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“She’s just trying to punish me,” Remy said, obviously looking to minimize the problem.
Bastian didn’t get that impression. Whatever was going on between Ismay and Bo seemed real enough. But he knew his words were too slurred and his brain too muddled for long explanations. “Whatever you say.”
There was another pause, then he heard an audible sigh. “Should I come there?”
“Hell, no. What about your exams? Besides, Bo’s leaving for a few days. They were going to the airport. Something about a family emergency in Louisiana. Don’t worry, bro. I’m looking out for you.”
“Like you’ve looked out for me in the past?”
“Have you looked out for me any better? Anyway, this isn’t my fault. If I hadn’t come here, you wouldn’t even know what was going on.”
Remy didn’t argue. He seemed too caught up in his own thoughts. “This might be the perfect moment to show up—when he’s not around. Better yet, Mom needs to fire his ass. Then maybe he won’t come back at all.”
“Already tried to get him fired. She called me back and said she wasn’t going to let me cost her a good caretaker.”
“You’re kidding...”
“Nope. He has this sort of strong, silent resilience. It’s hard to describe. Women go wild for it.”
“He’s going to be sorry he ever tried to steal from me,” Remy said and disconnected.
Bastian let his phone drop into his lap and rested his head on the recliner to stop it from swimming. He didn’t know if Ismay would return to the bungalow after dropping Bo off at the airport. But he sort of hoped she would. He’d love to have her walk in and find him in the living room, sitting in what was obviously Bo’s favorite chair.
With any Windsor, paybacks were a bitch.
Ashleigh was trying to reach him. Jack squeezed his eyes closed as his finger hovered over the talk button. He’d been accepting her calls for so long it was almost automatic. But everything that’d happened in the past couple of weeks rushed through his mind, and he didn’t think he could bear to hear her voice, knowing it would drag him back into the pit of despair he’d been trying so hard to climb out of.
As soon as the call transferred to voice mail, another call came in. This one was from Ismay, so he answered.
“Good morning!” she said cheerfully.
He ran a hand through his hair. He was no longer sure itwasa good morning.
“Uh, yeah, good morning,” he said.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“No. I’m just waking up, so I’m a little groggy. I got your text last night when I got up to go to the bathroom. Did you take Bo to the airport?”
“I did. I was wondering if I should grab some breakfast buns and coffee on the way back, or if you’d rather go out to breakfast.”
Clementine had spent the night curled up next to him and the gentle attention she gave him helped him feel better. He stroked her fur as he tried to decide how to return to the place of strength and healing he’d found yesterday. “I say we go out,” he said. That would give him less time to think and he’d be with Ismay, who helped buoy him simply by being who she was.
“Okay. I’ll come grab you,” she said. “I’ve got Bo’s truck while he’s away.”
“That’ll be convenient. After breakfast, should we go to the police about that duffel bag?”
“Not yet. Bo made me promise I wouldn’t do anything to antagonize Bastian while he’s gone.”
“I guess there’s no rush. I mean...hopefully there’s not.”
“Bastian was right outside Bo’s door this morning when we were leaving for the airport, looking pale and drawn. He claimed he wanted Bo to fix the garbage disposal.”
“At that time of morning?”
“Yeah.”
“Was he drunk?”
