“Girl, does this look like Thessalonia to you? Hush. If I wanted your daddy here, I would invite him,” Cori says.
“What makes you think that?” I ask, ignoring Selene.
“I overheard something.” There it is. She went digging where she shouldn’t. “The front man was in the office two days ago, and Mr. Armstrong told us to clear out. Of course, I left and snuck back in through the side door. I hid by the fire exit, which shares a wall with the old man’s office.”
“Cori,” I chide, but she holds a hand up.
“What did you hear?” Selene whispers.
“Wait? How did you hear anything through those thick walls?” I know Cori is not telling us the entire truth.
“Okay. I wasn’t listening at the door. I bugged the old man’s office,” Cori confesses.
“Girl.” I throw up my hands. “Are you crazy?”
“A little. Listen, you don’t wonder why no one in this town knows who this man is? Not your father or mine? They’re leaders in Shadow Cove.”
“I don’t,” I say. “That’s their job, not ours.”
“Anyway, there was just boring talk about accounts, trusts, and a will, but then Mr. Armstrong had a question about the correct name for a trust and the age the person will be able to access it. He said, ‘The boss has all the informationdown here.’”
“Where?” Selene’s eyes are wide while she listens to Cori’s every word.
“I assume he had paperwork, but why would he say the boss ifhe’sthe boss?” Cori whispers.
“And why do you care?” I ask.
“I’m a private investigator and a resident of Shadow Cove. It’s my business,” she insists.
“What are you going to do with this?” Selene slurps her drink.
“Nothing. I don’t have a death wish.” Cori waves her hand in dismissal. “It’s for my own little nosy heart.” When I stare at her in disbelief, she says, “I’m nosy, not a snitch. Only the three of us will ever know what I find out.”
“But what if Rip gets indicted and Eden has to testify against him, and they ask her to tell them everything she knows on the stand?” Selene asks.
“Oh, please. They can’t make her testify against him if they are married. Have you learned nothing from watching soap operas all your life, Selene?”
I choke on my water at the mention of marriage. Cori reaches over and whacks me on the back.
“I’m not getting married. You think I want to end up bitter like Sylvie ?”
Our entrees come out, and we all dig into our food. I ordered shrimp fajitas, and the smell makes my stomach growl.
Cori opens her mouth to say something, but I put my hand up. “Let’s eat or I’ll make you two pay for your own lunch.”
Cori picks up her fork with one hand and gives me the middle finger with the other. I ignore both my friends and focus on my food.
I check my phone a few times, but there are no more messages from Rip. Last night was the first time since we became a couple that we haven’t spent the night together, and I’ve missed him.
I don’t remember ever missing my previous boyfriend. He would leave frequently to visit his parents, and I wouldn’t think about him until he returned, but I barely slept last night without those big, strong tattooed arms around me.
“Oh, shit,” I hear Selene whisper. “Your sister girlfriend.”
Cori snorts into her plate. My eyes narrow while I watch Lexi stomp her way to our table. She flips her long, dark hair. Selene moves her plate away.
We all remain silent while Lexi stares me down. To show her how bored I am, I pick up my nearly empty cup of water and drink until the straw makes that annoying draining sound.
“You bitch,” she hisses.
