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“Lara found him, and Detective Beal always thought she did it.”
“Did he charge her?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Lara didn’t do it. She couldn’t have; she loved that boy. Beal was just focused on her because she was the only one here. I was at work when it happened. Everything went downhill for her after that.”
I had to ask the obvious questions. “Do you think the note has to do with back then?”
She cocked her head and huffed out a breath. “I don’t know. After five years, I doubt it.”
“And the carpet message?”
She stood, clearly upset by the questions. “I don’t know. None of it makes any sense. I should go up and talk to Lara.”
“Right.” I rose and wandered slowly to the door, debating what to say. “I had a good time tonight…with you, I mean.”
She followed me to the door. “Me too.” She stood back as I walked out onto the porch. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“You still owe me a dinner,” I reminded her.
“Maybe next week,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”
Making the hard choice, I turned and walked down the steps without trying for a kiss. Lara needed her tonight, and it would be selfish of me to cut into that time.
Next week, though, I wasn’t settling for maybe.
Chapter 18
Nicole
Wednesday morningI was fixing myself breakfast when my new phone rang with Sandy’s name on the screen.
“Hi,” I answered.
“You never called back last night.”
I’d flat-out forgotten. “Sorry. It was a hectic night, and I forgot.”
“Josh kept you busy all night? This I want to hear about.”
Sandy’s mind was constantly in the gutter. If anything had a possible sexual innuendo, that’s where she went first.
“No, it wasn’t like that.”
“I thought you said he was nice.”
“No… I mean yes, he’s nice, but no that wasn’t what made it a crazy night.” I spent the next five minutes recounting all the terrible things about last night with Lara and Beal and the note.
“Girl, between falling in the pool, being in a plane crash, and now this, you sure are attracting a shitload of trouble.”
“It wasn’t a crash, just a…” I recalled the pilot’s phrase for it. “A precautionary landing.”
“Whatever you say. Now, let’s get back to the hunk. Why didn’t you have dinner with him? You playing hard to get?”
Josh had made the same assumption, but that hadn’t been my intention.
“No, it just didn’t feel right.”
“Then give me his number, and I’ll test drive him to see if he feels right or not.” She laughed at her own joke.
