Annie had never felt the burn from someone’s glare like she did from Luke as the men exited the building. The lack of trust stabbed into her heart, yet she could understand it. Until a few months ago, she hadn’t been a good person in his eyes. She had a lot of wrongs to right, and she was doing her best, but it was going to take time.
Still, she felt like a puppy dog abandoned in the rain—and it must have shown because Luke’s expression softened, and he dragged one hand down his face.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered from behind his hand. “Brent just showed me some evidence that links Walter to stealing Cindy’s car.” He reached into her backseat for her mother’s huge old monitor, while Brent opened the other door to get the tower. “The reason we hired Walter is because he’s my uncle’s friend, and my uncle recommended him. I can’t believe he’d do such a thing. Not that I want to believe you would have done it either. It’s been tough for everyone.”
She wanted to feel better about Luke’s apology, but she couldn’t help but notice the omission of the mention of her struggles with their accounting work.
With his head stuck into the car, Brent hadn’t been able to hear a word his friend had said, nor could he say anything in her defense. Annie hadn’t realized until that moment how much knowing that Brent was on her side meant; Luke was not only
Brent’s business partner but his best friend.
Letting Luke go inside first with the big monitor, Brent followed carrying the tower, and she went inside last with the keyboard and mouse.
Even the fragrant aroma of fresh coffee as she walked inside didn’t defrost the cold in her heart. She wondered if she’d ever make Luke believe in her again.
Behind her the coffee machine beeped to signal the end of the brewing cycle as they started setting up her mother’s computer.
“Coffee…,” Luke and Brent mumbled in unison.
Annie nodded. Maybe a cup of coffee would give her brain a kick start. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a good night’s sleep.
Brent stopped to attend to a customer who came in for a prebooked rental, so Luke crawled under the desk to finish plugging in the computer cables. Annie poured three cups of coffee, needing to do something with her hands before the nervousness made her crazy. By the time Brent was done, both computers were booted up and ready to go. She pulled her flash drive out of her purse and was ready to insert it into the USB slot when her mother’s monitor went purple then black.
Brent raised one hand to the back of his neck, and Luke leaned his forehead against the wall.
“Wait,” Annie said. “It’s nothing. It’s just a loose connection. I only have to wiggle it, and it will be fine.”
She leaned over the back and around her mother’s monitor but couldn’t reach properly because of its size and the awkward angle. Squeezing her lips together, she stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and reached a little farther. She’d almost wiggled it into place when she felt her feet start to slip on the tile floor. A flash of stars blinked across the back of her eyes when her hip banged down into the corner of the desk. To prevent herself from knocking herself out on the desk, she dropped her flash drive and grabbed the desk with both hands.
Brent ran to her, wrapping his hands around her waist to steady her as she righted herself and stood. “Are you okay?”
As she gazed up into his eyes, the pain flitted to the back of her mind. She should have been thinking about the computer, but all she wanted to do was kiss Brent. With all the lights on.
