Page 95 of Tessa's Trust

“Can I get attorney’s fees paid back?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “But it’ll be a process and take a couple of years.”

My heart sank. “So, I wouldn’t be able to open the restaurant during that time?”

“No, not while the property is in litigation.”

Well, I guessed there was always a chance I could take the falsified deed to Marilyn Brando and maybe get her to see reason. I mean, I didn’t have anything to lose. “Fine.” I pulled apart two orange pieces of paper and tried to read one.

We spent a few more hours organizing all of Sadie’s notes and found at least forty-five property descriptions, all on different colors. Nick only had thirty of them on his list. Most were in Gem County, on the outskirts of Silverville, and all the way to Montana, but some were in Washington state as well as northern Idaho.

“Do you think maybe she’s at one of these places?” I asked softly.

“I hope so,” he murmured. “The fact that we haven’t heard anything from her concerns me. People shouldn’t walk around with that much cash.”

I couldn’t agree more, and the guilt almost swamped me.

“Hey.” He tossed his pen onto the table. “We’ve been at this for long enough. Let’s get some sleep.”

“Don’t you still have a trial tomorrow?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Since it’s the day of New Year’s Eve, we’re all taking it off, but I do need to run into the office for just a couple of hours to handle some paperwork. Speaking of tomorrow night, are we going to the ball?” He lifted me easily, and my stomach rolled over once again.

I’d already told our grandmothers that I was going out with him. I might as well tell him. “Yes, I’ve decided to accept your invitation. I wouldn’t want you disappointing your grandmother.”

“I appreciate that.” He cupped my ass and strode toward his bedroom. “I’ll reward you greatly.”

And he did. Three times.

Chapter 33

After he left for the office, I stretched lazily in Nick’s bed. The night had been phenomenal, and I might just wear Nick beneath my skin for the rest of my life. What was I going to do about that?

When he joked that he’d ruin me for other men…it turned out he hadn’t been joking.

I so didn’t want to leave his condo. The scent of him was all around me, and I liked it. Tito had wanted to see if she could open the diner this morning, and I was all for it, so long as she kept Bertra on track. Lewis thought he could save the grill, and I figured I’d give him the morning to do so.

Yawning, I slipped from the bed, noting a hickey on my left hip. Who knew Basanelli liked to leave hickeys? It was kind of cute that I knew that about him and nobody else did. I wandered into the kitchen and dining room, where we had left all the stacks of sticky notes. Nick had sent off the list to Sheriff Franco, who was supposed to follow up. I certainly hoped he found Sadie. My phone buzzed, and I picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Tess, it’s Kelsey Walker.”

I smelled coffee, and my head swiveled toward the pot on the counter. “Hey, Kels. What’s up?” It felt like we were becoming friends.

“I wanted to call you because Mert Smiley is being released around two this afternoon, and he’s being a grouch about it.”

I smiled and poured myself a cup of coffee. “If Smiley isn’t being a grouch, then something’s wrong with him.”

She laughed. “I know, but we can’t release him on his own, and he won’t call anybody to pick him up.”

“I’ll pick him up,” I said. “You said you think he’ll be done around two o’clock?”

“I was hoping you’d say that, and yeah.” The sound of a printer whirring came across the line. “I’ll make sure we have all his discharge papers ready because I know he won’t want to wait, and he’ll be grumbling because you came.”

“That’s okay. I’m used to it.” I wondered if I should bring him back to Donna’s house. He should probably be watched. “Does he need somebody to stay with him?” I asked.

“No. He just needs to do his follow-up checkups and start on the physical therapy regimen. He has a new heart doctor he has to see.” She was quiet for a couple of beats. “If you want, I can accidentally put all that together in a file that you can kind of slip into your purse.”

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