Page 33 of Deception

Olive reciprocated with equal but more subdued enthusiasm.

Though she and Sabrina had been close while Olive lived in Oasis, Olive had to wonder what people had thought about her family after they’d left town. Had her father scammed people out of money? More people than just Jason’s family?

Did everyone here know he was a con artist? What reputation had he left in his wake?

Olive still had so many questions, and she didn’t like the uncertainties.

“I’m here to do a documentary on Rebecca Hansen.” Olive paused just inside the front doors.

“What?” Sabrina’s eyes widened. “You’rethe filmmaker? Rebecca mentioned something to me about a documentary. I didn’t know you were connected!”

“Who would have thought?”

“Well, I always thought you’d do well in Hollywood, so I’m not surprised.”

Olive paused. What did that mean? She didn’t want to read too much into Sabrina’s words. But . . . did her friend suspect she was a good actress? Olive assumed Sabrina hadn’t meant the words as a compliment.

She put that thought aside and asked, “How about you? What are you doing here? Did you ever leave Oasis?”

“I went away to college, and I was determined I wouldn’t come back here. Now look at me.” She raised her hands and twirled around. “I’m a second-grade teacher at the very school I attended. Can you believe it?”

“Not at all. I thought you’d be the CEO of some big company in New York or LA. Or?—”

“Nashville,” they said at the same time, and then they laughed.

Sabrina had had a major crush on country artist Sam Hunt and had often said she would move to Music City one day so she could track him down and force him to fall in love with her. They’d had a lot of good laughs at her antics.

“That’s what I always thought too.” Sabrina waved her hand in the air. “Then I fell in love with a hometown boy.” Her voice drifted as if she had a mischievous secret to tell.

Olive tilted her head. “Anyone I know?”

“As a matter of fact . . . Ellis Briggs.”

Olive’s eyebrows flew up. “Ellis Briggs? The captain of the baseball team? Two years older than us? Total hottie—although, as far as I know, he doesn’t sing country music.”

“No, he doesn’t. He can’t carry a tune in a bucket, as the saying goes.” Sabrina laughed. “I never thought he’d be interested in someone like me. But after you left—” Her voice seemed to catch on those words, but then she continued. “After you and your family left, everything was different, you know? The two of us really hit it off.”

“How was it different?” Olive wasn’t sure where Sabrina was going with that comment.

It wasn’t as if Olive’s family had made an impact in the area. Not that she knew of. Not a positive one, at least.

“Jason just wasn’t himself, and the group we hung out with fell apart. Plus, my family had to declare bankruptcy.”

Olive’s eyes widened with sincere surprise. “Bankruptcy? I had no idea.”

“Apparently, my dad made some bad business investments, and he lost all his savings.” Sabrina shook her head. “It was really hard on him.”

Olive listened to her tone, but she didn’t hear any accusation there.

Was Olive’s dad connected with the bad business investment? If so, did Sabrina know about it?

This wasn’t the time to ask.

She swallowed hard instead. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“It’s old news, I guess. Plot twist—we survived.” Sabrina smiled then glanced at her watch. “Listen, I really want to catch up with you, but I have to get to a staff meeting in a minute. How long are you in town?”

“Only about a week.”

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