“So someone is holding her cat for ransom.” Now I understood why Ruby had asked me to take it seriously. The entire situation sounded completely far-fetched, and helping random girls with lost cats wasn’t exactly my area of expertise.
“Exactly.” Ruby shook her head, tears already welling in her eyes. She’d always been a bit of an empath, deeply attuned to everyone else’s emotions.
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m sure the cat will turn up,” West said, patting her on the shoulder. He’d always been easily affectionate with her. Did he have any idea how that affected her? Part of me felt like I should warn him, as my best friend. But the family loyalty I had toward Ruby held strong. The last thing I wanted was to cause her any embarrassment or discomfort. It was best if West stayed blissfully unaware.
“I don’t know. It all seems kind of sinister.” Ruby sniffled. “Will you please help her, Reid? I already told her you would.”
My shoulders tensed and I dropped my fork. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re a good person and you love a mystery.” She batted her eyelashes innocently at me.
Damn. She knew me too well. I hated saying no to anyone who needed help, especially when it was someone close to me asking.
“More sleuthing?” Mom frowned, her expression contorting into one of clear disapproval. She could not wrapher head around the hobby at all, despite not being able to tear her eyes away from the TV any time I threw on a true crime documentary. “What Reid really needs is a date.”
“Mom!” I dragged a hand along my jaw, anxiety simmering inside me. Ihateddating. In fact, the only thing that I hated more than going on awkward dates with strangers, was discussing the concept with my family.
“I’m serious,” she continued, either oblivious to my discomfort or content to ignore it. Likely the latter. “I know the divorce with Meghan was tough on you, but it’s time to get back out there. You’re always on a computer, and you don’t need another excuse to lock yourself away in your office.”
“Don’t be so hard on him,” Dad chimed in at the same time I said, “Ilikealways being on a computer.”
Regan snorted a laugh before covering her mouth with her hand. Her job search was typically the popular topic of conversation at family dinners. She was probably tickled that I was the one being questioned today instead of her.
“You’re a lovely man. A real catch,” Mom continued. “Someone is going to snatch you up so fast. If you’re going to be on a computer, at least join one of those dating websites. I bet if you started online dating, you’d only need to be on there one day before you found someone.”
West laughed and I shot him a glare. He raised his hand in a silent apology before staring down at his plate.
“Mom, that’s delusional. Finding your soulmate online is literally impossible, trust me, I’ve tried,” said Regan. “But I did hear bookstores are the new hot spot to meet women. You’d like a bookish girl.” She pointed her fork at me.
“I’m not going to a bookstore under the guise of picking up women. That’s creepy as hell.”
“Is this coworker with that cat situation the one you wanted to set him up with?” Mom asked Ruby, suddenly hopeful.
“That was Natalie,” Ruby hissed. “And thanks a lot forbringing that up. He’s never going to fall for my subtle plans to introduce them now.”
I rolled my eyes. It wouldn’t have been the first time Ruby had invited me out while secretly trying to set me up with a friend. I’d told her on numerous occasions that I would greatly prefer she stayed out of my love life altogether. She never listened, though. I swore she and West had some sort of bet about being the first person to help me find someone since I became single.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I said, lifting my glass and taking a sip.
Ruby sighed. “As if being set up with my cute, sweet friend would be so painful.”
“Meghan was almost a year ago,” West added, unhelpfully.
I shot him another glare letting him know I felt every bit of his betrayal. “We were married. It’s not like I can move on just like that.”
“It isn’t healthy to wallow, honey,” Mom said.
“I’m not wallowing.” I sighed in defeat. So much for simply enjoying my meal.
“It’s okay to still be hung up on her,” Dad added.
“I’m not.”
“Do you still follow her on social media?” Ruby asked hesitantly.
“Ruby,” Regan scolded. “We agreed we wouldn’t ask.”
My heart slipped right into my stomach. They knew something. They’d been talking about me behind my back. We had a family chat, but occasionally, if something happened that we needed to talk about without one or two people, side chats would be formed. They grew like bacteria. Birthdays, surprises, maybe one person was in a particularly sour mood. We pretty much had a side chat going for each scenario. “Family minus Ruby.” “Family without Regan.” “Just the siblings.” The investigator in me should have clocked that all those chats had been suspiciously quiet this week, but I hadn’tnoticed. Now it was abundantly clear to me that they had been quiet because my family was discussingmesomewhere off in the “Missing Reid” chat.
