turned heavy as if trying to calm himself.
“ Kendra ?” he mumbled. “Will you hate me if I can prove Terrel wrong?”
She set her fork down and leaned back in her chair. “How can you?”
He took in a deep breath then straightened, meeting her eyes. “If I remember correctly, my father told me about a disturbing article written in the newspaper around that time. The article was about the Montgomery family secrets.” His hard jaw relaxed. “Actually, the article talked more about Terrel than it did Joshua. I remember my father telling me how upset it made Lisa.”
A small throb began to build in her head. “What did it say?”
He shook his head. “I think I’ll take you to the library tomorrow and we’ll look up the article in the archives together.” He pushed away from the table and stood.
“Eli.” Her voice rose. “Tell me what the article said.”
He took a few steps toward the hallway, then stopped, glancing over his shoulder. “Let’s wait and see what we find out tomorrow.”
Chapter Five
Another sleepless night had passed and Kendra was sure if she had any more of these, the bags underneath her eyes would stay permanently. Instead of being a fashion designer, people would think she changed professions and had become a boxer. She took a cool shower hoping to bring down the swelling, but even after all the make-up she applied she still looked like Mike Tyson… Well, almost, anyway.
She dressed in a simple pair of gray trousers, a crop-top white shirt that showed a little of her tummy, then accented her attire with gray and white striped suspenders. This outfit wasn’t one she’d designed, but because it wasn’t a popular fashion, people tended to think her creative mind was at work again.
She left her hair down, not even bothering to curl it. Lately, she’d been too tired even to get dressed in the morning. She left the apartment with Eli at ten o’clock, the time she knew the library would open.
Eli wore another pair of new jeans and a green pullover shirt. At least he dressed a little better than when she’d first met him. Right now he looked good enough to cuddle next to and stay that way for the rest of her life, so she tried not to stare directly into his smoldering eyes. She should have let him buy those ugly, outdated outfits yesterday. Maybe she wouldn’t think this way about him.
Thankfully, he didn’t talk about their passionate moment last night. Hopefully, he never would. During the night as she tossed and turned, she realized how wrong it was to let him pin her against the wall and kiss her neck. She wasn’t an animal. Yet, she’d acted like one. From now on, she had to remain in control. Just because she had doubts about her wedding didn’t mean she could kiss the next available guy who walked by .
Only a handful of people were at the library this early, so an employee showed them into a private room to look through the archives. They each sat at a different computer and scanned through all the articles written the month of Adam Montgomery’s death.
The first page about the Montgomery family was about Adam’s life. Kendra scanned across the full screen, fascinated with the kind of life he’d led. The article honored him, and the black and white photo slightly resembled Eli with the square jaw of authority, especially, the puppy-dog eyes and knee-buckling smile. Good looks must run in the family.
She skipped over a few more pages, and then moved on to another week. After a couple of minutes, Eli sat up straight beside her at his computer. She glanced his way. His eyes narrowed; his mouth drooped in a frown.
She touched his arm. “What is it?”
“It’s an article about Adam Montgomery’s funeral.”
She slid her chair next to his and leaned in to read the newspaper clipping.
“I know you can’t see the picture very well, but that man right there,” he said, pointing to a broad figure that stood beside the casket in the photo, “is Joshua