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Cam tightened his grip on her hands. “That was a very selfless thing to do.”

Jo sighed. Shifted so she faced him. “It wasn’t in my plans, but Mike needed me. I knew he was facing more surgeries and a long recovery, but I figured once he was settled and getting stronger, I could get a quick divorce.” Her mouth trembled for a moment. “Instead, I had to bury him.”

Chapter 26

Cam tightened his grip on her hands. “You don’t blame yourself for his death, do you?” She saw the horror in his eyes, and thank God she could give him an honest answer.

“No,” she said, her voice barely audible. “He’d clearly planned it carefully. Waited until I went down to lunch, and he knew he’d have at least forty-five minutes. He took a huge overdose, so he died quickly.” She stared down at her hands, and Cam knew she was reliving every minute of her experience.

Drawing a shaky breath, she said in a low voice “When I got back to his room, I knew immediately that he was dead. His stillness. His half-open eyes. The pallor of his skin.” She sighed. “And the empty pill bottle lying beside him on the bed.”

She took another shuddering breath. “I accompanied his body home. Stayed with his parents for the funeral, then left immediately.”

Cam’s eyes were steady on her. “You let his parents think he was the love of your life, didn’t you?”

Closing her eyes, she stared down at her hands. Nodded. “Yeah, I did. It hurt no one to tell them that lie, and it gave them some comfort knowing that Mike had found someone. Been happy for a little while. They’d visited him in Germany, and I made myself scarce. Told them they needed to spend as much time with him as possible.” She slid her hands beneath her thighs to hide the trembling.

“I don’t know what to say, Jo,” Cam finally said. “What you did for Mike? That was incredibly kind. And I know it was painful to see a man you cared about suffering.”

“The worst part was hiding who we really were from his parents.” She managed a smile, but it wasn’t easy. “They still send me a card on the anniversary of his death.”

“And you send them one, as well, don’t you?”Cam said, lifting her hands and pressing a kiss into each palm.”

She nodded as she stared at their joined hands. “They need to know he wasn’t forgotten.” She swallowed. “I know some of the guys in his Delta Force group call his parents every year on the anniversary. They were all incredibly tight. His death was hard on them, too.”

Jo looked at her phone and saw how close it was to lunch. No way was she in any mood to go back to Cam’s house and jump into bed. And she suspected he wasn’t ready for that, either.

“I’m going to make a list of all the people who might be involved in the shoddy materials scheme, then find their home addresses,” she said. “See who lives in the same neighborhood as the owners of the truck. We need a place to start to track down whoever is behind this scheme.”

“Yeah, good idea.” He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. “After exchanging our stories, I doubt either of us is in the mood to go back to the house for fun and games.”

“You’d be right about that,” she said, forcing a smile. She leaned closer and kissed him, and if the kiss went on longer than it should have, she didn’t care. She needed the comfort, the connection. And she was sure Cam did, as well.

When they broke apart, she sat down at her desk and watched Cam move slowly to his own desk. He glanced at her a few times, then finally sat down and opened his computer.

Jo studied Cam’s rental truck. She’d watched steadily all morning and hadn’t seen anyone even give it a second look. It was unlikely someone would tamper with it here, she knew. There was too big a risk of being seen. But she’d check it carefully the following morning before any of them got into that truck.

* * *

After picking Fiona up from school, they drove home. Jo was used to the routine, so she helped Fiona with her homework while Cam sat down at his home computer to get more work done.

Dinner was spaghetti again, and after Cam got Fiona ready for bed, she came out to say goodnight to Jo. Jo hugged her tightly and watched her head down the hall with Cam. She went into her own room tonight, apparently reassured after the quiet night before.

Cam came out fifteen minutes later and dropped onto the couch beside her. “She’s asleep,” he said, picking up her hand and playing with her fingers. “You know I want you. I’ll always want you. But… this was a tough day. Talking about Ashley brought too many memories up to the surface.

“And talking about Mike had to be hard for you. Reliving that time must have been painful. How about we just watch a movie tonight?”

Jo nudged him with her elbow. “Okay, Grandpa. I’m up for a movie.”

“Grandpa?”Cam said. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jo said, struggling to keep a straight face. “We’ve had that box of condoms for two days now and we’ve only used four of them. I’m beginning to wonder what I signed up for.”

“I’ll show you exactly what you signed up for,” Cam said, hauling her onto his lap and devouring her mouth. By the time he pulled away, both of them were breathing heavily. Moving against each other.

When he reached for Jo’s sweater, she grabbed his hands. “I think we need to take a break,” she said. “All the memories we dredged up -- yours of Ashley, mine of Mike -- were painful. It was difficult for me to talk about Mike, and I think it was hard for you to talk about Ashley. So maybe a movie is a good idea tonight.”

Cam ran his hands up and down her back. “I can be persuaded to change my mind about that movie.”