Page 69 of One in a Million
“I’m fine. Just tired. I didn’t know the meal would turn out to be so . . . stressful. Is that a good word for it?”
“As good as any. But you held your own.”
“I suppose I did. But it was all I could do to keep myself under control.”
Roper stood. “Well, you can let yourself go now. You’ve had your dinner and proven your point. Now it’s time you got some rest. Can I help you upstairs to your room?”
Lila almost said yes. But there was the question of appearances. If it reached Madeleine’s ears—by way of Mariah—that Roper had escorted her upstairs, the report could be blown up into something it wasn’t.
But there was an even deeper reason for caution. If Roper were to help her to her room, the temptation to invite him in could prove too compelling to resist—especially if he didn’t say no.
“I’ll be fine.” Lila shook her head. Their relationship worked because of the invisible line they’d drawn between them. Crossing that line, even by a step, would create nothing but trouble.
Mariah came out of the kitchen and began gathering up the dishes. She’d probably overheard everything that had been said at the table, but it wasn’t her place to mention it.
“Let me make you an offer, Mariah,” Roper said. “I’ll finish clearing the table if you’ll help this lady upstairs and see that she gets to bed. She’s had a long, rough day. We don’t want her ending up on the floor.”
“I can do it. There’s no need for you—” Mariah protested.
“No, fair’s fair,” Roper said. “You’ve had a long day, too. I’ll leave when I’ve finished.” He shot Lila a stern glance. “Get going, Boss. Call me if you need anything. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Too tired to argue, Lila allowed Mariah to support her up the stairs to her room.
* * *
Sam found Jasmine on the patio. She was huddled in a chair, gazing at the reflected moon in the pool.
“Hi.” He pulled up another chair and sat down next to her. She didn’t reply or even look at him.
“For what it’s worth,” he said, “I was proud of you in there.”
“For what?”
“For telling the truth.”
“The truth doesn’t buy me a thing,” she said. “It just saves me the worry that my family will find out what I did. That poor, sweet cowboy is still dead. That awful animal is still on the loose, and Charlie will never give my car back. Nothing’s changed—except that my mother will probably disinherit me.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam said.
“Don’t be. I’ve been making bad decisions most of my life. I just added a few more to the string.” She pulled her skirt above her knees and stretched her glorious legs in front of her. A sudden kick sent one sandal flying into the water. She kicked the other one after it. They sank out of sight.
“Regret is a wasted emotion, Jasmine,” Sam said. “I’m still learning that myself. You can’t go back. All you can do is learn from your experience and move forward.”
“You sound like one of those self-help articles. That might be true with some things—like my drunken romp with that jerk from the saloon. But when your bad decision has hurt other people, you live with it forever.” Her fingers raked her curls back from her face. “You and me—was that a bad decision, Sam? Did I hurt you?”
He took a moment to think about her question. His night with Jasmine had compromised him professionally. But on a deeper level, he wasn’t sorry. Given the chance, he wouldn’t hesitate to take her to his bed again.
“You didn’t hurt me,” he said. “It was more like you saved me.”
Her laugh was laced with irony. “Saved you? That’s a good one. I don’t have an unselfish bone in my body. I didn’t do it for you. I did it for me—because I needed you.”
“Then I guess we both got what we needed.”
“I guess we did. I may not be a saint. But I’ve never lied to you, Sam. And I swear to God I didn’t kill my father. If that isn’t good enough for you, then I’m out of luck.”
And you didn’t tamper with the brakes on Lila’s car?That question could wait until he’d checked out other possibilities, Sam told himself. But as long as she was here, he had a different question to ask her.
“Did you know your father was cheating on Lila?”