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“No, of course not, Deacon,” he said. “But it is difficult to prove within reason that it was her. Our firm specializes in family law, not criminal law. However, if her behavior escalates, you may want to seriously consider a restraining order.”
The little bit of salad I’d managed to eat seemed to roll around in my stomach. How had things deteriorated this quickly between us?
“No,” I said, “I don’t want to go there yet.” I shook my head. We were getting off track, and I sensed that Bob was leading up to something. “Did anything else happen?”
“Well… yes, when she called in pretending to be your personal assistant, she got our answering service. Our office staff was at lunch, and we use a third party to manage our calls until someone gets back.” Bob let out one more sigh. “Deacon, I’m sorry. Lauren claimed she needed to reach you due to an emergency. She was very persuasive. Apparently, our answering service disclosed that you were out of the country, and the location of your resort.”
I swore.
Bob continued, “As soon as the error was noticed, the manager notified me directly, but the damage has already been done. I’m sorry, Deacon,” he said again. “Lauren has been so insistent, and the fact she is willing to go around her lawyer like this… I’m afraid she may be desperate enough to show up there to confront you in person.”
“Do you know why she wants to meet with me?”
“No, but whatever it is… it seems she doesn’t want to get the courts involved.”
I frowned and thought furiously for a few moments. “Even if she wanted to find me, last-minute plane tickets would be expensive. I don’t imagine she would come all this way just threaten me.”
Another sigh. “I’ll be frank, divorce brings out the worst in people, I’ve seen it all before. No one imagines the things that their former spouse is capable of until they split assets.”
I took a look out the window at the peaceful ocean view. It was completely untainted by the stress of my normal life back home.
“I’ll be on my guard,” I promised.
* * *
I ordered dinner for one again, my mood sour.
In fact, my emotions were decidedly mixed when Kendall was the one who came to deliver the meal. This time, he brought it down from the kitchens loaded on a tray, probably because he had left his food cart here in his rush to escape me.
It would almost be funny if it weren’t so upsetting.
I did not like being the type of man someone felt they had to escape from.
One former lover didn’t want to be anywhere near me, the second was trying her damnedest to chase me down across the world. My life was a mess.
Well, there was nothing I could do about Lauren, but perhaps I could fix things with Kendall. Or, at least, discover where I’d gone wrong.
I wandered over to where Kendall was quickly and efficiently setting out my dinner.
“I, uh, ordered for one tonight. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to join me…” I trailed off, hoping that was enough of an opening.
Kendall barely glanced my way. “That’s fine. I usually eat at the employee cafeteria.”
“How was your day?”
“Fine.”
The table set, he moved to the counter and the drink bar where he started to mix the whiskey sour that I had ordered.
“That’s just great. My day wasn’t fine,” I bit out.
He glanced at me, and I didn’t think it was my imagination, there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes. But his tone was coolly professional as he said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
I narrowed my eyes and took a stab in the dark. “Has your manager given you any more grief about us?”
“Andy? No, everything’s fine. It’s his job to be nosy,” Kendall said, and left it at that. He finished my whiskey sour and set it on the table. It looked perfect as usual. “Will there be anything else tonight?”
“Yes,” I said. This was my last-ditch effort before I threw in the towel. “I’m feeling tight after today. Are you available to give me a massage this evening?”
