Trail of Lies by Margaret Daley Page B

the end she giggled. “Silly. This is your song.”
    â€œBut it isn’t my birthday.”
    â€œYou have to pretend.”
    Pretending he knew how to do. For seventeen years he’d been pretending to be a father and not doing such a good job, according to both Cheryl and Clay. “I’ll remember that next time.”
    Reentering the kitchen, he immediately captured Melora’s attention and saw the twinkle in her eyes. Her mouth twitched as if she could barely contain her laughter. He could imagine how he sounded—off-key, stumbling over the words to a simple well-known song.
    â€œIt’s been a while since I sang that,” he said to her as he sat at the table set for three. “Juanita isn’t joining us?”
    â€œShe’s going out with a friend. She does most Mondays.”
    He lowered his voice and said, “So it isn’t my presence that’s keeping her away?”
    â€œDon’t flatter yourself.”
    â€œI understand, Juanita, you’re leaving us to enjoy all this delicious food alone.” Daniel gestured toward the table laden with a roasted chicken, cooked potatoes, carrots,onions and celery. “If I cooked all this, I wouldn’t be able to resist sampling it. Must be an important person to keep you away…” he drew in a deep breath of the smells tempting him to salivate “…from this.”
    The housekeeper pinned her dark eyes on Daniel. “I’ve tasted my own cooking before.” She untied an apron she had around her waist, slung it over the back of a chair and strode toward the hallway that led to her suite of rooms.
    â€œShe goes to see her older sister at Uncle Tyler’s.” Melora took her seat.
    â€œOlder sister?” Which one? When he investigated Juanita, he’d learned she had three.
    â€œCarmen is Uncle Tyler’s housekeeper.”
    â€œI see.” He couldn’t shake the feeling the reserved housekeeper wanted to avoid him. Why? Was it as Melora had said and Juanita didn’t trust law enforcement or was it something else? The preliminary information Evan had found on the housekeeper didn’t indicate anything that would make him think she was hiding something, but still the niggling sensation he’d learned to listen to plagued him when he was around the woman.
    â€œC’mon, Mr. Riley. Mommy’s waiting to say the blessing.”
    Daniel sat. “Just wondering if Juanita had a date.”
    â€œLike on TV?” Kaitlyn took a gulp of her milk, leaving a white mustache as evidence.
    â€œHoney, remember the blessing. You need to wait.”
    The little girl leaned toward Daniel and whispered loud enough that Juanita could probably hear it in her room. “See what I mean?”
    He winked at Kaitlyn, who had her mother’s features but the coloring of her father. “Yes, I do.”
    Melora blessed the meal and not a second later Kaitlyn dived into her food as though she hadn’t eaten in days.“We’re not racing to see who is going to finish first, honey.”
    Kaitlyn paused shoveling in the vegetables and slowed her movements almost to a crawl—that lasted all of ten seconds.
    Daniel kept his chuckle to himself, his gaze connecting with Melora’s across the table. In that moment he felt her intense protectiveness toward her daughter, and he could begin to understand why she didn’t know what to do when the threats started. He was exposed to evil in his job, but not Melora. She spent her time raising her daughter and volunteering to help others. Something inside him softened toward Melora as if he could place himself in her shoes and see where she was coming from. He did know he would do anything to protect Clay even if their relationship was rocky.
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    â€œIt’s been a long day, honey. It’s time for you to get some sleep.” Melora’s body still ached from the wreck that morning. She covered Kaitlyn with