Page 26 of Tempt Me

“Is it because Caden is back?”

“No,” I say. “I told you, I’m fine. I don’t care that he’s back.”

I pull into the little lot behind Magnolia’s Petals. I park the car and Grace puts her small hand on my shoulder, giving me a quick DSS.

“It’s okay to not be okay,” she says. “You were really sad when he left.”

My heart shudders. “I know,” I say quietly.

“Being in love seems hard,” Grace observed.

“I’m not in love with Caden,” I point out.

“I know,” she says. “You’re getting married, which means you’re in love with Luke.”

“That’s right,” I say. “I am. Iamin love with Luke.”

I shouldn’t have said it twice. Grace is giving me one of her solemn looks again.

“Come on,” I say, opening the car door. “It’s pizza and Interstellar time.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

CADEN

I realized when I got back from Dad’s office that I forgot to ask about the private investigator.

Luckily, Daisy has all the information. I call him first thing the following morning.

“Fred Norman speaking,” a deep male voice says.

“Hi Fred, this is Caden Everton,” I say. “Russell Everton’s son.”

“The infamous Caden,” Fred says with a chuckle. “Your father has told me a lot about you.”

He has?I don’t want to explore that comment. I can only imagine the picture Dad painted of the deadbeat, runaway son.

“What can I do for you?” Fred continues.

“I got a call from my friend—he’s a sheriff’s deputy here in Magnolia Bay—and he says they’re going to stop working on my mother’s case since there are no new leads.”

Fred sighs. “Yes, that happens with cold cases, unfortunately.”

“He’s managed to get the sheriff to keep it active through the end of the summer,” I say. “Which means I’ve got two months to try and find some new evidence.”

“That’s a tall order,” Fred says. “There wasn’t much to go on, you know.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying. But isn’t there an expression about fresh eyes or something?”

Fred chuckles. “You watch a lot of cop shows?”

“Not really,” I admit.

“Good. They’re all full of shit. Crime solved at the end of an hour, neat and tidy. That’s not how things work in the real world.”

I like Fred’s no-nonsense attitude. “Right,” I say. “Well, I was wondering if you could send me anything you’ve got. My friend said he can’t really share his files with me?—”

“Nah, you’d need to file a FOIA request and that would take ages.”

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