Anne Winston - Ready for Marriage?

‘‘It’s not that.’’ Now that she had his attention, she went on to explain about the missing funds.

Rusty looked shocked. ‘‘Are you sure?’’ he asked several times. ‘‘Cathie couldn’t have done that. Could she?’’ But there was a kernel of doubt in his tone.

‘‘I can’t believe it, either,’’ Kristin said.

‘‘Jeez.’’ He smoothed a hand over his thick, wavy copper hair. ‘‘Have you told the police?’’

‘‘Not yet.’’

‘‘So you haven’t told anyone else. That’s probably a good thing.’’ His tone assumed she hadn’t, and she didn’t correct him. It hadn’t really been a question. Derek was the only other person who knew, and since he was going to be sitting on the board, he would have to know soon anyway.

‘‘I brought a summary of the information along.’’ She handed the folder across the table.

Rusty stashed it in his briefcase as though it might contain illegal drugs. ‘‘God, Kristin, be careful with that. The last thing we need is negative publicity for the sanctuary. Can you imagine what would happen to donations if this gets out?’’

She shuddered. ‘‘I don’t even want to think about it. I’ve been having nightmares already.’’

‘‘I don’t think we should tell anyone yet,’’ he said. ‘‘You haven’t found anything linking her to this?’’

‘‘Not yet,’’ she said.

‘‘Could you possibly be wrong? Could it just be a clerical error with transposed numbers or something?’’

She shook her head. ‘‘That was the first thing I was hoping for, too.’’

Rusty sighed and plunged both hands into his hair, resting his elbows on the table. ‘‘God, it makes no sense. Why would she have done it? Was she having financial problems?’’

‘‘Not that I know of.’’ She shrugged helplessly. She knew how he was feeling. She’d been through all of these thoughts a million times.

‘‘All right.’’ He sighed. ‘‘Tell you what. You keep looking to see if there’s anything you haven’t found yet. I’ll make some very discreet inquiries of my banking friends and run a credit check to see if she was spending any odd amounts of money.’’ He shook his head. ‘‘There’s no point in blackening her good name if she really wasn’t involved.’’

‘‘But who else could it be?’’ she asked. ‘‘You and Walker are the only other two people who could access sanctuary funds, right?’’

‘‘Unless,’’ Rusty said slowly, ‘‘someone was forging signatures or something.’’

That hadn’t occurred to her and she felt better immediately. Maybe Cathie really hadn’t had anything to do with embezzling the money.

She refused dessert on the grounds that she had a lot of work waiting, and parted company with Rusty soon afterward. As she drove back to the sanctuary, her mind was whirling with thoughts. She’d have to look at some of those cancelled checks again. If it had been done electronically, it would be much more difficult to find.

Kristin’s date that evening was fun. Rod, the man she’d met when he came to do some electrical work with the shelter, had told her to dress casually. She was glad she’d heeded his advice and worn a pair of her new denim shorts.

He took her miniature golfing, then to dinner at a Mexican restaurant where they sat outside on a small stone terrace and drank margaritas while their dinners were made. Rod’s partner in his business joined them with a date of his own, and although Kristin had never met either of them before, they were pleasant and amusing dinner companions.

He drove a small, modern sports car with a convertible top and he’d folded it down at her request. Rod was unquestionably attractive. He was in great shape, his sense of humor was wicked yet not unkind and his friends were as nice as he was.

And yet she felt a little deflated at the end of the evening when he walked her to her door. She caught herself comparing him to Derek at least five times that evening and she was thoroughly annoyed that she couldn’t even go out on a date without thoughts of the wretched man intruding.

Rod, unaware of her mood, slid an arm around her waist as they walked toward her stoop. At the door, he brought her to a halt, turning to face her. ‘‘I had a great time this evening, Kristin.’’

‘‘So did I,’’ she forced herself to say lightly.

‘‘I’d like to see you again.’’

‘‘It was fun,’’ she said without committing herself. ‘‘I enjoyed meeting Kevin and Leslie.’’

‘‘How about if I call you next week and we see if we can schedule another get-together?’’

‘‘All right.’’ She hadn’t actually said she’d go out with him, she told herself. All she’d agreed to was receiving his phone call.

He looked down at her, then put his hands on her shoulders and drew her near. She lifted her face for his kiss, allowing the gentle pressure for a moment before drawing back a fraction, and with a last warm smile, Rod said, ‘‘Good night.’’

‘‘Good night.’’ She waved him off and stood on the stoop for a moment before she turned and unlocked her door. Rats . What had she been hoping for? Fireworks? Rod’s kiss had been pleasant, but there was no zing . At least, not on her part.

She went inside and shut her door, then leaned back against it, thinking. It hadn’t left her breathless and shaking, the way she’d felt after that first night Derek had kissed her. It hadn’t left her wanting more, wanting to press herself against every hard inch of him, wanting his hands to touch all the secret, throbbing parts of her that quivered with desire.

A knock on the door scared her so badly she actually gave a small scream as she leaped away from the cool surface against which she’d been lingering. One hand flew to the base of her throat. ‘‘Who is it?’’ she called cautiously, pushing the small button that illuminated her watch face. Good grief. It was after eleven. Who in the world—

‘‘It’s Derek. Let me in, Kris.’’

Six

Kristin turned and stared at the closed door. Derek? How could that be? Then she realized that it must be his Friday night on call. He and another local vet took turns covering weekends to give each other a break. But—

‘‘Where’s Mollie?’’ she asked as she pulled the door open.

‘‘Faye’s daughter Sissy is keeping her overnight since I’m on call,’’ he said tersely. ‘‘Who was that? And didn’t you ever learn you shouldn’t kiss a guy after a first date?’’

She fought back twin surges of jealousy and irritation. Mollie had never had a baby-sitter other than Kristin or Faye before. And what was he doing questioning her?

‘‘You’re getting really tiresome,’’ she told him. ‘‘How do you know that was our first date? As I know I’ve said before, I have no intention of telling you about the men in my life.’’ She lifted her chin and started to close the door in his face. ‘‘Now if that’s all you came by for, I’d like you to leave.’’

Derek slapped his palm flat against the door, easily preventing her from closing it. ‘‘Wait.’’ She heard him inhale a deep breath, then slowly release it. ‘‘Kris, just wait a minute.’’ He took a deep breath. ‘‘Can I come in?’’

She let a tense silence fall while she debated the wisdom of allowing him to enter. But finally, her desire for his company won out over common sense. ‘‘All right.’’ She stepped back and opened the door. ‘‘But one more question about anything that’s none of your business, and you’re history, buddy.’’

She hadn’t even turned on any lights yet, and the room was barely illuminated by a small crystal lamp whose base she had switched on before she left. She started to move away from him, but Derek caught her hand. ‘‘Kris?’’