Page 24 of The Usual Family Mayhem

He didn’t touch the menu. “If that’s what you want.”

I wanted this conversation to end. He seemed to be enjoying himself too much to let that happen, so I took control. “I can call the server over.”

I scanned the room looking for a much needed assist. Jackson lifted his hand. That’s all it took for the server to come rushing in our direction.

“Are you sure you don’t want to walk down memory lane again?” he asked.

I’d lost control of the evening. No question. “I want to kick you. How about that?”

“I’m not into that sort of thing.”

The server’s sudden presence prevented me from responding to the innuendo. Good, because I had no idea what to say. Jackson morphed from sullen to almost flirty. If he was anyone else I’d say clearly flirty. Where was the emotionally stable, never flustered, always serious man I knew? The drastic switch had me scrambling to keep up.

The next ten minutes included a lot of verbal fumbling, almost all of it on my side of the table. I’d never been to thisrestaurant before and hadn’t opened the menu. I ended up ordering the first entrée I saw. I couldn’t remember what that was.

As soon as the server left, Jackson folded his hands on the table. Looked relaxed and engaged.

This had to be a trap.

He gestured in my direction. “Tell me.”

Maybe I missed part of the conversation. “What?”

“What did you figure out? Your text said you had the evidence that would convince me about the poison.”

“I might have overstated.” I could barely remember my name at the moment. He had me spinning in circles and beating back a surge of adrenaline.

He feigned surprise. “Shocking.”

His cute smile annoyed me more than usual. “Don’t be that guy.”

“Sorry.” He swallowed the smile but still looked amused. “So, impress me with your findings.”

I mentioned Delilah Rhine and the star by her name. Jumped to conclusions. Made connections that might not be there. Oversold my case... but at least we weren’t talking about kissing.

He followed along and nodded. “I know Delilah.”

That was a bit sparse. A few more details would have been nice. “Likeknowknow?”

He rolled his eyes. “As a client. She owns an event planning business. She...”

He winced. I saw it.

“What do you know and aren’t saying?”

He looked wary now. “Don’t get excited.”

Too late. “Say it.”

“She didn’t just buy a pie from Celia and Mags. Delilah works with them frequently. Their businesses overlap. The three of them are... close.”

This sounded like the perfect time for anah-ha!but I refrained. Barely. “See?”

“No. That is not proof.”

“Killjoy.” Now for the harder part. “We need to check into this.”

Jackson shook his head. “We let the police do their job and investigate Cash’s death and see what happens.”

---