Page 44 of Tessa's Trust

He pulled back the chair opposite me and dropped onto it. “So, what’s the truth about this whole situation?” This close, he smelled like a combination of cheap cologne and cigarette smoke.

“I think you know the deal,” I said. “Your aunt wanted me to go on a date with each of you, and Bobbo and I already met up.”

Eddie threw back his head and laughed. “I heard he took you speed dating. Tell me that isn’t true.”

I couldn’t help an unwilling smile. “It is true, and we actually had a pretty good time.” Plus, I might’ve found a romance for Bobbo and Kelsey, so I was taking the night as a win.

Eddie reached for his water glass and drank half of it down. “Don’t tell me something is up between you and Bobbo.”

I shook my head. “No, I did have a good time, and he’s a nice guy, but that was our one and only date.” I didn’t mention that I had set Bobbo up with Kelsey Walker. I didn’t know why. It felt like Eddie would probably prank his brother and mess things up. If Kelsey could find some happiness out on that alpaca farm, I was all for it.

“I’m surprised Bobbo went out with you,” Eddie admitted, twirling his dinner knife on the pristine white tablecloth.

I sat back, slightly affronted. “Why is that?”

Eddie reached out a hand to pat mine, ignoring the fact that I was still holding my water glass. “No, no, no. I don’t mean anything insulting. It’s just that he and his fiancée recently broke up, and I thought he’d become a hermit. Poor guy. He really liked her, but man, that chick.” His voice trailed off.

“What about her?” I asked. Hopefully, I hadn’t gotten Kelsey into another disastrous situation.

Eddie shook his head, and not one strand of hair moved. I didn’t know what kind of gel he’d used to plaster the few remaining strands he had to his head, but it was clearly industrial strength. “Let’s not talk about them. They’re nuts.”

I didn’t think that was very nice, but all I had to do was get through a dinner, and we’d be good.

The door opened, and my gaze flicked quickly to the snow blustering in. Something jittered in my heart. It was stupid and I knew it, but when Nick Basanelli walked in with Jolene Sullivan, I swore to the saints all I wanted to do was chuck my glass of water at his head.

His gaze caught mine. He looked at Eddie, and his jaw tightened. Then the jerk put his hand at the small of Jolene’s back and pointed to a table off to the side. I could not believe it. He was on an actual date with Jolene Sullivan? So much for staying away from the press. The slash of betrayal I felt didn’t make a lick of sense, but even so, I’d learned to accept my feelings.

So I turned my full-wattage smile on Eddie. “What are you up to these days, Eddie?”

He sat back as if stunned for a moment. His gaze roamed my face. “Well, I work for Northern Electricity as an electrician. We mainly service residential homes. Don’t do much commercial. I figured you at least knew what I did for a living.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know much about you. Your aunt wasn’t generous with the information about the family.” Or the fact that she was taking all my money and then disappearing.

“Oh.” Eddie sat back and proceeded to tell me pretty much everything about himself, from the time he scored the winning soccer goal in high school to his failed marriage to a chick, as he put it, who was dumber than a box of rocks, to his current profession. We managed to order food in between, and I had to admit, the boeuf Bourguignon was delicious. Unfortunately, the company wasn’t great.

“So,” he said when we’d finally finished eating, “this was a lot more fun than I expected. You want to go out again?”

I so did not want to go out again. I had watched Nick and Jolene from the corner of my eye during their entire dinner, and they seemed to have a pleasant time talking, but there was no touching, and from what I could tell, no flirting. I was starting to feel a little silly about my earlier jealousy, which didn’t make sense anyway. “I don’t think so, Eddie. I appreciate it, but I’m really busy with opening my restaurant—hopefully.”

He snorted. “Yeah, about that. Dude, sorry about Rudy being dead.”

We’d avoided the topic for the entire dinner, mainly because Eddie had insisted upon it. However, I took the opening now. “I’m shocked, too. You mentioned that you didn’t think he was your relative.”

Eddie lifted his shoulder. “He could be. I mean, he did look like the family. It’s just, you know, Great-uncle George died across the country and hadn’t kept in touch with any family. He never told anybody he had a kid. So, who really cares, right?”

At the moment, I did, because the guy had been found dead on my floor. “You don’t think Sadie would’ve sold him the property and then tried to sell it again to me, do you?” I asked, finishing the one glass of wine I’d allowed myself with dinner.

Eddie rubbed his flabby jaw. “I don’t know. Sadie was always out to make a quick buck, but I never knew her to be a liar. Well, except she did hold illegal gambling parties in her back room.”

For some reason, and I couldn’t explain why, that seemed different than lying to my face and shaking my hand. “Do you have any idea where she is?”

“I don’t,” Eddie said. “If I had to guess, and if she was fleeing, I think she would’ve gone to Jonathan’s place over in Montana. But surely the authorities have checked there.”

I nodded. “Yeah, they definitely checked there, and Jonathan can’t be found either.”

“Well.” Eddie’s gaze dropped to my breasts for what had to be the fiftieth time during dinner. “If you had a hundred and fifty grand in cash, and yeah, I heard all about it... Everybody knows. Where would you go?”

I hadn’t really thought of it like that. “I’d go to the bank,” I muttered.

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