Page 37 of Purr For Me
Chapter Eleven
Girls’ night, and she couldn’t wait. She was having a night on the town with Kendra and Stella. Tom was babysitting, and they’d decided on grabbing a meal at Kendra’s favorite Italian restaurant near where Kendra lived.
Lexie couldn’t afford the Uber, so Kendra had picked her up. Stella was already at the table when they arrived, with a bottle of bubbles sitting in an ice bucket.
“Are we celebrating?” she asked as she sat down and picked up a menu.
“Are we?” Kendra said with a wink, while Stella giggled.
She looked at Stella. “Have you already drunk a bottle?”
More giggling. “I heard there might be something to celebrate.”
She looked at Kendra’s knowing smile and secretly cursed Tom. He’d been blabbing. “If you are referring to finding Jason, then no. Nothing yet.”
“She was referring to your dates with Kade,” Stella replied. “We know all about the dinner, and I’ve heard a few breakfasts, too.”
“And who did you hear that from, Stella? Marcus, by any chance?” Time to turn the tables. She watched as Stella’s smile faded, and her face turned red.
Stella looked at Kendra. “I’m sure Kendra told me.”
“I only knew about the dinner, not the breakfast. Who told you about that?”
Stella looked at the table. “Must have been Tom.”
Kendra’s eyes were grilling Stella. “I wonder why he didn’t tellme.”
Lexie felt terrible. Stella’s body language stated she didn’t want them to know about her and Marcus.
“Anyway, I’ll only celebrate when Jason’s found. But I’d love a glass of bubbles.” She reached for her glass.
“So, no more news?” Kendra reached out and patted her hand. “Kade will find him. He might not like how Jason’s behaving, but heishis brother and he loves him.”
“I have my P.I. looking for him, too, but I’m running out of money and time. Two weeks—”
“What do you mean, running out of time?”
Whoops.“Promise me not to get mad or judgmental?” They both nodded. “Jason fraudulently mortgaged my cabin at Clear Lake and then took off with the money. I didn’t know, so I made no mortgage payments. The bank is foreclosing in three weeks if I don’t come up with the nine months of back payments.”
“Bastard. Ooh, and here I was feeling sorry for Jason and his addiction, but shit, that is low.” Stella opened her purse and took out her checkbook. “You are not losing that cabin. I know how much it means to you. How much is the loan? You can pay me back little by little. I have more money than I’ll ever need in a lifetime.”
Tears welled in her eyes. Stella’s father was a movie producer, and she had a trust fund the size of Fort Knox. “That’s so kind, but Kade has it covered if we don’t find Jason in time, or if the money is gone when we do.”
“Interesting. You’ll take money from Kade, but not Stella.”
She shrugged at Kendra’s statement. “He’s a Colter. And a Colter owes me. Besides, he’s thankful I didn’t report Jason to the police.”
“And you’re happy with taking Kade’s money?”
Stella knew how to rub it in. “I’m not happy takinganyone’smoney, but I won’t lose that cabin. Not when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
The “but you were the one stupid enough to marry Jason,” hung in the air.
“At least there’s one decent Colter.”
She agreed with Kendra’s sentiment. Kade was a good guy—so far. “I just hate that Kade’s got to clean up Jason’s mess. And I must let him because Jason’s probably sniffed the money up his nose.”
“I suspect he’s used to it. Jason’s been the problem younger brother all his life.”
