"I'm still prepared," he said softly.
Desire coiled tightly inside Allie. She wanted to let Clay lead her upstairs, but she knew she'd be too embarrassed to face Molly in the morning. "I'd better get home," she said.
"Molly doesn't care, Allie."
"I know. It's just..." She felt her cheeks grow hot at the thought of Molly overhearing them.
"Jeez, you are a straight arrow," he said with a laugh.
"No! I'm not." She shrugged. "Okay, maybe I am."
He pulled her chair around so they were facing each other, maneuvering her weight as easily as he might transfer a sack of groceries from one spot to another. "It's okay. I like that about you. So what did you find at the gas station?"
"The attendant, Ralph Ling, remembered something interesting."
"What?"
"A man came in around midnight with blood dripping from his hand. He hurried into the bathroom to clean himself up but, like you said, Ling wasn't too pleased about the mess because he'd have to mop again."
Resting his elbows on his knees, Clay took her hands in his. "Did Ling say who this man was?"
"He'd never seen him before."
"Why was the guy bleeding?"
"He told Ling he'd stopped at the side of the road to let his dog have a potty break but accidentally dropped the leash. The dog bounded into the woods, and he fell while chasing after it."
"He fell in the woods? Or he cut his arm when he broke your window?"
"Exactly," Allie said.
"Did Ling see the injury?"
"I'm afraid not."
Clay rubbed the inside of her wrists with his thumbs. "What about the dog? Did Ling see the dog?"
"Ling watched the guy drive off and said, unless it was a very small dog, he was alone. And no stray dogs have shown up in the area since."
"That's odd, isn't it?"
"Besides that, Ling said the guy was acting a little weird."
Clay raised his eyes to hers. "In what way?"
"He wore a baseball cap pulled very low. When he approached the register to buy some Band-Aids, he pulled it even lower and turned his head away, as if he was worried about the security camera."
"There was a camera?" Dropping her hands, Clay stood. "Tell me he was filmed."
"Ling thinks he might've been. But they cycle the tapes, so he's not sure whether or not it's been destroyed. Even if he found it, he needed the owner's permission to give it to me, and we couldn't reach him."
"When will you hear?"
"I got a message from him just before I walked into Good Times tonight. I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow afternoon."
Clay rubbed the back of his neck. "What about the sheriff's investigation? Haven't they talked to this Ling?"
Allie hated to tell Clay this, but she knew it probably wouldn't surprise him. "I don't think the sheriff's department is doing anything to find the man who shot you. They're pretty much leaving it to my father."
"Professional courtesy?"
"Something like that."
He crossed to the sink and gazed out at the night, but he didn't say anything, so she continued. "Right now, I'm actually glad. If they were investigating in earnest, they might've gotten hold of the tape. Now we'll get it."
"Have you told Grace about Ling?" he asked without turning.
"No. I tried calling her on my way back to town, but got her answering machine. Then I tried you, with the same result. That's when I drove by the pool hall and saw your truck."
"She'll be happy," he said.
"This could mean a lot to all of us."
He sighed. "It's late. I'd better let you head home."
She nodded, and he walked her out to her car. The heat was growing more intense as June progressed, and with it the oppressive humidity. But Allie liked the scent of damp earth and confederate jasimine that embraced her at the farm.
"It's nice here, isn't it?"
"It beats prison," he replied, opening the car door for her. She started to get in, but he gave her arm a gentle yank to get her to look back at him. "How are you handling your father's affair?"
"With your mother? " she asked wryly.
His expression was difficult to read, but that was more often the case than not. And tonight they were in darkness, except for the security light on the barn. "Yeah," he said.
"You knew, didn't you? You already knew the night I told you what I suspected."
He nodded. "I tried to stop it, but...some people can't avoid a brick wall even when they see it coming."
Was she one of those people? Clay had been trying to warn her that falling in love with him would only cause her pain. He'd put her on notice at almost every opportunity. Was he right?
Would she live to regret losing her heart to such a man?
Probably.
"I know the feeling," she said.
He stared down at her. "It's not too late."
"Are you kidding? It was too late the night Beth Ann called me to the farm."
Lifting her chin with one finger, he kissed her tenderly. "Then you really do have my picture between your mattresses," he teased.
She delved her hands into his thick hair and stood on tiptoe to kiss him again, more aggressively. "You don't know that."
He shook his head and let go of her. "Call me when you get home, so I'll know you're all right."
"I will."
He caught her arm. "Allie?"
"What?"
"Will you come over for dinner tomorrow night?"
There was something different in his voice, something that said the invitation wasn't as simple as it seemed. "Sure," she said cautiously.
"And bring Whitney?" he asked.
Whitney? Allie swallowed hard. As long as she kept Whitney separate from Clay, her daughter's life would remain relatively untouched, no matter what happened. But if Allie brought Whitney to the farm and let her meet him...
She opened her mouth to say she'd think about it. But she knew he was testing her, to see if she'd meant the promises she'd made, and the flicker of hope in his eyes was too much for her. She couldn't bear to extinguish it. "Of course," she said.
"I'll be good to her," he promised solemnly. "You know that, don't you?"
"I know that."
"Good night." He gave her a quick peck and waited for her to get behind the wheel before closing her door.
Allie backed out of the driveway and headed toward town, but once she knew her taillights could no longer be seen from the farm, she pulled off onto the shoulder and sat staring into the darkness all around her. Clay was starting to open up, to grab hold of the relationship.