“What now?” Logan asked.
“It’s Detective Bruce again,” Jack said, already heading back toward the truck. “Duke busted Brandy out of their yard, and they’ve both disappeared.”
“Ah, puppy love,” Logan laughed as Jack cursed under his breath.
They said quick goodbyes to William and rushed off to help Detective Bruce find a lovestruck Great Dane and Belgian Malinois before they caused chaos across Anastasia Island.
As they drove, Jack couldn’t help but think about Simon’s warnings and Pamela’s tearful phone call. Something was building, some kind of pressure that was about to break.
He just hoped they were ready when it did.
“Don’t you think it’s strange the way William answered your question?” Logan broke through Jack’s thoughts, and he turned to look at his friend.
“What do you mean?” Jack asked, his brow furrowing. “He said it wasn’t him.”
“Actually, he didn’t say that outright,” Logan pointed out. “William sort of talked around it and then said, and I quote, ‘I wish I could tell you.’”
Jack glanced at his friend as William’s words ran through his mind, and his eyes widened. “You’re right.”
They said in unison. “He knows who it is and can’t tell us.”
“It must be my mother,” Jack said through gritted teeth. “I told her not to use the little bit of money myfather left her.”
“We don’t know that, Jack,” Logan warned.
“Who else could it be?” Jack asked. “A long-lost uncle I didn’t know about then?”
“Christmas elves?” Logan grinned at the look Jack shot him. “Let’s discuss this with Charlie after we’ve found your love-struck puppy.”
As they headed to Detective Bruce’s house, Jack was already planning to find his mother and have a word with her, because it had to be her paying the inn’s debts off.
6
HOLLY
Holly sat in the Corner Café at exactly ten o’clock, her fingers drumming impatiently on the table. Charlie sat across from her, calmly sipping her coffee and checking emails on her phone, but Holly couldn’t relax.
Simon was late.
Holly hated people being late. It was one of her biggest pet peeves, a fundamental sign of disrespect for other people’s time. She had spent thirty-five years married to a man who was always late to dinners, to Trinity’s school events, to their anniversary celebrations. And here he was, late again, even for the signing of their divorce papers.
“We should just leave,” Holly said, checking her watch for the third time in as many minutes. “It’s ten fifteen. If he can’t be bothered to show up on time?—”
“Give him five more minutes,” Charlie said calmly. “Then we’ll go.”
Holly was about to argue when she spotted Simon hurrying down the sidewalk toward the café. Even from a distance, she could see the anger in his stride, the tension in his shoulders. But the moment he spotted them through the window, his expression transformed into his best charming smile. The one he used with clients and judges, the one that had fooled Holly for far too many years.
Simon entered the café and slid into the seat across from them without apology for his lateness.
“Hello, Holly, Charlie,” Simon said smoothly. “Thank you for meeting me.”
“Let’s get straight to business,” Charlie said, her tone professional and cool. “Do you have the divorce papers?”
Simon reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a manila folder. He opened it to reveal the divorce documents, already bookmarked at the signature lines. Then he pulled out a gold pen. The one Holly had given him for their thirtieth anniversary, engraved with his initials.
Holly’s breath caught slightly at the sight of it. She tried not to let it shake her that he still had it, still carried it with him after everything that had happened.
“Sign them,” Charlie said simply, pushing the documents toward him.
