He smiled, a nice, warm smile that filled his whole face. No scowls—unlike someone else she could mention, who was heading over to her and looking quite menacing.
“I’m sure we’ll be in touch,” the detective said, and stood. He walked past Sam to the door where Jeremy was waiting. The two men headed out, deep in conversation.
Sam reached her table and paused to look at her closely. “You okay?”
Before she could respond, Claire took the seat next to her, her arm coming around her shoulder. “That was such a close call. If Sam hadn’t been down there with you, and you’d been locked in there all by yourself… I don’t want to even think about what could have happened.”
Hearing it said out loud like that, when Allie had barely been keeping the terrifying thought at bay… She shivered and looked up at Sam.
“It’s also possible,” he said, “if I hadn’t headed down with you, the door would have remained propped open, and you would’ve escaped as soon as you saw the fire.”
She puffed out a breath. “Maybe. Well, whatever the case…thank you.” She wished she knew what he was thinking, but his face was solemn and unreadable. He nodded again.
“I’m supposed to be going to dinner at Rick’s parents, but I’ve already left a message for him that I’m cancelling,” Claire said, referring to her fiancé. “I don’t think you need to be alone tonight. We can order in, watch some movies, and drink some wine. Lots of wine.”
“Absolutely not. I know how much planning has gone into tonight’s dinner, and how important it is for you. Besides, I’ll have Violet with me. I’ll be fine, really.”
Claire looked torn, but after another moment, slowly nodded. “Okay. But don’t forget our plans in the morning. I’ll pick you up around eight. Then we can swing by and get Molly.”
Oh, Lord. She didn’t even want to think about what her grandmother was going to say about all this when she heard. Claire’s phone rang, and she took a few steps away from the table to answer. Sam grabbed the open seat.
“You’re not a very convincing liar. And who is Violet?”
Damn. How did he know? It was Ryan’s weekend with their daughter, but she hadn’t wanted to put Claire out, so she had used the best excuse she could to ease her friend’s worry. “Violet’s my daughter.”
Sam’s brows crinkled up in surprise. “I hadn’t realized. Well, I’ll keep your little secret on one condition. You let me drive you home.” Allie opened her mouth to argue, but he held up his hand. “You don’t look like you’re in any condition to drive. You can barely hold that cup of coffee in your hands without it trembling. I don’t have any plans tonight, and I’d be happy to be of assistance.”
She still hesitated.
“We can worry about getting your car tomorrow,” he continued. “Besides, I thought we could also discuss what your plans are for Mr. Williams’s video. I’d place bets most of the records downstairs are now destroyed. Maybe we can think of an alternate plan. As for Jeremy’s assignment of putting together a centennial video”—his lips quirked up in a smile— “I’m assuming the fire was a godsend. You should be off the hook for that one.”
Allie couldn’t stop the gratifying smile that stretched across her face. He was so right. Thank goodness she didn’t have to worry about that unpleasant task anymore.
“Then it’s settled,” he said when he saw her smile. “I’m taking you home.”
Chapter Five
Allie’s small, red brick bungalow came into sight, and she exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Lucky she had pushed past her abhorrence for yard work last weekend and cleared the lawn and surrounding flower beds of weeds and leaves. She wouldn’t want Sam to think less of her home than it deserved. It was no palace, but she loved it.
He pulled into the driveway. She grabbed her purse and the pizza they had stopped for and headed up the walkway to unlock the front door while Sam opened the trunk where they’d deposited the few boxes she’d first hauled out from the archives earlier that night. Before the fire.
She set the pizza on the counter and quickly surveyed her house to make sure nothing embarrassing had been left out. Because fire or not, she couldn’t shake off the one thought that had raced endless laps through her head the whole trip home.
Sam Fratto was coming to her house.
Ridiculous. All the same, she rushed over to her microwave where she kept a king-sized candy bar for her occasional chocolate-attacks and pushed it backward. It clunked as it hit the counter behind the microwave—well out of view.
Just in time. She heard his footsteps on the front porch. “You can set them in here on the kitchen table,” she called out.
He walked in, slid the two boxes onto the table, and looked around. “Nice place. Quaint. Two bedrooms?”
She gulped at the sight of Sam Fratto standing in her kitchen. Her stomach danced nervously. “Three, actually. It used to be my grandparents’. They had it built just after they were married, and they lived here until grandpa died, a few years before I was born.” She hung her keys on a hook by the coffee pot. “My grandma Molly stayed until four years ago, when she sold it to me and moved into the active retirement community a few miles from here. Coincidentally around the same time I split with my ex.”
“Ah. That was generous of her.” His lips curved up in a smile, and she tried to return his smile just as easily.
“I thought so. But any suspicions I may have had over her motives were soon dismissed when I saw how easily she threw herself into the activities at the center. Heck, Molly’s life is more active than mine, and she’s eighty-two. Let’s see…” She thought for a moment and came to stand next to him at the table. “Weekend bus trips to Wendover, Monday night bingo, bridge on Tuesdays, Saturday night Karaoke, and then there’s the senior volleyball that will be starting soon. So, her move wasn’t only the best thing for me and Violet, but apparently for her, too.”
Not to mention Molly’s love life, but Allie decided to spare Sam the gory details.