LITMIR.BIZ

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by Erica.” She laughed drily. “There were times I wanted to throttle her.” Her laugh strangled in her throat as tears once again filled her eyes.

      Amanda wasn’t sure how to respond and thankfully at that time Melanie reappeared in the doorway, a platter of freshly baked cookies in her hands.

      “Ah, I see the tea party is about to begin,” Lillian said. “You two go ahead. I just stopped by to see how you were getting along.”

      Amanda walked with her to the bedroom door. “We’re doing fine.”

      Lillian placed a hand on Amanda’s forearm. “Why don’t we do lunch on Saturday? I’d love to show you around, and I imagine Sawyer is planning on being home for the day.”

      “He hasn’t told me his plans for the weekend,” Amanda replied. “He mentioned I should have weekends off. If that’s the case, I’d like to have lunch.” It would be nice to have a woman friend, somebody she could talk to, perhaps confide in. It would also be nice to see a little bit of the town whose name implied bewitchment.

      “Great, I’ll call you and we can firm up the plans.” She smiled at Melanie. “Aunt Lilly will see you later, okay, sweetheart?”

      Melanie nodded, and with a wave of her fingers, Lillian left the room.

      The tea party was a success, but as Amanda played pretend with Melanie she couldn’t help but think about what little Lillian had told her. Erica had been sleeping with somebody at the time of her death, somebody who had gotten her pregnant. Was it possible that that somebody had killed Erica so that the secret affair would never see the light of day?

      Sawyer was home in time for dinner, and as they shared the evening meal Amanda mentioned to him Lillian’s visit and the question about the weekend plans.

      “I’ll be home all day Saturday so you’re free to take off and have lunch with Lillian or whatever,” he said. He was still dressed in his business clothes and looked unbelievably attractive. He’d shucked his suit jacket and had his white shirtsleeves rolled up to expose his muscled forearms.

      He smiled at his daughter. “I’m sure we can find something to occupy ourselves, right, sweetie?” Melanie nodded and gazed at her father with adoring eyes.

      Could she have seen her father stab her mother to death, then shove her into the murky swamp water and still look at him as if he hung the moon?

      Amanda reminded herself that it wasn’t her place to discern whether Sawyer Bennett was guilty or not. Her job was to take care of Melanie. Nothing more, nothing less.

      Melanie had just been excused from the table to go upstairs to her room when a knock sounded at the door. A moment later Helen ushered in a tall, dark-haired man wearing the brown uniform of the local sheriff.

      “Lucas,” Sawyer said and stood.

      “Evening, Sawyer.” He looked curiously at Amanda.

      “This is Amanda Rockport, my new nanny,” Sawyer replied.

      “Sorry to intrude,” Lucas said. He directed his focus back to Sawyer. “We need to talk.”

      “So talk,” Sawyer replied and sat back down. He gestured to the chair Melanie had vacated.

      “You might want to discuss this in private.” Lucas shifted from foot to foot.

      “If this has something to do with Erica’s murder investigation, then I have nothing to hide from Amanda. If you don’t need the privacy, then I don’t. Take a load off, Lucas, and tell me why you’re here.”

      Amanda watched as Lucas folded his long body into the chair. The tension between the two men was palpable in the air, and Amanda didn’t know whether she should excuse herself or not.

      “I’ve got pressure, Sawyer, pressure to make an arrest,” Lucas said.

      “Then find the person responsible and do it,” Sawyer replied smoothly.

      Lucas rubbed the center of his forehead with two fingers, as if fighting a headache. “I’m doing my best, but I’ve got no other viable suspects, nothing to go on and all fingers pointing at you.”

      “Then arrest me.” Sawyer’s voice was deep, filled with suppressed emotion.

      A knot of apprehension twisted in Amanda’s stomach, a knot formed by more than a little bit of selfish need. She didn’t want Sawyer arrested. If that happened she’d be out of a job and she didn’t want to go through the process of finding another one. Besides, even though it had only been two days, she’d grown incredibly attached to Melanie.

      “Ah, hell, Sawyer, I’ve known you all my life. I know you aren’t a killer.” Lucas dropped his hand from his forehead, his dark eyes pained. “But I just wanted to let you know that the pressure is on and I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to stop the inevitable.”

      Sawyer held his friend’s gaze for a long moment. “I don’t want you to jeopardize your position because of friendship.”

      “I’ll try to buy you some more time, but I thought you should know that unless we can find a decent lead to follow or a person of interest to investigate, the mayor and the DA are going to push for your arrest.” He stood and Sawyer rose, as well.

      “I’ll see you out.”

      As Sawyer and the sheriff left the dining room, Amanda tried to still the beating of her heart. So, the noose was tightening around Sawyer.

      If he went to jail, she supposed Lillian and James would take Melanie, and Amanda would be forced to return to Kansas City.

      And what will you do there? a little voice whispered in her head. Fall back into the dark depression that you suffered before you took this job? She thought of the reason she’d been forced to resign from the job she had loved, remembered all the people who had distanced themselves from her, people she’d thought had been her friends.

      She couldn’t go back there. She’d have to start all over someplace else. She was jolted out of her self-absorbed pity party as she thought of Melanie.

      She’d lost her mother, and if Sawyer were arrested she would lose her father. No matter how close the child felt to the Cordells, it wouldn’t be the same as having a parent to raise her.

      Amanda’s heart ached for her. She knew what it was like to grow up without parents. An aunt and uncle had raised her and Johnny when their parents had died in a car accident. As loving as her aunt and uncle had been, it hadn’t been the same as being raised by loving parents.

      Melanie needed her daddy, more than ever now, and Amanda needed this job. She was pulled from her thoughts as Sawyer returned to the living room.

      While Lucas had been present, Sawyer had appeared relaxed, but now his lips were nothing more than a thin slash in a face taut with strain.

      He sat in his chair and looked at her, his dark green eyes empty and hollow. “Time is running out for me. Eventually Lucas will have to make an arrest, and I’m the only suspect around. I’ve got to find out who Erica was having an affair with before her death, because my gut tells me that’s who murdered her.”

      “Can I do anything to help?”

      His features relaxed a bit and he looked at her thoughtfully. “Maybe. Tonight after Melanie goes to bed I’m going to search Erica’s room again and see if I can find anything that might give me some answers. Maybe you’ll see something that I missed before, something that the authorities didn’t notice when they searched.”

      “Sure, I’ll help you look,” she agreed.

      “Come to my office after Melanie is asleep and we’ll get started then.” Some of the stress lines smoothed out as he stood once again. “And now I’m going to find my daughter and play a game with her. I’d better spend every moment possible with her in case…” He frowned and allowed his words to fall away, then left the dining room.

      Amanda

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