Read Online Drape Expectations by Karen Rose Smith - Free Book Online

here.”
    Caprice couldn’t see the officer from her side of the car, but she heard him say, “Stay in the car.”
    â€œGot it,” Grant answered, cooperating.
    Again, a heart-thumping awareness overtook the two of them. As always, when she felt disconcerted, she made conversation. “What did you do with Patches?” Since Grant had adopted the pup, he’d been mostly working from his home, taking Patches to his office in the building with Vince now and then.
    â€œDon’t worry. My neighbor’s taking care of him. What about you?”
    â€œRoz was having lunch with me. She’s going to stay awhile. . . .”
    â€œDid you call Vince before you called me?” Grant asked. There seemed to be an underlying message there. They had both done legal work for Ace.
    â€œNo.” For some reason, she added, “Roz told me he’d be in court all day.”
    â€œShe’s right,” Grant confirmed. “They probably know each other’s whereabouts most of the time now.”
    Making conversation, Caprice said, “Vince has been less obsessive about work since he’s been dating her. He tries to leave the office at a decent time so they can have dinner together.”
    â€œThat’s what finding the right woman will do. Work just doesn’t mean quite as much.”
    She blinked. Grant’s work had seen him through a difficult time. Did Grant feel work didn’t mean as much as it once did for him, too?
    â€œVince needs to have a life as well as his work,” she agreed. Then she added, “You do, too.”
    With one of his shrugs, he confessed, “Patches has saved me from eighty-hour weeks. When I worked in Pittsburgh in corporate law, there were sometimes hundred-hour weeks. That’s one of the reasons—” He stopped abruptly.
    â€œOne of the reasons what?”
    Looking out the window toward Alanna’s house, he was silent for a while, and she thought he was going to ignore her question. But then in a gruff voice, he answered, “Work was one of the reasons I wasn’t paying enough attention when Sally died. I hadn’t taken parenting classes. I hadn’t had enough experience. I didn’t realize a dad has to be there as much as a mom, for all the everyday things as well as the birthday parties. My ignorance cost us our child.”
    She turned toward him. “Oh, Grant, you can’t blame yourself.”
    After a moment, he responded, “I don’t blame just myself. Naomi and I were both to blame. But if I’d have been awake at the wheel, I could have prevented it.”
    She doubted that. Sometimes tragedy couldn’t be prevented, no matter how much you wanted to think otherwise.
    This was the first time Grant had ever talked about what happened to his little girl. This was not where Caprice would have expected him to do it. But she wasn’t going to stop him if he was willing to share.
    It seemed, though, that this little bit had been quite enough of sharing because he turned away toward the house again and his mouth grew tight. She knew from the straightness of his shoulders and his erect posture that he didn’t want to say more.
    A little sharing was better than none.
    Two officers were running crime scene tape around the property—up the driveway and across the front lawn. Although she couldn’t see them, they’d most likely wrap it around the side veranda and across the backyard, too. Crime scene techs from the York County Forensics Unit would let no square inch of the grid they devised go unturned.
    A half hour passed and no one came to the car again, though Caprice had seen Detective Brett Carstead arrive and go inside. Roz had texted Caprice, telling her that Lady and Sophia were fine. Grant received a similar text from his neighbor.
    â€œSo Donna’s home from school this week for spring break?”
    Grant’s neighbor was a secretary in the Kismet