“You like it.”
“Hmph.” She grumbles some more but sits on the stool with a dish towel in hand. After scrubbing the platter, I hand it over for drying.
“So.” She starts drying the platter. “You seem to know Noah pretty well.”
The back of my neck starts to tingle. “Met him when I was still new to town. I think he was here for Jake’s birthday or something.” I conveniently leave out the rest of the details. “We’ve hung out whenever he rolls through town.”
“That’s not very often.” She takes the next wineglass I hand her. “Didn’t know you guys were so chummy.”
“Is there a question here, Hazel?”
“I don’t know.” She seems to hesitate. “Were you aware that Noah has a criminal record?”
“Is this your way of saying your cousin is on the list of people I’m not supposed to fraternize with?”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“You didn’t answer mine.”
“I asked mine first.”
There’s no point in dodging, is there? “Yes,” I say slowly. “I’m aware that your cousin has a criminal past.”
“I’m surprised he’d share that.” She looks thoughtful as she towels off a wineglass. “The rest of the family never talks about it. I sometimes wonder if my cousins even remember their brother did time.”
“I can tell you for sure that Noah hasn’t forgotten.” I need to be careful. To avoid saying anything that might betray Ark Man or the people he works for. “No one who’s served a sentence has the luxury of forgetting about it. People have a tendency not to let that sorta thing go.”
“Hmm.” She grabs the next glass I set on the counter beside her. “I suppose that’s true.”
“What does Noah do for work, anyway?”
“You know, I’m not entirely sure. Some kind of international commerce or customs brokering or…” She trails off, looking perplexed. “I actually have no idea.”
“Huh.” So much for seeing if Hazel knows more than I do. “I’ll ask you again—are you saying I shouldn’t spend time with your cousin, given his criminal past?”
She spends a long time formulating her answer. “No,” she says slowly. “Whatever his crime was—and I’ll admit that I don’t know all the details—Noah paid his debt to society.”
“Clean slate, huh?” I’m sensing opportunity here. “You’re extending an awful lot of grace to your cousin.”
“I suppose.”
“How about for the father of your children?”
Another long pause. “Have you been to the prison lately?”
“No.” At least I can answer that honestly. “Have you?”
“Yes.” Her gaze darts away. “I visit my father at least once a week.”
“Kind of you.”
“He’s excited about the grandbabies.” She’s not meeting my eyes as her hand moves over her belly. “I’m hoping he’ll be able to meet them when the time comes.”
“Mmhmm.” I’ve never investigated the rules for bringing newborns into a medium-security prison, but I’m guessing she won’t have an easy time doing it. “Please promise you won’t bribe the guards to smuggle our daughters into a federal penitentiary.” I’m only half kidding.
“Of course I wouldn’t.”
“Okay then.” I glance over at Squash, who sits cleaning herself at the top of her cat tower. Wherever she’s been, whatever she’s seen before coming to live in this mansion, she’s settled nicely into her pampered new life.
