Harper would spill the beans eventually about Jack. Wouldn’t she? Frankie was potentially going to be working for the man. Just a commissioned painting, but still. It would be good to know that he wasn’t involved in anything too serious.
Chapter Thirteen
Mitch wasn’t surprised when Lucas won all three of their matches. Mitch hadn’t played racquetball in years and Lucas was younger. It had been fun, though, and a great sweat. Better than he got from running, which surprised him.
“You’re a great player,” Lucas said.
Mitch snorted. “Not as good as you. Not that I expected to be. But it was fun all the same. Let’s do it again sometime.”
“Yeah, I’d love to.”
They exited the court and walked down the hall of the fitness center toward the men’s locker room.
“What about Saturday?” Mitch asked. “I could skip my run and do this for an hour in the morning instead.”
“I can’t this week. My brother’s coming in today and I’m going to be entertaining him. Although he might not mind if I’m gone in the morning.” Lucas went into the locker room, Mitch right behind him. “I’ll talk to him and see.”
“Sounds good,” Mitch said. The smell of shampoo and aftershave was strong. Steam drifted along the ceiling from the shower area. “Is he in town for long?”
“Not long enough, considering that we haven’t seen each other in about a year. He was in Orlando for a conference and now that it’s over, he’s driving here to hang out for a bit.”
“What kind of conference? What’s he do?” Mitch collected information about people the way some people collected old coins. He stored the knowledge in a mental database from which he built story characters. He never knew when one random piece might help shape a character into life.
“He’s a retired NYPD homicide detective.” Lucas grabbed a clean towel from the stack in the locker room. “Now, he’s a private investigator.”
Mitch grabbed a towel, too. “Huh. That isveryinteresting. I would love to meet him. Pick his brain a little.”
Lucas nodded. “He’d love to meet you, I’m sure. I know he watches your show. Maybe I’ll host a dinner. Just give me a few days to get things together.” He laughed. “I shouldn’t be adding things to my plate when I still have to edit all the footage from yesterday and turn it into a show.”
“I can’t say cooking shows are my thing, but that one, I’m looking forward to.” Mitch wiped as much sweat off as he could with the white and blue striped fitness center towel, then tossed it in the hamper. He’d shower at home where he could put on clean clothes.
Lucas got his racquet bag out of his locker and zipped his racquet into it. “I’ll be uploading the episode on Friday, so you won’t have too long to wait. As for my brother, I’ll see what works for him to meet you.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to invite myself over. If you’re too busy—”
“No way.” Lucas shut his locker and smiled. “I would love to have you over. The whole crew, really. It would be nice to introduce my brother to my friends. Doesn’t hurt that you’re Mitchell Ripley, either, trust me. For years, my brothers havegiven me grief about my ‘little internet thing,’ as they like to call it. Be nice to show him I have a famous friend.”
Mitch laughed. “Works for me. Let me know what I can bring.”
“You mean what Joyce can make for you to bring?” Lucas wiggled his brows, obviously joking. “I’d really like her and Beryl to come, too. If that’s all right with you.”
They left the locker room and walked out to the parking lot together, their golf carts side by side.
“That’s fine with me. They’ll be very excited about that.”
Lucas put his racquet in the basket on the passenger seat. “Hey, the more the merrier, right? Good game today. That was great. I’ll text you with details about dinner. Just give me a day or two to get organized.”
“No problem. I look forward to it.”
They exchanged waves and went on their way. Mitch was going to be sore tomorrow; he could feel it. He’d used new muscles. Good thing he’d only gone for a short run this morning, in part to see how Bunny would do and in part because he hadn’t wanted to tire himself out before meeting Lucas.
Bunny had done great on the run and had kept up easily. Mitch felt certain she could have gone for longer, which was excellent, because maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon, they would.
As soon as he got home, he took a hot shower, longer than he ordinarily would have, but it felt good, and his body needed it after the workout with Lucas.
He dressed then went to find Kyle in his room, doing his final read-through on his book. Kyle had moved Ruthie’s Pack ’n Play in there and she was in it. Bunny was laying nearby, head up, watching Ruthie.
The little family scene made his heart happy. “Hey, sorry to interrupt. I have to run out. I shouldn’t be too long.”
