On the personal front, I wasn’t sure yet.
Hopefully this would be worth it.
Chapter 18
Iate cold steak for a late breakfast the next morning while sitting out on my deck. When I’d returned home after my disastrous meeting with Nick, Aiden had been gone, and the kitchen had been cleaned up perfectly. He’d left me a steak in the fridge along with rolls on the counter. I’d texted him to check out the online article with a warning that it would be in print in the morning, and he hadn’t texted back.
That worked for me at the moment.
I looked up just as Donna and Tess walked along the trail up from the lake, both in shorts over swimsuits.
“We have drinks, food, and suntan lotion in the boat,” Donna said, a wide-brimmed hat covering her dark hair and protecting her skin. “Get your suit and let’s go.”
I finished chewing. “I take it you saw the newspaper?”
“Yep,” Tessa said, glancing at my half-eaten steak. “We figured you’d be taking the day off.”
“Nope,” I said. “I’ve been forced into a leave of absence. I can’t go back to work until Aiden is convicted or cleared.”
Tessa rocked back on sparkly flip flops. “Cool. Do you still get paid?”
I frowned. “I’m not sure. Guess I should figure that out.” There was no way I was getting my sisters out of there, so I stood. “I’ll go get changed. Whose boat did you borrow?” We had plenty of relatives and friends with boats, but so far, none of us had invested in one.
“We just rented the pontoon boat from the marina,” Tessa admitted. “Seemed like a fun thing to do, and they gave us a discount since it wasn’t being used today. The sound system rocks.”
I didn’t much care how I looked and the headache hadn’t abandoned me, so I put on a plain black bikini with coverup, threw my hair into a ponytail, and snatched a pair of flip flops out of my closet that I was pretty sure belonged to Donna. After tucking sunscreen and a hat in a beach bag, I grabbed a notebook and my phone before meeting my sisters on the deck. “I just realized that my phone hasn’t been ringing like crazy.”
Tessa nodded, her eyes sparkling. “We told the grandmas to spread the word that we’ve got this, and everyone needs to leave you alone for now.”
Gratitude for my two older sisters nearly had me tackling them both in a hug. “I love you guys.”
Donna slung an arm over my shoulder. “This will all be okay.”
“Yeah,” Tessa said, turning to lead the way down to the dock and waiting pontoon boat. “I’m thinking we build a potato gun and knock Jolene’s head off her body with it. What do you think?”
I chuckled. It had been years since we’d built a potato gun. “I’m thinking that’s assault and battery. Besides, the last one we built didn’t have that kind of power.” We’d built more than our share and shot potatoes into the river or lake growing up. All you really needed was potatoes, PVC pipe, hairspray, and a lighter. “However, I wouldn’t mind figuring something out with her.”
“Oh, we will,” Donna promised grimly, untying the boat. “But today, we’re going to go float in the middle of the lake, tan ourselves, drink some alcohol, and relax. It’s a day off for us all.”
My mind was spinning too fast to relax completely, but a day on the lake was appealing. We boated out to the middle and just floated. The pontoon boat had two loungers in the back along with a sun deck. Donna and I took the loungers, and Tessa flopped across the sun deck face down with her Irish skin already freckling. Her blondish-red hair glowed in the full sun.
I let my mind drift a little bit for about half an hour before speaking. “Nick Basanelli couldn’t stop looking at Tessa the other morning. I feel like they have a connection.”
“Shut up,” Tessa said drowsily.
Donna reached for a bottle of water from the ice chest settled between us. “They do make a nice couple. What’s wrong with him, T?”
“Nothing.” Tessa didn’t so much as open her eyes. “We’re just too different.”
“Opposites attract,” I countered, reaching into the cooler for an iced coffee. “Tess thinks he’s all a hero and stuff, and she isn’t and doesn’t like school.”
Donna rolled her eyes. “That’s dumb.” She winked at me.
Yep. We were going to come up with a plan. It felt good to have something positive in the future, although Tessa was stubborn to the nth degree, so it wasn’t going to be easy. Getting Nick on board would probably be easier, but he also seemed to have a whole hottie bachelor thing going on.
Tess stretched and turned her head to face us. “What did Aiden think about the newspaper article?”
I drank down the potent coffee. “We haven’t talked about it yet.” Yeah, that was a little weird. “He was gone last night, and I left him a message but haven’t heard back. Maybe he’s dealing with the Lordes and him dating a prosecutor?” Not that those guys seemed to care what each other did, really. “We’ll catch up later.” I hoped.
