Page 79 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

“We have bull sharks, which are mildly dangerous but not deadly enough to discourage people from swimming with them. Which is why the company that owned theCrosswindended up bankrupt. Uncle Mike gifted me some of the money I needed to buy her and loaned me the rest. Even though we weren’t close, he always supported me.”

The loan had finally been repaid in full just before his death, and Uncle Mike had never once hinted that he was short of money. Paying off the debt had felt good, but it had left Cole with little in the way of savings.

“You think he felt bad because his brother was an asshole?” Bella asked.

“Probably, yeah. Whenever I spoke about Dad, he’d get a pissy look on his face and change the subject.” Cole decided to take a chance. “Were you close with your parents?”

He used the past tense. Bella never mentioned them, plus she’d once told him that the Porsche was an inheritance. He figured there was a good chance they’d passed. He also figured it was more likely than not that she’d avoid the question.

But she surprised him.

“I never knew my dad. My mom died three days after my eighteenth birthday.”

“Damn, I’m sorry. Was it sudden?”

“She was shot in a robbery where she worked.”

Cole had watched his mom waste away from cervical cancer that had spread, and that had been hard. But it would have been ten times harder if she’d just gone. Blinked out like a light. At least he and his mom had the time to say what they needed to say. Judy Gallagher had planned her own funeral, decided she’d rather be buried than cremated.

Bella had been forced to make all the big decisions alone when she was barely an adult herself.

“Tell me the guy who did it is in prison.”

“He was for a while.”

“They let him out?”

She nodded. “Sometimes the justice system isn’t so just. And sometimes justice takes other forms. The cops found him dead in a dumpster soon after he was released.”

“I won’t shed a tear.”

“Neither did I. This is way too morbid—aren’t you going to show me the rest of the boat?”

Most women who toured theCrosswindwere interested in the cabins, especially the bathrooms for some reason, but Bella wanted to see the engine room, and then sheasked about buoyancy aids, life rafts, and communications.

“We’re only going a couple of miles, and I promise you she won’t sink.”

“Yes, but then you’ll be gone for three weeks, and safety is important.”

“I love that you care.”

“Less of the L-word, please.”

Vintage Bella was back. Well, not quite vintage—she’d included a “please,” which sounded strange coming from her lips.

“Okay, Ilikethat you care.”

“Better. Are we leaving?”

“In a minute. Think positive—this boat won’t rock as much as Frankie’s, so you might not puke over the side.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Cole laughed to himself and headed to the bridge. Bella’s tongue might be the death of him, but it would be a pleasurable way to go.

CHAPTER 27

JEZEBEL

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