“Get down, horse!” Gabriela ordered.
Alden groaned a little as he lowered himself to his hands and knees. “Like this?”
“I’ll get the sword!” Mateo exclaimed.
Roz gave in and laughed, then followed Nicole back into the kitchen area, where the coffee maker had finished hissing and spitting. Nicole handed the blue-glazed pottery mug to Roz, grabbed her own cup and beckoned to her to follow.
Alden neighed.
The women ended up on a covered back patio, complete with its own outdoor kitchen and fire table. Enclosed in a big screened cage, the patio and swimming pool overlooked the dock and lagoon.
“It’s like a resort,” Roz said. “Really nice.”
“It is. I wish I had more time to enjoy it. But I’m so busy with the kids.”
“And your writing.” Roz sat in a cushioned chair catty-corner to Nicole’s, in front of a coffee table topped with polished marble. “Sebastian told us you liked to write.”
“Oh my God. Sebastian.” Tears came to Nicole’s eyes. “I’m so glad you two are OK.”
So she wasn’t glad Sebastian was OK? Or maybe that was implied.
“It was scary, but he’s a good pilot,” Roz said. “We were fine.”
“You were asking him questions about the movie studio project?”
Who was interviewing who? “Yes, we were. And about his partner, Wayne Vandershell.”
Nicole’s blue eyes darkened. “That bastard.”
Roz sputtered on a sip of coffee. She swallowed. “Why do you say that?”
“Because he was ripping off Sebastian.” Whoa. Nicole was really angry.
Roz played dumb. “Ripping off?”
“Getting his sleazy lawyer to certify he’d paid into the escrow when he hadn’t. Not matching Seb’s twenty-five million dollars. Sticking Sebastian with the bills. And Sebastian is always so nice, he didn’t question anything until he was in it neck-deep. It’s partly my fault. I never should have introduced them.”
Twenty-five million! That wasn’t chump change.
Roz had a hunch. “Is there some other reason you’re angry with Wayne?”
Nicole leaned forward, set her mug on the coffee table and idly used one finger to spin it around by the handle. “I don’t know if I want to talk about this.”
“You’re worried about it going in the paper?”
Nicole startled as if she just realized she was talking to a reporter. Then she sighed. “You know what? I don’t care. He was an awful person. Wayne came on to me. More than once. All while telling me he was going to produce my screenplay. He asked me to invest tens of thousands of dollars in some promotional materials and told me not to tell Sebastian. Said this was ‘just between us.’ Did he think I was an idiot?”
Roz was on the verge of stunned. Nicole knew a lot more than Sebastian thought she did. And Wayne hit on her? Gross.
“You didn’t invest?” Roz slid her notebook out of her bag and started scribbling the high points.
“No, I did not! Why would I invest when Sebastian had already sunk so much money into the studio?”
Roz asked gently, “Why do you think he sunk so much money into the studio?”
Nicole pursed her lips. “He must’ve thought Wayne would produce my screenplay if he did. It’s just the sort of super nice thing Sebastian would do. But I wish he was a little more savvy sometimes.”
“Uh-huh.” Holy Tinseltown! “And Wayne didn’t make any progress on producing your screenplay?”
