Page 181 of Embracing the Change

I wasn’t certain what his expression was relating, so I said to Teddy, “I need to go. Tell them their last visit to the closet was just for fun. And you and I need to go shopping.”

“You do know you don’t need to take me shopping, and you don’t need to give them anything else. We love you, Nora.”

“We’ll discuss it later, dear. Lunch this week?”

“Obviously. Ta-ta, darling.”

“Goodbye, Teddy.” I hung up and focused fully on Jamie. “Are you all right?”

“If AJ’s smart, he’ll press charges for theft.”

I said nothing, and not because Jamie kept talking, because I didn’t know what to say, and I still wasn’t certain about his mood.

“At this juncture, I have no idea if he’ll be smart. I don’t know if he’d be able to live with everyone knowing his girlfriend was with him to steal from him, or if he’d better be able to live with an arrest for insurance fraud. I know that sounds ludicrous, but it’s true, because that’s the kind of man he is. And he’s this regardless that he has to know fraud like that is a felony. At those amounts, he’d definitely be looking at massive fines and prison time. And he doesn’t have the money to pay a lawyer, and anything she left for him went down with that fire.”

“Jamie,” I said gently. “He must throw Paloma under the bus. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he needs the insurance money.”

“He needs the insurance money,” Jamie murmured before picking up his phone.

I sat watching as he moved his thumb over the screen before putting the cell to his ear.

He caught my gaze briefly before he got up and moved toward the dining room, saying, “Yes, AJ, it’s me. We need to talk.”

Ugh.

My poor Jamie.

I turned back to our plates.

Jamie had cleaned his. What was left on mine was now cold, but regardless, I was no longer hungry.

Thus, I took them to the sink, rinsed them, swiped them with the handled sponge Alyona kept close, and put them in the dishwasher.

I set the skillets to soak and wiped down the counters so when Jamie was ready to make us lunch, he had a tidy kitchen.

He came back, glanced around and said, “I could have helped with that.”

“It wasn’t much.” I went to him and put both hands on his chest, he rested his on my waist, and I leaned into him. “I didn’t hear any shouting.”

“He asked if I’d buy the ranch.”

This was such a surprise, I sucked my cheeks into my teeth and bit them.

“Cute,” Jamie muttered, his gaze on my mouth.

I let my cheeks go and urged him to continue by saying, “Darling.”

“He did not know Paloma was stealing from him. He’s going to be pressing charges.”

My heart thumped with the shock of receiving confirmation of that news.

Jamie carried on, clearly reading my reaction. “He has no choice, sweetheart. It’s either put her down or go down with her. And I believe him when he says he had no idea she was taking things. I asked him about Chet, and he didn’t even know who that was.”

Truly, the woman needed to learn how to lose a lover.

“Are the G-Force going to lose their money?” I queried.

Jamie sighed. “I can make them whole, but, probably. Those items weren’t hers to sell. And unless she can prove that AJ gave them to her, as stolen property, they’ll have to be returned.”

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