Everyone laughed and Celia gave them a wave.
They watched as she headed over to the other table. Wes noted that Bryan and Darlene were seated there, too, and he waved to the women. Darlene waved back enthusiastically.
“Now there’s a kid who will probably never have a problem with anything social!” Gina said. “As sweet as can be!”
“She is sweet, and her dad seems to be a good guy, too,” Chloe agreed.
With a huge smile, Darlene was waving to them all.
“Yeah,” Jeff murmured, “but her dad wants her and himself to sit in with us on this—he’s so afraid she’s going to meet a predator online. Well, that’s a fear for dads all over the world these days.”
“For anyone any age,” Edward said.
“Man, is it good to be off the market!” Chloe murmured, bringing another round of smiles to the group.
“Okay, onward to bocce ball, while I still have an hour or so to show you young people how it’s done!” Edward told them.
“Young people?” Sally said lightly. “You’re going to show me, too, right?”
“You have the youngest heart of all, my dear!” Edward assured her.
Chloe glanced at Wes, arching a brow. The little affair going on was charming and it seemed to be a safe affair for now.
Amelia might not be in the brig, but she was out of the picture.
Hopefully. But George was watching.
And George, he reminded himself, was good at what he did. George could keep his eye on Amelia.
He and Chloe would play bocce ball. And the only one in the list of suspects they wouldn’t see at any given moment was Celia.
He didn’t like that. He had to remind himself again that just because Celia could have an acidic personality, it didn’t make her a murderer.
“So, Edward, you sure know a lot of trivia, even when it comes to this game!” Chloe was saying as they reached the elevators.
“Bocce! It comes from the Italian word for bowl,boccia! Now, the point of throwing your ball is to get it as close to the target ball, or thepallino.And one of the best things about the game is that you can play it alone and improve your own skill, play with one other person or play in teams, as we shall play today!”
“Hm, okay, but you’re the king of bocce, so it seems. Who is on your team?” Daniel asked him.
“Sally, of course, and—”
“Me and Gina!” Daniel told him. “That leaves my charming hulk of a brother with Chloe and Wes and... Oh, man, Celia messed it all up by not coming! Jeff is going to be the odd man out!”
“I can supervise!” Jeff suggested. “Call it as I see it. I’ll bethe emcee. No, wait, you don’t call it an emcee... I’ll be the referee, the umpire, the game official!”
“Ooh. Maybe I’d rather be that and let you play, Daniel!” Sally said.
Wes knew how he could fix the problem. He pretended that his phone was ringing. “Excuse me a sec!” he told the others, stepping back to feign a conversation.
“Well, I’m afraid we’ve just had the perfect solution,” he said apologetically, turning back to them.
“What’s up?” Edward asked him.
“I’m afraid I’ve got to get back down to my computer. There’s been a problem at the marina, and I’ve got to get the right people working on it.” He wrinkled his nose. “That’s the problem with being the sole proprietor in a small business. I mean, it’s great to be your own boss but if anything happens, you’re in charge!”
He paused for a moment. He had told George that he’d be the one looking out for Edward.
And Sally.
