Page 3 of Not Mine To Love

“Yeah, I got them.”

“Good,” she said before coughing and spitting something out into the bushes nearby. Other parents gave her disapproving looks, but no one dared reprimand her. That was smart. Leona wasn’t one to be crossed.

“Stop by my office tomorrow. I have another job for you.”

I didn’t get a chance to reply because she turned around and walked away.

“Friend of yours?” Dana asked, appearing next to me with Meredith by her side.

“Nope.”

“Was that your boss? The private investigator?” Meredith asked.

“Yep, how’d you guess?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. She just has a cagey look about her. Plus, I saw her spit in the bushes. I sort of feel like that’s something a real private investigator would do.”

I laughed and said, “And great job by the way.”

She beamed up at me. “Thank you. I had a great coach.”

“Thanks for helping her. It was sweet of you,” Dana added.

“It was my pleasure.”

“Enough about me,” Meredith said, placing her hands on her hips. “Tell me about your next assignment. Is it another dirty, cheating, no-good husband?”

She sounded so grown up which made me want to laugh. I shrugged. “Probably. It seems like every case is a no-good, cheating husband.”

Dana and I exchanged a look. We were both thinking of the ex we had in common. He swore up and down that he hadn’t cheated on us, but if there was anything we knew about Tom, it was that he loved to lie.

“Do you think your next assignment will take a lot of time?”

“Why the question? Do you need me for something?”

She nodded and then shook her head.

I laughed, “So is that a yes or a no?”

“It’s a maybe ... you see Danny Schultz’s aunt, well great-aunt, she’s super old. Anyway, she’s super stressed because her daughter is going to marry a rascal.”

I laughed. “Rascal? What does that even mean?”

She shrugged. “That’s what Danny told me. I think a rascal is a jerk. I don’t know.”

“So what does that have to do with me?”

“Well…” She looked hesitant and continued as fast as she could. “Well, I sort of told Danny what you do, and he told his aunt and now she wants to meet you...”

“What?”

Dana frowned. “What did I tell you about volunteering us for anything and everything?”

“It’s for a good cause.”

Dana couldn’t hold back a laugh. “This kid is hilarious.”

“I am,” she said seriously. “But I told Danny you would only do it for a ton of money and come on, Becca, we all know you need money. You can’t live with your dad forever.”