Page 39 of Can't Fight the Moonlight

When she got to the café, she was surprised to see Adam sitting at one end of the counter. talking to Chloe. They appeared to be having a rather serious, intense conversation, which made her pause.Was there something going on between them?

She was almost hesitant to interrupt, but then Chloe looked up and saw her. She gave her an odd, surprised look, then forced a smile onto her face and waved her over.

"Hey there," Chloe said. "I get two Coles for the price of one."

"And now you have one. I need to get back to work," Adam said quickly, sliding off his stool. "Everything good with you, Lizzie?"

"Yes. I'm having my cocktail party tonight. Can you make it?"

"I doubt it. I'm working on a series of break-ins on the west shore. So far, they've all been empty houses, but I'm concerned at the frequency and escalation."

"That's disturbing."

"That's why I need to catch whoever is doing it," he said shortly.

She wondered if it was the break-ins that were making him tense or whatever he and Chloe had been talking about.

"Also," Adam said, pausing. "I spoke to Nathan this morning. He got into a motorcycle accident in New Zealand."

"What? Is he all right?"

"He's fine. But he needed some cash, so I wired him some money. He told me not to tell anyone, but that's not how it works in our family. Honesty is always best." Adam's pointed look swung to Chloe, then returned to Lizzie. "Don't worry about him. He's okay."

"I'll see if I can get a hold of him later," she said. "Did you tell Mom and Dad?"

"Not yet, but I will. I'll see you later."

As Adam left, Lizzie took the seat he'd just vacated, pushing his barely drunk coffee cup to the side as Chloe set down a new one for her.

"Do you want something to eat?" Chloe asked.

"Coffee is fine."

"I'm surprised you have time for coffee. You're usually extremely busy on happy hour days."

"I'm going to the store after this to pick up a few things. It was a good excuse to get out of the inn. I'm also having a tremendously bad heating problem. The furnace broke and the inn is up to about a hundred degrees inside. It's unlivable. Most of the guests have gone to the beach, or somewhere else in town for now, but if I don't get it fixed before this afternoon, my party may be a complete bust. Beyond that, guests will probably start leaving."

Chloe shook her head. "It's been one problem after another for you this month."

"I know. I'm in a bad patch."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, but thanks." She looked around. "It's not too crowded in here."

"Not yet. The lunch rush starts around eleven thirty." Chloe pulled out her phone and then smiled. "Look, Leo is crawling all around." She turned the phone around so Lizzie could see the video.

"So cute. He's getting big."

"I know. I miss him so much when I'm at work, but it is what it is." Her smile dimmed, as she put her phone into her pocket. "I'm lucky that Kevin's parents are here for a few months. They love to watch Leo."

"Does Kevin love to watch him?" she couldn't help asking.

"Yes. Kevin is great with him. He adores Leo. He just…" Her voice fell off. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I don't want to talk about Kevin."

"Is that what you were talking about with Adam? Because you both looked tense."

Chloe hesitated, her gaze swinging around the half-empty restaurant, as if to make sure no one could hear them. "We were talking about Kevin."

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