Page 65 of Surrender
Keefe groaned and dropped into the chair behind the desk. “Don’t even joke. We were nearly caught. Sophie went out the front door ten seconds after Gwen left.”
“She didn’t see her leave?”
“No. If she had, I would be bleeding.”
Ginny laughed and waved her hand. “You’re just being dramatic.”
“I’m being realistic.” He pointed at the door like Sophie might burst through it at any moment wielding a meat cleaver. “The pub may be shiny and new, but it won’t stay that way once Sophie’s done with it. Or Gwen. Or me.” He shuddered at the thought. “Look,” he continued, lowering his voice to something approaching pleading, “Sophie doesn’t know yet. And I’m not ready to tell her.”
Ginny tilted her head. “You’re not ready to tell her, or you’re not ready to suffer her wrath?”
He gave her a look.
“Gotcha,” she said, nodding. “Wrath.”
“I just need a little more time,” he said. “To ease her into it. Maybe... I don’t know. Spike her drink? Buy her a puppy?”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “You’re a grown man afraid of his sister.”
“I am not afraid of my sister,” Keefe said, affronted.
Uh huh. Suuure he wasn’t.
“Really? You expect me to buy that?”
“I prefer to say that I’m cautiously respectful of her temper.”
Ginny chuckled and plopped into the chair across from him. “Fine. Your secret’s safe with me. But you had better hurry. Sophie’s got instincts like a bloodhound. If she hasn’t figured it out already, she will. And when she does…”
“I know,” he muttered. “She’s going to end me.” Keefe slumped forward onto the desk, forehead to wood. “Brilliant.”
Ginny opened her mouth to offer a well-timed jab—something about him growing a spine—when the doorknob jiggled.
Keefe sat bolt upright. The door opened. And in walked Sophie.
Keefe shot up so fast he nearly flipped his chair. Ginny’s eyes went wide as she tried to school her face into something neutral. It didn’t work.
Sophie glanced between them, brow arched. “Well, here you two are. This is cozy.” She shot Keefe a look of warning. If he was up to what she thought he was up to with Ginny… he had better start praying and get good with God.
Keefe cleared his throat. “Hey, Soph.”
She stepped inside slowly, eyes narrowing. “Are you two hiding in the office for a reason? Plotting something I should know about?”
“Nope. Nope, just, uh…” Keefe looked at Ginny.
“Inventory,” Ginny blurted. “We were discussing… supplies. You know, napkins and stuff—and the toiletries for upstairs are running low.”
Sophie blinked. That had to be the worst lie ever in the history of lies. “Inventory… in hushed voices, with the door locked?”
“Was it locked?” Keefe said too quickly. His sister wasn’t buying it.
Ginny gave him a subtle elbow. “Maybe it stuck.”
Sophie’s eyes bounced between them. Her instincts, finely honed after years of managing chaos, were already kicking in.
“Right,” she said slowly. Then turned her full attention to Keefe who had little beads of sweat on his forehead. “Where is your car?”
“What?”
