“Do you always cook a big breakfast—one with so much…animal fat?”
“Only when I have someone I need to fatten up.”
She crossed her legs as she toyed with her fork. “And how often is that?”
“Actually, this a first for me.”
“And if I eat like a good little girl?” she quipped.
“I’ll give you a ride home so you don’t miss all your appointments.”
“Generous of you,” she said sarcastically.
“Do I have something else you want?”
He had a lot to offer a woman, but marriage and family wasn’t on the list, and she wanted both. After David, she’d never be satisfied with a casual relationship. “I’d like a copy of that hippo picture.” She indicated the photograph she admired.
His eyes moved to it. “I could arrange that. Since we’re friends and all.” He brought his own plate to the table. “But there is one catch.”
“What’s that?”
“I need something from you in return.”
“And that is…”
She was expecting him to tease her some more, but he sobered. “Les Weaver’s contact information.”
Nearly dropping her fork, she cleared her throat. “You’re going to call him?”
“I have some questions for him, yes.”
Could the man who’d sent her that money have shot David on purpose? “The only thing I remember is that he’s from Coeur d’Alene.”
“Do you have his phone number?”
“At home somewhere. I kept a copy of the check he sent just in case I ever get audited by the IRS.”
“Great.”
She managed to choke down a few bites of scrambled egg while he made quick work of his own breakfast. “Isaac?”
His mouth was full so he didn’t answer, but he raised his head to let her know he was listening.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?” he said after he swallowed. “Helping me.”
His eyes met hers. “Maybe I don’t want you to think I’m all bad.”
“You’re joking, aren’t you?” she said uncertainly. He didn’t care what she or anyone else thought, and he’d done his best—for years—to make sure everyone knew it.
Taking his plate, he went to rinse it in the sink. “Yeah, I’m joking.”
It was eight o’clock, early enough that Claire hoped she’d be able to slip into her house without being seen by her sister. Leanne wasn’t an early riser, particularly if she’d been drinking the night before. But she was up and around today, and must’ve been watching through the window, because she came rolling toward Claire the minute Claire got out of Isaac’s truck.
“Where’ve you been?” she demanded as he drove off.
Claire smoothed her clothes. She didn’t want her sister to jump to any conclusions—as unavoidable as that seemed after having been out all night. “I ran into a bit of trouble.”
Eyes narrowed with suspicion and curiosity, her sister stared after Isaac’s truck. Claire hoped Leanne wouldn’t recognize it, but that wasn’t likely. Everyone knew Isaac. Thanks to the success of his work and his reputation for being enigmatic, he was a local celebrity. And since he took his vehicle off-road so often in order to reach the remote places where he filmed, it had a lift kit, a row bar with floodlights and a giant locking tool chest that made it distinctive.
“Trouble?” Leanne echoed. “What kind of trouble? Don’t tell me you’ve gone back to your old flame. Especially after what you said to me about stirring up gossip.”
Ducking her head, Claire searched her purse for her house key. “No, he just…put me up for the night.”
Leanne followed her to the door. “You’re telling me you stayed with Isaac Morgan but didn’t have sex with him, even for old times’ sake?”
Claire wished she’d never told Leanne about Isaac, but she had. Her whole family knew he’d broken her heart and the news had traveled from there.
“I didn’t sleep with him. Really.” For once… Her denial would be more convincing if she reminded her sister that she was still grieving over David, that she hadn’t even been willing to date anyone. But she’d been intimate with Isaac just the night before and felt too slimy using her love for her dead husband to support what was essentially a lie.
“That makes no sense.”
“What are you talking about?”
Claire stepped back and Leanne maneuvered herself into the living room, where she wheeled around to confront Claire. “What else would he want with you?”
“Maybe he likes me, Leanne,” she said evenly as she closed the door behind them. “Maybe he was being a nice, compassionate member of the community.”
“Right!” Leanne added a dramatic roll of her eyes. “If I remember correctly, he was never that compassionate to you before. You haven’t said much about him since you married David, but I’ve always gotten the impression that you don’t like him…after what happened.”
“It’s not like we’re enemies.” She explained about going out with Rusty and how she’d been walking on the side of the road when Isaac picked her up.
“So why didn’t he bring you here?”
“He said I needed to eat, but nothing was open.”
“You’re telling me Isaac wanted to make you dinner?”
It was true; he’d been set on it. But Claire wasn’t sure she’d believe it if she were Leanne. “He says I’m too thin.”
“Why does he care?”
Claire didn’t have an answer for that. If she had to guess, she’d say he felt guilty for the way their relationship had ended. But there was no telling what Isaac thought. For one thing, it could change from day to day depending on his mood. “Who knows?”
“What about after dinner?”
Grateful for the chance to turn her back, Claire put her purse on the kitchen counter. “I dozed off on the couch while he was cleaning up, so he threw a blanket over me and let me sleep.”
“That’s so unlike anything I’ve ever heard about him,” Leanne marveled. “He thinks he’s too good for the rest of us. He doesn’t mind using locals to get off—you learned that the hard way—but he’d never take anyone in Pineview seriously. We’re all hicks to the famous photographer.”
“Thanks for the reminder, but he loves this place.” He’d just told her so.
“He likes living in a remote location. That doesn’t mean he likes the people here.”
Claire had heard others charge Isaac with the same thing. He could seem arrogant. But some of that was simply a product of being so appealing. His good looks, his talent and keen mind intimidated people, made them search for some flaw in order to prove he wasn’t as perfect as he seemed. And he was more than willing to expose every weakness, just to show that he didn’t need their approval. “Let’s…give him the benefit of the doubt, okay?”
“He does you one kindness after how he treated you before and now you’re sticking up for him?”
Again she regretted ever letting her sister know how she’d felt about him. “I’m not sticking up for him. I’m trying to look at the whole picture. We were together a long time ago, and people change. He’s…guarded, but don’t forget he was abandoned as a little boy, then raised by Old Man Tippy, who scarcely said a word that wasn’t about his beloved photography. You remember how Tippy was. It’s understandable that Isaac might be unwilling—or unable—to get close to people.”
Leanne maneuvered her chair past the couch. “Oh, come on. He gets close to people all the time. He was close to you once. And there’ve certainly been others who’ve visited his place after dark and gone home so well-ridden they can hardly walk.”
The crudeness of that statement made Claire cringe. She didn’t like the image it created, or how foolish it implied she’d been. But Leanne wasn’t feeling the contempt she pretended to feel, at least not exclusively. Claire sensed envy, too—and the last thing she needed was for Leanne to come on to Isaac.