Obsession by Traci Hunter Abramson Page A

water from the kettle. When she turned back to hand him the mug, she was surprised to see Charlie still staring at her.
    He reached out and took the hot chocolate from her. “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.” She motioned to the pot she’d put on the stove earlier. “Are you hungry? I was about to make some dinner.”
    Charlie’s eyebrows lifted, and the familiar humor sparked in his eyes. “Can you cook?”
    Kendra’s lips curved into a smile. “I picked up a few things in Young Women’s.”
    “Young Women’s?”
    She nodded, noting his confusion. “You know, those activities they hold at church every Wednesday night for the youth.”
    “Sorry. It’s still sinking in that you’re LDS.”
    “Is it that hard to believe?”
    “Just odd.” Charlie shrugged. “I mean, what are the chances that we’d both come up here to get away from life and find another Mormon doing the same thing?”
    “I guess it is a pretty big coincidence,” Kendra admitted, now wondering if her grandfather had sent her up here with ulterior motives. Maybe he’d wanted her to meet Charlie. Or more specifically, he had wanted her to meet an eligible bachelor who happened to be Mormon.
    “So how is it that your grandparents are LDS, but your parents aren’t?”
    “My dad was raised Mormon.”
    “But he isn’t active?”
    She shook her head. “Not during my lifetime.”
    “What about the rest of your family?”
    “My mom has never really had any interest in religion,” Kendra admitted. “As for my sister, she’s still trying to figure out if it’s possible to pursue a career in Hollywood and be an active member of the Church at the same time.”
    “Acting is a tough business.”
    Kendra looked at him thoughtfully. “Not many people think so.”
    “Not many people know what it’s like to live with the paparazzi constantly following you.”
    Kendra considered Charlie’s background, her eyes lifting quizzically. “Did you have that growing up? I mean, being the son of a senator?”
    “A little bit,” Charlie admitted. “I never got it as bad as my brother did.”
    “Because he’s a baseball player?”
    “That and he’s the oldest.” Charlie took a sip of his hot chocolate. “It never seemed to bother him much. Besides, in politics, the press tends to die down when it isn’t an election year.”
    “I guess that’s true.” Kendra rubbed her arms against the chill in the room, glancing over to see that the fire was dwindling. “Would you mind putting another log on the fire?”
    “No problem.” Charlie walked to the fireplace and shifted the screen aside. “Your fire sure doesn’t put out much heat, does it?”
    Kendra shook her head. “My dad liked the look of a fireplace instead of a wood stove, so we ended up with the pretty version instead of the functional one.”
    Charlie put another piece of wood on top of the dwindling flames. “I gather your grandfather is more practical.”
    “Oh, yeah. He insisted on having a wood stove in his cabin. He said it was cheaper to put in than a regular fireplace, and it would cut down on their electric bills when they wanted to visit up here in the winter.”
    “I doubt your father worries much about utility bills.”
    “Very true,” Kendra agreed as she put some water in a pot and started adding the ingredients for her favorite soup. She put everything on to simmer as Charlie crossed back to the kitchen.
    He motioned to the stove and asked, “So what’s for dinner?”
    “Cheddar chowder.”
    “I don’t know that I’ve ever had that before, but right now, anything hot sounds good.” Charlie gave her an odd look and then added, “Thanks for your help today with the wood.”
    “It was fun.” Kendra gazed over at the snow that was beginning to fall. It reminded her that she was isolated here, that the snow was keeping anyone from finding her. She looked back at Charlie, suddenly grateful she wasn’t all alone the way she had planned. “I think I could