Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury Page A

giggled. “You’d been working for my dad for a year and somehow I’d missed you.” His arm felt warm against hers. The sensation was wonderful. “You’re amazing at it, by the way. You could sell baby clothes to a bunch of frat guys.”
    “Maybe.” He laughed, but the sound died sooner than usual. “Today was strange.” His pace slowed. “I couldn’t focus.”
    She stopped and faced him, her actions more casual than concerned. She took hold of his other hand and let her eyes get lost in his. “Because of the wedding?”
    “No.” His answer was quick, his face relaxed. “You and your mom make the details seem easy.”
    “She’s been great.” Laura thought about the breadth and scope of pulling together a wedding reception for more than three hundred people. A wedding at the Liberty House in Liberty State Park, no less. The celebration would be covered by the local papers and topped off with a fireworks display at the edge of the Hudson River. Her father had spared no expense, and though they had a wedding planner, her mother had coordinated the photographer and videographer, the catering, and the invitations — which went out a week ago. “I love that she didn’t make a single decision without our input.”
    “I’m not surprised.” He eased one hand free and framed the side of her face. “Your mom’s having a good time with this wedding.” The corners of his lips lifted some. “No question about that.”
    “So it’s not the wedding?” If Brad was bothered, she wanted to know why.
    He pulled her into his arms and ran his hand along the small of her back. “No. I promise.” When he eased back he kissed her forehead, and then rather than linger on her eyes, he took hold of her hand again and resumed their walk. He talked about Kotton Kids and a conversation he had with his dad, Carl, in North Carolina, and how he was looking forward to the honeymoon.
    But he didn’t bring up the strange way he’d felt that day again.
    Not until Laura was getting ready for bed did she realize he had never actually explained himself, never told her what was at the root of his feelings that day and why he’d felt strange. She remembered what he’d said during their walk, how she couldn’t keep a secret from him. She smiled at the truth of that statement. With Brad she was an open book, transparent in her feelings, the way she’d been from the beginning. But what about him?
    An uncomfortable question bumped against her heart as she climbed into bed. Not that she had any reason to worry, but here was something she hadn’t thought about before. She couldn’t keep a secret from Brad, true. But for all their closeness and time together, for all their shared faith and dreams and the way she felt she knew everything about him, she wasn’t sure about this:
    Could he keep a secret from her?

Four

    B RAD TOOK THE DRIVE BACK TO Manhattan more slowly than usual, getting through the Holland Tunnel without ever realizing he’d entered it in the first place. The night with Laura and her parents had been perfect. The weather, the dinner in her family’s backyard, the walk after. All of it. Their lives and the impending wedding belonged in a Disney fairy tale. How any guy managed to win over a girl like Laura James and wind up so integrally a part of her family was something only God could explain.
    But there was a problem.
    Brad turned off the radio and focused on the road ahead. He’d stuffed the truth every day since he met Laura, and always he’d told himself the same thing. She didn’t need to know. His past was long behind him, and like he reminded himself the last time he was back in Wilmington, he wasn’t the same person anymore. Every time his thoughts found their way back a decade, he came out of the process convinced that his past was locked in a dark closet at the backside of his heart, where it would stay. No reason to drag it out into daylight, kicking it and poking it to see if there was still enough