Page 26 of Tide and Seek

He glanced up and caught me looking at him, and he frowned.“You look worried,” he said.

I shook my head.“I’m not worried.”

“Are you sure?”He quirked a brow.“You had a very serious expression a moment ago.”

“Nah, everything is fine.”

He sighed.“Have I done something to upset you?”

“Of course not.”

His eyes met mine with surprising directness.“Are you sure?Out on the beach earlier, you seemed to be hinting that you thought I belonged in LA.I mean, I do enjoy it here, but I also love my life with you in Rainy Dale.”

“You seem very happy here,” I said quietly.“You fit in well.”

He said neutrally, “And that bothers you?”

“No.”I shook my head.“More than anything, I want you happy.”

“Okay, and I want the same for you.”He grimaced.“I know I may not always express this well, but I… I actually want you to talk to me if something is wrong.I want you to know that youcantalk to me.”

My heart ached at how sincere he sounded, and for one moment it was on the tip of my tongue to admit I’d been struggling.But I chickened out.What if he admitted he regretted staying in Rainy Dale and wanted to move back to LA?I didn’t want to lose him, and sometimes too much honesty could ruin things.Feelings could get hurt, and there were times you couldn’t come back from that.

“I know I can talk to you, Max.”I cleared my throat.“If I seemed deep in thought earlier, that was only because I was thinking about the body on the beach,” I lied.

“That’s what you were thinking about?”

“It’s a pretty horrible thing.”

His eyes flickered with a hint of skepticism, but he didn’t push.He studied me for a moment, then said, “How long do you think it will take the police to identify the woman on the beach?”

“I’m not sure.”I was relieved when he dropped the earlier conversation.I wasn’t quite ready to have that talk and he seemed to sense that.

He poked distractedly at the stem of his margarita glass.“I guess it doesn’t matter who she is.Odds are I don’t know her.She might have been a homeless person.”

“I don’t think so.Not with those nicely manicured red nails,” I murmured.

“Oh, yeah.I hadn’t thought of that.”He took another sip of his margarita.Once he’d swallowed, he asked, “You don’t think the burglary and the body are connected, do you?”

“No.”I frowned.“Why would they be?”

“I don’t know.It’s just so weird that both things happened within a few days of each other.Don’t you think so?”

“I see what you’re saying, but it’s probably coincidence.”I helped myself to another chip, and I dipped it in the spicy red salsa.But I didn’t eat it; instead I just stared at it, watching the red sauce drip down the pale yellow tortilla and back into the little bowl.

“I assume with the body on the beach, my burglary will be put on the back burner.I don’t blame the cops for that, but it is frustrating.Someone broke into my home and it’s upsetting to think they could come back and try again.”

“Let’s hope that’s not the case.”

He glanced up, a line between his dark brows.“Maybe we can try and get some answers.”

“Meaning what?”I frowned.

“Well, we could try talking to Luke.”

I grimaced.“Gonzalez already talked to him.”

“I know, but he said Luke was so high, he couldn’t get anything out of him.Maybe if we drop by his place when we get back from lunch, we’ll get lucky.Maybe he won’t be high for once.”