No One But You (Silver Springs #2)(73)

Dawson saw a stack of folded clothing piled on top of who knew what else. “Did you get everything you asked for?”

“Not everything, but I’ve got my toiletries and some clothes—the ones from the dresser opposite the closet. I lost what was in the closet, since it was on the side of the house that burned.”

“That sucks. I’m sorry.”

“I’m grateful there’s something left.”

“Here, let me take that.” He reached up to put Jayden on the ground so he could help, but she circumvented him with the box.

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not heavy.”

Something was wrong. Sadie wasn’t treating him as she had this morning. And she sure as hell wasn’t treating him as she had last night.

Letting Jayden remain on his shoulders, Dawson followed her to the house. “How’d you get off work so early?”

After a slight hesitation, she said, “My boss didn’t need me today.”

That should’ve been believable, but it wasn’t. She seemed upset. “Aren’t Sundays busy?”

“They are.”

“So what happened?”

She put the box on the kitchen table and began pulling all the clothes out, presumably so she could wash the stench out of them before taking them upstairs. “Nothing,” she said. But that couldn’t be true. She was acting too remote. Had she lost the pictures she was worried about recovering? Heard bad news from Sly? Gotten in a fight with the restaurant owner? Been taunted for associating with him?

Dawson would’ve pushed her for a more convincing answer, but he figured she might not be willing to talk in front of Jayden.

“Anyway, Jayden and I are available to help in the fields today.” She managed a smile, but it looked too brittle to be convincing.

“I won’t be outside much longer,” he said. “I’m going to see Angela, remember?”

“You’re leaving?” Her eyes, which had looked everywhere since she’d been home except directly at him, latched onto his face.

“I was hoping to take you with me,” he said. “So you could meet Angela.”

“How far away is she?”

“She’s in LA, so we’ll have a bit of a drive—two hours there and two hours back, providing traffic isn’t bad, but traffic shouldn’t be bad on a Sunday.”

Sadie’s gaze lifted to her son, who was still sitting happily on Dawson’s shoulders, his head nearly touching the ten-foot ceiling. “What about Jayden?”

He put the boy down. “We’ll take him with us.”

Some of the tension in Sadie’s face and body seemed to ease. “Great. The sooner, the better. When can we go?”

“The sooner, the better?” he asked, hoping for some clarification.

“It’ll be nice to have a change of scenery,” she explained, “a break from Silver Springs.”

He lowered his voice as Jayden caught a glimpse of one of his toys and hopped up on a chair to get it out of the box. “Did Chief Thomas tell you something about the fire? Something that makes it all worse?”

“No. He said they’re still investigating. That it’ll be a few days before they know anything.”

“So...are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

She put a hand on her son’s head as he drove his toy car along the edge of the table. “No, it’s not your problem. You’re my employer. You shouldn’t have to worry about anything more than paying me for what I do.”

Last night he’d been more than just her employer. This morning she’d acted as if she couldn’t get enough of him, too. What was going on? “Your employer. Okay. Sure. But...I thought we were friends, at least.”

Their eyes met. For a second, he thought she’d break down, but she didn’t. Throwing her shoulders back, she lifted her chin. “I’m sorry. There’s only one way out for me.”

“Can we talk about it?”

“That won’t help,” she said and pulled her gaze away.

With a sigh, he shoved a hand through his hair. “Let me finish up outside and we’ll leave in an hour or so.”

“I’ll help you,” she said. “Jayden can play nearby.”

That hadn’t worked out so well before. She’d spent more time trying to keep her son close—not that Dawson had minded. He liked having her out there with him. It just wasn’t necessary today. “No need,” he said. “That’s not part of your job. But if you’d make some lunch so we can eat before we go, that’d be great.”

“Okay.”

He hesitated a moment longer, hoping he’d be able to figure out what had changed, but she’d already turned to start lunch. Something from this morning had caused her to back away from him. Was it the regret he’d feared she’d feel? A degree of doubt someone had placed in her mind about whether he’d murdered his parents? What?





19


Sadie hung on to her son’s hand as Dawson signed in to see his sister. They’d barely spoken on the long drive. She’d read to Jayden and tried to keep him occupied until he’d fallen asleep, and then the movement of the vehicle had put her to sleep, as well. But she felt it was better to keep some emotional distance between them. She’d let herself get too close to Dawson last night. As much as she’d enjoyed his touch—as much as she’d needed those few precious hours—she had to maintain some emotional distance. She couldn’t allow herself to get too involved with him, to care a great deal, or it would be that much harder to leave Silver Springs. And she had to leave. For her own sanity and safety. For the sake of her son. Sly held too much power here, and he wasn’t to be trusted. If not for Pete, he would’ve struck her this morning, and maybe he would’ve continued to strike until she was seriously injured. He’d been that angry, that scary.