Page 96 of In Spades

I had been in his home office, though. There were file folders piled up on his desk that belonged to at least twenty companies. I didn’t know if those were the ones he worked with or if he owned them.

Neither would have surprised me.

The picture he sent put a goofy smile on my face, so I saved it. He had dressed up for the meetings. The collar of a button-up shirt peeked out from under his favorite half-zip pullover, and he had styled his hair rather than hiding it under a ballcap.

God, I adore the lines around his eyes. They came out when he smiled, and his glasses couldn’t hide them.

Kristin

Miss you!

I made a beeline for Hannah.

“Hey,” I said, butting into her conversation with Karina. “You got a sec?”

Hannah glanced at the watch on her wrist. “You know, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a client doing cake tasting with Maddie. So, I should probably head across the street and pop in.”

Interesting. At the bonfire on Monday, Maddie told us about a competition she and Luca would be judging at the community college’s culinary arts department. According to her, it would be an all-day thing.

“I thought Mad was off today,” I said as I pulled my phone out to check the date. “She and Luca had that thing in Morehead before he leaves town tonight.”

Hannah paled. “Well, would ya look at that!” She pressed her phone to her ear and definitely faked a phone call. “Isaac, honey! Hi!”

She wiggled her fingers in a fancy wave as she practically ran down the hall to her office.

“Am I imagining things, or was that weird as hell?” I asked Karina.

Karina tossed her silky blonde hair over her shoulder. It was a stark contrast to the charcoal gray pencil skirt and blazer combo she wore almost daily. “No. It was weird.”

Hannah Jane had been really weird lately. It felt like she had been avoiding me. She wasn’t the only one. Maddie, Hannah Jane, and their men had made up excuses to disappear any time I tried to strike up a conversation or bring Will into a discussion. After a while, I’d just given up and hung out with Steve, Erica, Mel, and Chase.

Bridget missed the bonfire, claiming that she and Kyle needed to take care of some wedding details.

“So, is it true?” I asked. “Did you really put in your notice?”

Karina sighed and cut her eyes over to the front desk where Rich’s incompetent brother-in-law manned reception.

Brantley.

The guy could barely open an email, much less use the booking software. He was combative with guests and lazy with everything else. Worst of all, he was a damn snitch.

The whole thing screamed nepotism.

“They’re on a witch hunt,” she said through gritted teeth. “I don’t know who or what they’re looking for, but people are going to drop like flies.”

22

WILLIAM

“Will!” Zoey called out, catapulting herself through the open door and into my arms. She buried her face in the crook of my neck as I wrapped my arms around her and spun in a circle.

“There’s my girl!” I said, laughing. God, I loved that kid.

Zoey planted her hands on my shoulders and reared back, eyeing me suspiciously. “But Krissy’s your girl.”

“You’re both my girls,” I said. “So is Kylie.”

“Did you bring flowers?” she asked. Although it sounded more like did you bwing fwowers, thanks to the teeth she was missing.

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