her lair. âWeâll see.â
He thought he heard the woman utter a curse in response, but he wasnât sure. All he wanted to do was get out of there.
Â
On the way back to Orange County, Kullen struggled to get his temper under wraps and back on an even keel. Elizabeth Dalton obviously thought she had the right to play God with peopleâs lives. It took him the better part of twenty miles to get himself under control.
Since heâd signed himself out of the office beforeheâd left to see Mrs. Dalton, he was free to go home. He thought of stopping for a beer.
Or three.
But then heâd have to wait several hours before he was able to drive home and that held no appeal for him. But he did want some company and at least one beer, if not more.
As he got off the 405 freeway, a convenience store caught his attention. He pulled up to it and picked up a six-pack of his favorite brand of amber refreshment, and a couple of other items as well.
He decided to drop by Lilliâs place and give her an up date. He wanted to tell her about the command performance before Elizabeth Dalton, the Red Queen, beat him to it and called Lilli herself, twisting facts to suit her purposes. The woman was capable of a great many things that didnât come under the heading of Love Thy Neighbor.
He wanted to assure Lilli that if heâd harbored any doubts about going to the mat with this case, those doubts were now completely and permanently emulsified. Elizabeth Dalton had seen to that.
And then he wanted to ask Lilli how she had refrained from punching the woman out when Mrs. Dalton had initially made the offer to, in effect, âbuyâ Lilliâs son and take him from her. One woman could hit another woman, whereupon a man could not.
Rules could be very annoying.
By the time he finally pulled up in front of Lilliâs house, twilight tip-toed. He sat in his car for a moment, wondering if he would disturb her by coming over unannounced like this. And while he sat, debating, it struckhim how much more real this small, tidy two-story house was than the one that Elizabeth Dalton rattled around in.
Taking a breath, he picked up the bag of goods heâd bought at the convenience store and got out of the car.
Â
It had been one of those days when she felt she was going ninety miles an hour while everyone else was going a hundred and ten. With an incredible number of tasks to accomplish, Lilli was falling behind and she hated that.
Rochelle, one of the two salesgirls who worked for her at the boutique she managed, had called in sick this morning. The other salesgirl, a cheerful little thing named Judy, had left the shop early to pick up relatives flying in from Phoenix.
That left only Lilli to handle the customers and the inventory. The latter needed to be completed by the end of the week if she had any hopes of placing a timely order with the shopâs suppliers. If the order didnât go through, there would be empty shelves and empty hangers on the racks next month, which the owner of the shop wouldnât appreciate.
Days like today made her feel as if she were holding on by the tips of her fingers. And coming perilously close to losing her grip and falling down into the abyss.
All she really wanted to do was stay home with her son and close the door to keep the rest of the world from barging in. But if she gave in to that overwhelming desire, her carefully constructed world would fall apart around them.
It still might, but she chased that thought away.
Shorthanded, sheâd been late getting home. She knew that her mother, bless her, was always there to pick up the slack, but she desperately needed some alone time with her son. Desperately needed to unwind and pretend, just for a little while, that everything was all right and would continue to be that way.
Her mother had left fewer than ten minutes ago. Because of her, dinner was waiting for them on the stove and Jonathan had
He thought he heard the woman utter a curse in response, but he wasnât sure. All he wanted to do was get out of there.
Â
On the way back to Orange County, Kullen struggled to get his temper under wraps and back on an even keel. Elizabeth Dalton obviously thought she had the right to play God with peopleâs lives. It took him the better part of twenty miles to get himself under control.
Since heâd signed himself out of the office beforeheâd left to see Mrs. Dalton, he was free to go home. He thought of stopping for a beer.
Or three.
But then heâd have to wait several hours before he was able to drive home and that held no appeal for him. But he did want some company and at least one beer, if not more.
As he got off the 405 freeway, a convenience store caught his attention. He pulled up to it and picked up a six-pack of his favorite brand of amber refreshment, and a couple of other items as well.
He decided to drop by Lilliâs place and give her an up date. He wanted to tell her about the command performance before Elizabeth Dalton, the Red Queen, beat him to it and called Lilli herself, twisting facts to suit her purposes. The woman was capable of a great many things that didnât come under the heading of Love Thy Neighbor.
He wanted to assure Lilli that if heâd harbored any doubts about going to the mat with this case, those doubts were now completely and permanently emulsified. Elizabeth Dalton had seen to that.
And then he wanted to ask Lilli how she had refrained from punching the woman out when Mrs. Dalton had initially made the offer to, in effect, âbuyâ Lilliâs son and take him from her. One woman could hit another woman, whereupon a man could not.
Rules could be very annoying.
By the time he finally pulled up in front of Lilliâs house, twilight tip-toed. He sat in his car for a moment, wondering if he would disturb her by coming over unannounced like this. And while he sat, debating, it struckhim how much more real this small, tidy two-story house was than the one that Elizabeth Dalton rattled around in.
Taking a breath, he picked up the bag of goods heâd bought at the convenience store and got out of the car.
Â
It had been one of those days when she felt she was going ninety miles an hour while everyone else was going a hundred and ten. With an incredible number of tasks to accomplish, Lilli was falling behind and she hated that.
Rochelle, one of the two salesgirls who worked for her at the boutique she managed, had called in sick this morning. The other salesgirl, a cheerful little thing named Judy, had left the shop early to pick up relatives flying in from Phoenix.
That left only Lilli to handle the customers and the inventory. The latter needed to be completed by the end of the week if she had any hopes of placing a timely order with the shopâs suppliers. If the order didnât go through, there would be empty shelves and empty hangers on the racks next month, which the owner of the shop wouldnât appreciate.
Days like today made her feel as if she were holding on by the tips of her fingers. And coming perilously close to losing her grip and falling down into the abyss.
All she really wanted to do was stay home with her son and close the door to keep the rest of the world from barging in. But if she gave in to that overwhelming desire, her carefully constructed world would fall apart around them.
It still might, but she chased that thought away.
Shorthanded, sheâd been late getting home. She knew that her mother, bless her, was always there to pick up the slack, but she desperately needed some alone time with her son. Desperately needed to unwind and pretend, just for a little while, that everything was all right and would continue to be that way.
Her mother had left fewer than ten minutes ago. Because of her, dinner was waiting for them on the stove and Jonathan had
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