Page 81 of Shattered Chords

“He doesn’t need to be disciplined.” Dante shook his head defiantly, tossing a slice of cucumber around his plate with his fork. “He’s rich. He can do whatever he wants.”

Ally was grinning. There was a smudge of barbecue sauce on her chin and she was oblivious to the fact.

“He’s a sweet little boy.” I brushed my palm over the puppy’s body, absorbing his small breaths. He was warm and alive and absolutely adorable.

After finishing up my food and handing a napping Snowflake over to my daughter, I retreated to the pool house to check on my phone that had been sitting next to my dress all this time. It was a relief not to worry about anything, at least for the duration of one afternoon, especially with Harper in charge of all things Dream Bride. Naturally, I didn’t expect any emergencies, but there was a preview of a text from him on my screen anyway, so I read it.

Harper: How’s the BBQ with the hottie? Is he walking around shirtless?

Laughter bubbled up my throat. Leave it to my best friend to turn every innocent situation that included a man into an impossible innuendo.

As a matter of fact, yes.I typed in response.

Harper: Pics?

You’re horrible.

My phone rang, and I answered with, “What you’re asking me is sort of immoral.”

“Oh, please. That man has done so many immoral things, he won’t care if you sneak a photo or two of his naked self,” Harper joked.

Familiar voices and soothing music mingled in the background. He was still at the boutique.

I lowered my voice and shut the door. “He’s a decent cook. He had a little help, but the food is great.”

“How big is the pool?”

“Huge. It can probably fit several dozen people.”

“Is Ally having a good time?”

“She is. There’s a music room here.” I dove into a quick recap of all the guitars I’d seen earlier, then asked, “Do you know who Malik Dixon is?”

“The dude who owns those gyms all over L.A.,” Harper drawled as if trying to remember more. “Yeah. What about him? Is he there?”

“He’s staying here. Dante met him in rehab.”

“Hmmm...really? Interesting.” The background noises disappeared, then I heard some clicking. A computer keyboard. “Looks like he and his wife are in the process of getting a divorce.”

“Okay, well, it doesn’t matter.” I felt like I was prying into someone else’s life now and it made me uncomfortable. We all had secrets and baggage. “He and Ally hit it off.”

“Bug’s moving up in the world, huh?” Harper noted.

“Yep... Anyway, I just wanted to make sure everything went well today.”

“It usually does every Sunday when I’m the boss. Why wouldn’t it now all of a sudden?”

He had a point.

“I’ll let you go and finish up then.”

“I got your back, sweets.” Harper’s voice wobbled a little and I realized that he was still immensely upset over his loss of Tallulah. Earlier this week, he’d driven to Chatsworth and spent several hours in front of Lucas’s place, watching. He’d called it a stakeout. I’d called it stalking and asked him not to go there anymore. He’d agreed, but I wasn’t so sure he’d truly listened to me. For all I knew, he was doing his investigation behind my back.

“Thanks, Harper.”

“Have fun and don’t overthink it.”

The moment the call ended, I heard a knock.

---