“No. He doesn’t. But you deserve closure. And he’s your only sibling, so if it’s salvageable, you’ve got to try to repair things.”
I pushed up, surprised by his words. “What? You can’t stand him. Why would you want me to repair things with him?”
“Because I know you, Wren. I know how deeply this has hurt you. And I love you more than I despise him, so if it helps you or it’s important to you, then I support it.”
“Axel Chadwick, you are giving all the golden retriever vibes right now.”
“What the hell does that mean? I’m a dog now?”
“No. It’s just romance book lingo. You’re all sweet and retriever-like.” I leaned forward on a laugh before sneaking a kiss. “But you’re this perfect mix of alpha and golden retriever.”
“I think I’ll just stick with Cowboy.”
“That works best of all.” I rested my cheek on his chest again, listening to the sound of his heart.
It was the most content I’d been in a very long time.
I only wished this moment would never end.
“I’m so sorry that you’re such a hot topic right now in ‘The Taylor Tea,’” Emilia said, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You do not need to apologize for anything,” I said as I reached for my margarita. We’d decided to have book club at Booze and Brews tonight. “You aren’t responsible for what they print.”
“I just feel like people probably assume that I know who writes it, seeing as my family owns the newspaper that prints it.” Emilia sighed. “But I honestly don’t have a clue.”
“Listen, you went as far as to take a lie detector to prove it wasn’t you,” Eloise said. She and Clark were home, as the Lions had been knocked out of the Stanley Cup finals this week. I knew they were bummed, but they were taking it in stride. Clark had had an amazing season, but several of his teammates had been out with injuries.
“But who the hell is it? I mean, who could have so much inside scoop on literally everyone?” Lulu asked as Jazzy dropped another round of margaritas off at the table.
“It’s a small town, and everyone knows everything here,” Henley said. “But I kind of think it could be Josh Black. He’s always in everyone’s business.”
“That’s a good guess, and he would definitely enjoy outing everyone’s business, but I get female vibes from the author. She’s far too savvy and hip to be a man.” Lulu chuckled.
“I’ve kind of wondered if it could be Cami Rogers, because she was at my parents’ office that day I went to speak to them. She was such a bully to me in high school, so nothing would shock me. But my parents insist she was just there to apply for a job.” Emilia tapped her finger to her lips as if she was deep in thought.
“There must be a way we can find out,” Eloise said.
We all turned and looked at Emilia at the same time.
“My parents are vaults. They will never tell me—trust me, I’ve tried.” She took a sip of her drink. “But there might be another way to find out.”
“Do tell.” Lulu rubbed her hands together mischievously.
“We could go over to the office now, while no one’s there, and just look around and see if there’s something out on my parents’ desks. I mean, they must be communicating with this person, right?” Emilia clapped her hands together as if this was the best idea she’d ever come up with.
“Wouldn’t that be breaking and entering?” Eloise asked.
“Her family owns the business. It’s not like they’ll have her arrested.” Lulu gave me a curious look.
“Ehhh… that one is up for debate.” Emilia fell forward on a laugh. “But I have the code to get in, or at least I think I do, unless they’ve changed it. And if we get caught, I’ll just say that I wanted to stop by on my way home and leave my parents a little note on their desk to wish them a good day. That sounds believable.”
“That’s your cover? We were stopping by to leave a note?” Eloise chuckled before taking a big sip of her drink. “I’m going to need to finish this first if I’m going to break the law. I’ll need some serious liquid courage.”
“I love this for us,” Lulu said, rubbing her hands together. “And we’ve got the owners’ daughter, a lawyer, and the world champion equestrian breaking in with us. What could possibly go wrong?”
“What does an equestrian bring to the table exactly?” I said over my laughter.
“You’ll know how to help us make a quick getaway.” Lulu shrugged.
