Jeanne Glidewell - Lexie Starr 04 - With This Ring by Jeanne Glidewell Read Free Book Online Page B

going off on your own and putting yourself in any kind of danger, but I know I can’t tell you what to do.”
    “I won’t put myself in the middle of any kind of dangerous situation,” I said.
    “I’ve heard that before.”
    “Yes, strange things have happened in the past, but you know I’m always as cautious as possible,” I said.
    “No, I don’t know that,” Stone said. “For someone who’s always cautious, you sure seem to end up in the emergency room a lot. Plus, you don’t want to impede the detectives’ progress or get under their skin. I hope you’ll at least keep me apprised of what you’re up to, and I’ll help you out whenever I can, because I’d like to know you’ll be protected from harm and mayhem. Unfortunately, you don’t find mayhem. It has a tendency to find you. It follows you around like a shadow, and that’s what concerns me. I doubt if my presence alone can prevent it, or keep your safety from being jeopardized, but I’d feel better if I were with you. To be perfectly honest, this goes way beyond my better judgment.”
    “I know you’ve got a lot to get done this week, as do I. I’m not going to go out of my way to get involved. I’m just going to keep my eyes and ears open in case I can pick up on any clues that might be overlooked by the investigators. I realize it’s not likely to do any good, but I just hate the idea of postponing this wedding,” I said.
    “Lexie, whether or not to postpone the wedding is entirely up to you. I’m fine with whatever decision you make. I’m not overly concerned with what our fellow church members think about our decision—or anyone else for that matter. They’re not the ones who have friends and family members already planning on coming in from all over to attend the ceremony. A lot of planning and scheduling has gone into this event, and if you want to go ahead with the wedding as planned, it’s all right by me. Just promise me you’ll be careful if you do decide to do any snooping around. Okay?”
    “I promise to go about this carefully and judiciously,” I said. I was ready to promise him anything. Or at least I would promise him anything but never to do anything impulsive again, because I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell I could ever control my impulses to that extent. Impulsiveness was a trait I was born with and one I’d had to learn to live with. I was true to my Zodiac sign of Aries. Stone was having to learn to cope with my impulsiveness now, and not having an easy time of it.
    Still, I felt so much better already just knowing I wouldn’t have to sneak around behind Stone’s back, or at least not as much as I would have had to otherwise. And knowing he would go along with whatever I decided to do about the wedding was a load off my mind too. “By the way, how did you find out I spoke with Mr. Blake?”
    “The investigating squad interviewed him again early this afternoon and he told them about seeing someone move the blinds over the kitchen sink, and shouting what sounded like ‘peas’ at five-thirty in the morning. When they asked him why he was just now relating new details to them, he told them he’d already reported it to their WSRC this morning, so it should already be in their files. After he described you to the officers, it didn’t take Wyatt long to figure out who’d spoken with Mr. Blake earlier this morning. He knows you almost as well as I do by now, and is as concerned about your safety as I am. You do realize that was a foolish thing to do, don’t you?”
    “I do now, and I’m truly sorry. Do you think I’m in legal trouble for impersonating an officer? I didn’t mean to. It’s not at all what I had in mind. It just sort of happened that way because I wasn’t thinking of the consequences at the time.”
    “Do you ever consider the consequences before you act? And no, thanks to Wyatt, you’re off the hook. But the chief recommended you didn’t try a stunt like that again. And I highly