“You wouldn’t believe what happened in the last thirty-six hours.I’ll tell you, just not now.Nothing in comparison to what you faced.But they made me question what we were doing together.It was all me, Drea.I was being a self-absorbed ass.”
“And did my mom dying change your mind?”Her eyes were wet.A single tear trailed down her cheek.
He framed her face with his hands.She leaned into him and closed her eyes.He thumbed away her tears.
“No,” he answered.“Realizing I was being a douchebag changed my mind.Realizing that I was pulling back for reasons that existed only in my head changed my mind.I was trying to figure out what to say to you when I heard about your mom.”
“Douchebag, huh?I would have saidasshole,” she said with a brave smile.“I missed you.”
Cujo took her hand.“I missed you, too.No more douchebaggery, I promise.”
“You knowpromiseis a really big word?”
“Yeah, Shortcake.I do.”
The tears started again as she looked down at his sketch.Framed in a heart were the words,Brody and Andrea xxx.Just like high school.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Drea put her phone down on Cujo’s coffee table.The funeral was set for Tuesday afternoon, thanks to a funeral director friend of José’s.She looked at the very short guest list.Tears filled her eyes again.She pulled a tissue from the box, yet another to add to the Kleenex mountain growing on Cujo’s table.
He’d offered to stay home, but Drea knew from Harper just how busy Second Circle was on Fridays.It was enough he was letting her stay at his house, without impinging on his livelihood.Drea hauled herself into the shower and allowed the hot water to pummel her body while she soaped her hair.
By the time his keys clanged on the glass shelf in the entrance hall, she was wrapped in a fluffy white bathrobe, wet hair up in a bun.
“I grabbed Chinese.And you better be naked.”He entered the room juggling a brown bag of tempting-smelling food and a bottle of white wine.
Drea let out a yawn and laughed sadly.Cujo leaned over the back of the sofa, concern etching his eyes as he gave her a lingering kiss.Then he went to the kitchen and returned with dishes and silverware.
Feeling lazy, she watched Cujo set everything up, eventually wandering over to join him.
“Rough day?”he asked, pulling her against him.He was solid, reassuringly so.Something she could anchor to.
“I made a decision while you were at work.”She stepped away from him, pushing a stray hair behind her ears.
Cujo opened the boxes of food, disposing of lids and the yucky sachets of cheap soy sauce Chinese restaurants always seemed to supply.He held up the packaged chopsticks.
Drea grabbed a set.
“What?”He pulled out a chair for her, stealing a kiss as he indicated for her to sit.
“I can’t give up on L.A.”Drea tapped her fingers on the glass table.“We need to go speak to Carter.Find out if he’s certain Walter’s death was intentional.”
“Sweet and sour chicken,” Cujo said, passing her the container.“So we’ll go see him, tomorrow.”
“If it were me trying to figure this out, I’d say there were three things to investigate.Like, who is Lynn Alexander?”Drea scooped large spoonfuls onto her plate and Cujo added a mound of rice.“The second is what would prove the information given at the permit hearing was false, and finally, how do you prove what they are doing at the site is more dangerous than what they have permission for?”She ate some of the chicken and groaned in pleasure.
Cujo smiled at her.
“I thought you were going to take it easy today?Watch movies and sleep.All of this can wait until after your mom’s funeral.”
“Sleep’s overrated.I kept dreaming about mom.And then I made calls about the funeral.I figured if I thought about this instead, it would keep my mind off things.”
“I get that, Shortcake,” Cujo said, taking a large bite of food.
Drea covered her mouth.She’d eaten too much.Cujo laughed and she grinned despite herself.
“Hungry?”
