Читать книгу The Last Honest Man - Lynnette Kent - Страница 12

SAM DECIDED TO AMBUSH Tommy Crawford in his office again. Early morning seemed to be his vulnerable time. Besides, she liked seeing him as a way to start off her day.

This time, she brought breakfast. She heard the rear door of the office open and close and then a pause, as if he caught the aroma in the air.

“Bonnie, honey, did you bring doughnuts?” he called from the back. “There will be stars in your crown for that act of goodness.” His footsteps came quickly down the hall. Sam loved how he moved, with a grace and precision that only looked slow. “I stayed up watching the Braves game and slept too late—” He came into the front room and saw her. “For breakfast.”

“Great game, wasn’t it?” Sam got to her feet, holding the familiar green-and-white doughnut box in one hand and a carrier of gourmet coffee in the other. “Could you believe that play in the bottom of the eighth? I thought for sure the Yanks were pulling away with that hit. Instead, the big boys from the South turned it into a double.”

“Amazing. You’re here for breakfast?” He didn’t seem as surprised as she’d hoped.

“Most important meal of the day.”

“Where’s Bonnie?”

“She went to the bank. I told her I’d watch the front door.”

He massaged his jaw with one hand. “Sure, let’s eat. Come on back.”

Sam hoped to confuse him, keep him off balance, because he was such a smart-ass, always knew the score, always got the last word. Sometime, though…sometime she wanted to see him serious, see him thinking, see him caring. About her, the way she cared about him. In a forever kind of way.

If, that is, Adam DeVries and his run for mayor didn’t ruin her chances completely.

They settled in Tommy’s office again with the doughnuts open between them. He chose chocolate-covered cream, as she predicted, and settled back with a groan. “No calories here, of course. No fat. No cholesterol.”

“Just air,” Sam agreed, taking a raspberry-filled bite. She licked jelly and glaze off her lips, savoring the tart sweetness.

Tommy choked, choked again, and went into a fit of coughing. When she would have come round the desk, he held up his hand and shook his head, then staggered out and across the hall to the break room. She heard the water running, and his coughs gradually died.

He returned, red-cheeked and wet-eyed. “Man. That bite went down the wrong pipe.” He sat down again and picked up his coffee with both hands. “So what’s the deal, Sam? Did you come specifically to choke me with a doughnut, or do you have a more sinister purpose?”

“Well…” She leaned back in her chair. “I did want to ask you about Adam DeVries’s new girlfriend.”

His eyebrows rose into the fringe of his hair. “Girlfriend? Not that I know about.”

“Lives out in the country, works in town. Long, silver-streaked hair, drives a green Beetle. Speech therapist?”

“You mean Phoebe?” Tommy gave a one-sided grin and took a sip of coffee. “Girlfriend? Nah. They’re just friends. Longtime buddies.”