Dirty Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

Kate lowered the letter, brows raised. “You argued with him?”
    “About everything. World politics, movies, football . . . Sometimes I’d stand on a chair to argue with him nose to nose. I never knew . . . never dreamed he felt that way.”
    “I’d say that’s a given.” Kate shook the notebook paper dramatically. “But there’s more. `I think we could have something special. I love your mind and your heart. But above all else I treasure your friendship. I haven’t said anything before now because I’ve been terrified I’d lose you. If friends is all you want us to be, then that will have to be enough. If you say nothing, I’ll know you just want to stay friends. But if you want more, I’ll be waiting. All my love, Christopher.’” Kate let out a breath. “Oh my, oh my.”
    Emma clasped her hand to her heart, felt it beating hard. “Oh, Kate, I never said a word. I must have hurt him so badly. How could I have missed this letter?”
    “It fell out of two pages that were stuck together. Emma, you look like I hit you.”
    “I should be hit. Kate, I broke his heart.”
    “I’m sure he’s recovered by now,” Kate said wryly. “It’s been seventeen years.”
    Emma shook her head, her thoughts spinning. “You don’t understand, Kate. I sat next to him in Spanish class the next year. I never said a word and after a few weeks, he dropped the class. Said he wanted to take band. Play the trombone of all things. He must have been so mad at me.”
    “Emma, this was another lifetime ago. You can’t change this.”
    Emma frowned, picked up Will’s old college book. “
This
was another lifetime ago, Kate.
This
is what I can’t change. I can’t bring Will back. But I can change how Christopher feels. How he remembers me and himself. I can’t go on letting him think he was rejected all those years ago, or worse, that I was too cruel to acknowledge his feelings. Hell, I thought I felt a spark when we danced that one time, but I was so inexperienced, I didn’t know how to pursue it. And when he dropped Spanish, I thought it was because I’d danced too close that night. I compulsed about it for weeks.”
    “You? Compulsing about something? Say it isn’t so.”
    “This is serious, Kate. I have to do something about this.”
    Kate looked worried. “Like what? Find him?”
    “Maybe.” Emma sat up straighter. “Maybe I will.”
    Kate also sat up straighter and bumped her head on the attic roof. “Bad idea, Em,” she said, rubbing her head. “Really, really bad idea. Maybe he’s married. You don’t want to barge in on his marriage. Old flames make current wives very mad. Trust me.”
    “Then I’ll hire a private detective to find out. If he’s married, I’ll leave it alone. If he’s not, I’ll have the detective ask him to call me. If he does, great. If not . . . well, the decision will be in his hands this time.”
    “Em, this is your grief talking. Don’t do this.”
    “Maybe it is my grief. All I know is that I feel something besides lonely for the first time in a year. As luck would have it, what I feel is shame. I broke a boy’s heart and I never even knew. Look, Kate, what harm could it possibly do to have a private detective poke around? God knows I can afford it. Between Will’s life insurance and royalties on
Bite-Sized
, I have more money than I’ll ever need.”
    Kate sighed. “If he’s married, you walk away. Promise me, Em.”
    Emma raised three fingers. “Promise. Scout’s Honor.”
    * * *
    St. Pete, Monday, February 22, 2:40 p.m.
    Detective Wes Harris hung up the phone with a thoughtful frown.
    “Well?” His captain perched on the edge of Harris’s desk. “Walker must have had something pretty important to tell you. He’s left five messages since nine a.m.”
    “He said that they’d had a break-in last month. Some samples were destroyed that belonged to the Roberts kid. Apparently the female grad student, Tanya Meyer, had her ID stolen. That’s how the