He looked startled by the question. “Oh, she’s a friend.”
“And she has opinions aboutyourretirement?” Harrison asked, not hiding the accusatory tone. “Why is that?”
Now my dad was visibly flustered. “Because at my age it’s what people talk about. Why does it matter? This call wasn’t supposed to be about me. We’ve discussed my retirement so let’s table any more conversation about it. I’m retiring. Full stop. Does anyone else have a grievance to air, or scheme to reveal?” He paused and stared at the screen. “No? Okay, excellent. I’m signing off, I have a golf game. Take care, guys. Love you.”
He disconnected before we could respond, leaving the three of us dumbfounded.
“Something’s up,” Harrison said. “Why did he end the call so quickly? And who the hell is this Candace?”
“Agreed,” Logan said. “I don’t like the way he’s acting. I think Candace might be influencing him. Maybe she’s a grifter trying to get him to be her sugar daddy? Getting him to retire would mean that he’d spend less time with the people he knows and trusts and more time around her—under her influence. That’s classic grifter shit. And is that why he got the new haircut?”
“How old do we think she is?” I asked.
“I don’t know but I’m going to find out,” Harrison muttered. “There are too many unanswered questions about him leaving. I don’t like any of this.”
We stewed quietly. I noticed none of us were in a hurry to hang up, which was a nice change of pace.
“I guess I’m adding a plus one to your gender reveal invitation,” Harrison said with a smirk.
“What? No, that’s not necessary,” I insisted.
“Sorry, but you have to bring your newly minted fiancée along,” Harrison said. “It’s perfect for your scenario because Gwen’s got a huge social media following and she’s going to post about the reveal.A couple of photos with the two of you in the background will really sell your relationship.”
I considered it. Taking Emilia to meet my family? Not my first choice for how to spend an afternoon but Harrison had a point. It would look weird if she wasn’t there.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’ll ask her.”
13
DREW
Several hours later, I was still mulling over how to bring it up when Emilia and I were walking up to my front door with a woozy Winston, directly from the vet hospital.
“Wow. This’ll do,” Emilia deadpanned as we walked through my door.
“I’ll show you to your room after we drop Winston off in his habitat.”
Emilia whistled softly as I led her though the marble anteroom, down the hall, past the formal dining room, through the family room and out onto the patio.
“Howmany people live here?”
“Point taken,” I chuckled as I slid open the door. “But now, the answer is three. And the most important one is about to check out his new habitat. What do you think?”
I stepped to the side and Emilia gasped at the space that was currently taking up some major real estate in my back yard.
The space had always been impressive, with a garden, a pool, and a conversation gazebo with cozy couches, but it had been enhanced with a new fenced-in area that was going to be home to a very spoiled desert tortoise.
“Oh my gosh, this isincredible,”she said. “Winston, look! Do you love it?”
She’d kept up a babble of conversation for him the entire drive home, and while I usually found that kind of chatter annoying, from her it was actually pretty charming. She’d talked to Winston like she thought he was going to answer her back, and her insights were genuinely interesting and funny.
I watched her take in the habitat, showing Winston each new feature.
“An automated misting system? Win, you’re going to love it! And a solar powered heating pad?” Emilia turned to me with grateful eyes. “This is incredible. Thank you.”
“I can take very little credit, I just made the call to start the process.” I walked over to join them. “There’s a little sensor over here that allows us to monitor the temperature and humidity settings, along with a remote surveillance system. You’ll be able to see everything on your phone. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told.”
Derrick had offered to put the app on my phone so that I could then show and explain it to her but I’d opted to let him give the lesson.
