Page 31 of The Seduction

“Might as well get it out. Can you reach it?” His muscles vibrated from the effort of holding the fridge up.

She lay on her stomach and reached for the box. “Conor, come grab her feet,” Granger called. “The fridge is stable enough for now.” As long as his muscles didn’t give up on him.

Conor held on tight to Bliss’ legs while she slid down the side of the stove to reach the box. “Got it,” she called.

He hauled her back up, until she was able to scramble the rest of the way by herself. Laughing, tousle-haired, she brandished the box in the air. Conor cheered, while Granger slowly lowered the corner of the refrigerator back down.

After that, it didn’t take long for them to move the beast forward enough so that Alvin could back out of his awkward trapped position. He had cobwebs in his hair, but his lined face was all smiles. Kendra fussed over him, brushing him off, plucking bits of debris from his hair.

“Let this be a lesson, Pop. You’re too damn old for this shit.”

“Ah, let it rest, girl. This is the best time I’ve had in a minute. Look at all y’all. We got Conor, we got Bliss, we got everyone helping out. And this big fellow. Granger, is that what you said?”

Granger offered his hand, but Alvin ignored it and gave him a hug instead, the kind with vigorous pats on the back. As he pulled back, he narrowed his eyes at Granger. “Do I know you?”

Granger went rigid. Did Alvin recognize something in his appearance? “Do you?”

“Seems I do. It’s ringing a bell.” He cocked his head, but then his face fell. “I just don’t know. I must’ve seen you somewhere, but I can’t think where.”

Granger forced the words out. “Maybe you knew my mother. Nora Pitt. She, uh, played the tambourine.”

It was one of the many things his mother had done to make a living.

A strange expression stole across Alvin’s face. There was something there, but what, Granger couldn’t tell.

“Well then. Nora Pitt. Sure, I remember her. How’s Nora doing these days?”

“She died a few years ago.”

“Sorry to hear that. She was quite a woman.” Granger could tell he was holding back his real opinion of her.

“You came here. That’s why you look familiar.” Alvin said slowly. Realization dawned on his face. “She brought you here. You must have been…twelve or so? You waited outside while she…” His gaze slid away from Granger’s. He seemed almost panicked.

“What? Why, what are you talking about?” Kendra rounded on him. “What’s he talking about?”

“It’s nothing.” Bitter disappointment cratered through his stomach. Alvin Carter wasn’t his father. He might have looked older back then, but he was only ten. Wouldn’t Alvin have known that if he’d been his father? Also, now that he was looking the man in the eye, he knew that abandoning a child wasn’t something he would do.

Alvin gave a dry little cough. “I could use some water.”

Kendra jumped into action to pour him a glass.

Granger was vaguely aware of Bliss’ questioning gaze on him, but he kept his focus on Alvin. He could tell that the man wasn’t telling him everything. He’d interrogated enough suspects to have no doubt. Did he know something about Nora Pitt and her child?

But he couldn’t press the man right now, not when he’d just been through a scary experience like nearly getting crushed by his own refrigerator.

Still…I’m not leaving until I get the truth,he promised himself.Even if it fucking hurts.

Eleven

Bliss wasn’t sure what was a bigger bombshell, the Box o’ Bliss or the news that Granger had been to Lake Bittersweet before. Ever since Alvin had recognized him, something kept tickling at the back of Bliss’ mind. It was a memory that kept fluttering away the instant she tried to pin it down.

She generally had an excellent memory, especially for faces. That was why she’d recognized Congressman Linde at the yacht party. Her memory had served her well in her career. She remembered the names and personal details of hair stylists and photographers she’d worked with years earlier, and they appreciated that.

But there was an exception: her time in Lake Bittersweet. Her visits to her father had been so fraught with tension that she tended to blur them out in her memory. Her mother used to call several times a day to check in on her, and to ask prying questions about Gault. Gault had gotten so sick of the calls that once he’d confiscated Bliss’ phone. When her mom had freaked out about that, he’d threatened to not put Bliss on the plane home.

The emotional ups and downs had been worse than any rollercoaster. To this day, the sight of the Blue Drake made her stomach tighten. She didn’t spend enough time in Lake Bittersweet to make real friends, but Carly’s crew had always been kind to her. Her favorite times in Lake Bittersweet were when she took an inflatable raft out on the lake and paddled around, gazing dreamily up at the sky and the clouds and the darting swallows.

And then there had been one summer when she’d briefly made a friend of her own. As she followed Granger back to the inn, it came back to her.

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