made a pile of papers that had anything to do with Greek mythology. Together they created a stack in the middle of the room.
He grabbed the last box and popped the lid, while Lisa moved to one of the trunks under the window. A couple more filled notebooks, a pile of research books, mountains of little sticky notes. Geez. Anal was an understatement. The guy had even saved napkins he’d jotted info down on. Complete with…yup, ketchup on the corner.
Shaking his head, Rafe lifted the last notebook and spotted a handful of photographs in the bottom of the box. He smiled at what had to be Lisa in college. Her hair was down past her shoulders, her face young and innocent, and she wore the baggiest sweatshirt and sweatpants he’d ever seen—obviously, he noticed looking closer, to cover up a much-chubbier body than she sported now.
He flipped through the stack. There were a few of her with her siblings. One with a guy who had to be the infamous cop brother (they looked too alike for him to be anything other than family), a few more of her working in the field with colleagues, one of her in front of a lecture hall, teaching. None were overly remarkable, except for the fact she was much younger, but the last one made him pause.
Her arm was around an older guy with brown hair slightly gray at the temples, sporting a deep tan and a worn, rugged face. She was smiling, he appeared to be scowling. Both were wearing sunglasses, and they were standing on a boat, cool blue water glittering behind them.
But it wasn’t the location that stopped Rafe. It was the fact her hand covered his on her stomach. And looking closer, he realized she hadn’t been chubby in those pictures, she’d been pregnant.
Pregnant? Lisa?
He glanced across the room to where she was busy sorting papers in the trunk, paying no attention to him. He looked back at the photo. It was definitely her. No question about it. And because these pictures were with Stone’s research, it was pretty obvious the guy with her was none other than the dead archaeologist.
She’d had his baby? He opened his mouth to ask that very question, then closed it quickly.
Maybe she hadn’t. In the photo it looked like she was just starting to show. He flipped the paper over and glanced at the date: May 23. Stone had died sometime in the middle of June. Which meant this picture was taken just before his death.
Rafe bit the inside of his lip. Hailey’s cousin had looked like that when she’d been…what, five months along? Six? Fifteen years ago, how late could a woman legally have an abortion? If the guy had just died, would she have gone ahead with the pregnancy?
His gut said yes, but he couldn’t be sure. Maybe she’d given the kid up for adoption. That was always a possibility.Either way, it was pretty obvious Dr. Maxwell didn’t have any children now, and from all his research, he knew she was the ultra-career-driven female. He’d watched her with the kids downstairs. She was a good aunt, teasing them, playing with them when they begged for her attention, but when all was said and done, she kept her distance.
Lisa let out a long breath and stretched her back. “I think that’s about it.”
Rafe slipped the picture in his back pocket and replaced the others.
She stood. “Let’s get it boxed up, and then we can get out of here.”
He followed her lead and reached for the lid. Getting out of here sounded pretty damn good right about now. “Works for me.”
That hadn’t been nearly as bad as she’d thought it would be. Once Rafe had shut up and stopped making smart-mouthed comments, he’d worked fairly well and pulled his own weight. And, Lisa had to admit, going through Doug’s old papers hadn’t affected her as she’d expected.
She’d tossed all those old pictures—thank God. Not seeing his face helped. But she was still apprehensive about reading his notes in depth. It would invariably bring up memories and emotions she wouldn’t be able to hide. She
He grabbed the last box and popped the lid, while Lisa moved to one of the trunks under the window. A couple more filled notebooks, a pile of research books, mountains of little sticky notes. Geez. Anal was an understatement. The guy had even saved napkins he’d jotted info down on. Complete with…yup, ketchup on the corner.
Shaking his head, Rafe lifted the last notebook and spotted a handful of photographs in the bottom of the box. He smiled at what had to be Lisa in college. Her hair was down past her shoulders, her face young and innocent, and she wore the baggiest sweatshirt and sweatpants he’d ever seen—obviously, he noticed looking closer, to cover up a much-chubbier body than she sported now.
He flipped through the stack. There were a few of her with her siblings. One with a guy who had to be the infamous cop brother (they looked too alike for him to be anything other than family), a few more of her working in the field with colleagues, one of her in front of a lecture hall, teaching. None were overly remarkable, except for the fact she was much younger, but the last one made him pause.
Her arm was around an older guy with brown hair slightly gray at the temples, sporting a deep tan and a worn, rugged face. She was smiling, he appeared to be scowling. Both were wearing sunglasses, and they were standing on a boat, cool blue water glittering behind them.
But it wasn’t the location that stopped Rafe. It was the fact her hand covered his on her stomach. And looking closer, he realized she hadn’t been chubby in those pictures, she’d been pregnant.
Pregnant? Lisa?
He glanced across the room to where she was busy sorting papers in the trunk, paying no attention to him. He looked back at the photo. It was definitely her. No question about it. And because these pictures were with Stone’s research, it was pretty obvious the guy with her was none other than the dead archaeologist.
She’d had his baby? He opened his mouth to ask that very question, then closed it quickly.
Maybe she hadn’t. In the photo it looked like she was just starting to show. He flipped the paper over and glanced at the date: May 23. Stone had died sometime in the middle of June. Which meant this picture was taken just before his death.
Rafe bit the inside of his lip. Hailey’s cousin had looked like that when she’d been…what, five months along? Six? Fifteen years ago, how late could a woman legally have an abortion? If the guy had just died, would she have gone ahead with the pregnancy?
His gut said yes, but he couldn’t be sure. Maybe she’d given the kid up for adoption. That was always a possibility.Either way, it was pretty obvious Dr. Maxwell didn’t have any children now, and from all his research, he knew she was the ultra-career-driven female. He’d watched her with the kids downstairs. She was a good aunt, teasing them, playing with them when they begged for her attention, but when all was said and done, she kept her distance.
Lisa let out a long breath and stretched her back. “I think that’s about it.”
Rafe slipped the picture in his back pocket and replaced the others.
She stood. “Let’s get it boxed up, and then we can get out of here.”
He followed her lead and reached for the lid. Getting out of here sounded pretty damn good right about now. “Works for me.”
That hadn’t been nearly as bad as she’d thought it would be. Once Rafe had shut up and stopped making smart-mouthed comments, he’d worked fairly well and pulled his own weight. And, Lisa had to admit, going through Doug’s old papers hadn’t affected her as she’d expected.
She’d tossed all those old pictures—thank God. Not seeing his face helped. But she was still apprehensive about reading his notes in depth. It would invariably bring up memories and emotions she wouldn’t be able to hide. She
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