Skin Deep by Marissa Doyle Read Free Book Online Page B

set the table in the dining room and built a fire in the fireplace there as well. The light gleamed on the cherry dining table and the antique brass candlesticks, and she reflected on how cozy it was as they sat down to dinner. Derek had never wanted to eat in here when they were alone. He’d preferred a tray in front of the TV so he could watch the financial talking heads on CNBC. She’d usually ended up in the kitchen by herself, reading.
    The stroganoff was delicious. Wow. A compassionate, caring doctor who made house calls, wore cashmere sweaters, and was a wonderful cook to boot. Was Rob Mowbray too good to be true?
    He topped off their wineglasses. “Did Captain Howe call?”
    “Not yet. I guess that means there weren’t any leads from the Coast Guard.”
    “No.” Rob frowned down at his plate. “Did his behavior seem strange to you this morning?”
    So she hadn’t imagined that. “Yes, very. He couldn’t seem to get out of here fast enough, once he’d seen Aragorn. And did—”
    “Once he’d seen who?” Rob’s fork, heaped with stroganoff, stopped in mid-air.
    Drat. So much for not saying stupid things. “Oh, I, uh…Alasdair sort of reminds me of Viggo Mortensen in Lord of the Rings , so I…you know…” She tried to shrug nonchalantly.
    Rob’s fork continued to his mouth, and he chewed in silence.
    “Anyway, did you hear Captain Howe swear under his breath when you were talking about Alasdair? I wonder…” She paused and took a sip of wine, choosing her words carefully. “I wonder if maybe he knows him from somewhere, and wasn’t happy to hear he’s around. I’ve never heard any rumors about the Mattaquason police, but…” She let the rest of the sentence hang, for him to pick up if he chose.
    Rob shook his head. “I thought of that. But I haven’t heard any rumors either. As police departments go, ours seems to be fairly honest. Something personal, maybe?”
    “Maybe. But then shouldn’t he have said something if he knew them? Unless where he knew him from is something—”
    “Something an officer of the law shouldn’t be mixed up in,” Rob finished for her. “In which case, we’d best not get involved and move this guy and his kid out of here as quickly as possible.”
    “But I can’t just toss them out! What if Howe—”
    “All the more reason to get them out and not get involved, then.”
    “Then you do think there’s something going on?”
    Rob sighed. “I have no idea, Garland. I’m still fairly new here myself. Two years in a town like Mattaquason don’t make you an old-timer. Twenty years aren’t enough, sometimes. All I’m saying is if there is something unsavory going on, I don’t want you getting caught in it unawares.”
    “My friend Kathy Hayes was here this morning.” Garland pursued a piece of mushroom around her nearly empty plate and speared it. “She said more or less the same thing but I got the feeling that she was hiding something too. She threatened to call Captain Howe and force him to bring them to the hospital.” She shook her head impatiently. “I wish we knew who they are.”
    “That would make things easier, wouldn’t it?” Rob commented dryly as they carried their plates into the kitchen.
    They washed their few dishes in companionable silence then went to sit in front of the great room fireplace with brandies and a plate of exquisite truffles from the Candy Castle in downtown Mattaquason. “I cheated,” Rob had said with a grin. “Their chocolate is light-years better than anything I could come up with for dessert.”
    They sat on the blue and white couch where Conn had lain earlier that day, not touching but not far apart. Garland curled her legs under her and stared out the sliding doors into the night, too relaxed to get up and pull the curtains shut. She was here. All the months of emotional upheaval and wrangling with lawyers over the petty details of the dissolution of her and Derek’s marriage were over. She was ready