1 Depth of Field by Audrey Claire Read Free Book Online Page B

his lips and hardening in the eyes said he resented it or maybe how he was treated because of it. “I was a regular guy from an average family. She was the pampered princess, and I was supposed to fall in line with that. Not work so much that I neglected her.”
    He surged to his feet just as I was about to comment. To have opened up to me so quickly, a stranger—worse, a suspect in a murder he was investigating—must have annoyed him. I didn’t like recalling that part. I didn’t want to let go of the conversation either. “You shouldn’t feel bad because you wanted to keep something of yourself in that situation.”
    He peered over his shoulder at me and then faced the front of the shop, looking out onto the street. I tried again. “Many women face that kind of situation every day, but it’s odd when a man has to deal with it.”
    “Have you ever been married?”
    He’d turned the tables on me. I didn’t want to talk about myself. “No.”
    When he looked at me, I bristled, and he raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m judging you.”
    “I—”
    “Admit it.”
    “I don’t think anything of the sort.” I couldn’t be honest in that instant because in truth, I judged myself all the time. Then, like he had done, I found myself speaking about what I had kept in my heart because he was there and willing to listen. “You can’t imagine what it’s like to be condemned for something you didn’t do. To not be allowed to grieve because the police are too busy assuming you…”
    “Then you must hate all cops.”
    “I would if I blamed them.”
    “Then you blame yourself for your weakness?” He did not pull punches, but I liked that about him. My sister’s husband, Colin, had been all kind words, gentleness, and a murderer. Up until the time I found out the truth about him, I had never seen him angry or heard him raise his voice. He had seemed like the perfect human being, which should have clued me in that something wasn’t right. Pain gripped my heart as if it had all happened days ago, and I bowed my head, and squeezed my eyes shut.
    “It helps to talk about it,” Spencer whispered.
    I jumped up to go check on my clothes, although I knew not much time had passed for the machine to complete its cycle. I didn’t want to talk about my foolishness. The front door opened. Someone had placed a cowbell above it, and the hollow clank seemed appropriate to the location. Two teenagers, a boy and a girl started in. They carried nothing in their hands, and as far as I had seen, there were no clothes left unattended in in any of the machines. The couple spotted Spencer. Their eyes widened in alarm, and they backed out in a hurry. Spencer walked past me, headed toward the exit.
    “Where are you going?” I called out.
    “Always on the job.”
    “But…”
    He disappeared through the exit, and I debated whether I wanted to follow. Fortunately, I recalled I was not a cop and did not interfere in their affairs. While Spencer was gone, his clothes finished their cycle, but I left them in the machine. Not because I didn’t want to help him out, but because I was not applying for the job of his new girlfriend.
    After a few minutes, Spencer returned, and curiosity got the better of me. “Were they up to something?”
    “Looking for a place to make out.”
    “And you said?”
    He grinned. “I didn’t make suggestions, if that’s what you’re asking.”
    I laughed, liking his sense of humor, and once again we fell in to a comfortable routine of washing, drying, and folding laundry. When we were done, Spencer helped me load my clothes into my car, and even though I told him it wasn’t necessary, he followed me home in his squad car. Just what I needed for someone up at that hour spotting the sheriff at my place.
    He hoisted my two tall baskets like they were nothing and transported them to my door. As usual, music drifted down the stairs from Talia’s apartment to mine. Spencer raised his eyebrows at me, and I