His lips firm. “They’re trying to get Jane from me. The timing of this guy’s offer is suspect.”
Although I figured the Labelles were up to some shady shit—you don’t hire a PI to spy on your granddaughter for shits and giggles—this doesn’t square for me. “Why do they want a kid?” I ask, frowning. “I mean, no offense, we’ve established that I like Jane. But the Labelles are not exactly the mushy, touchy-feely types.”
That’s putting it mildly. Although I don’t know them well, they’re the richest family in town, and everyone knowsofthem. We’ve all seen them walking up and down Main Street as if they own it, turning up their noses at people who’ve lived here just as long as they have. The Labelle matriarch could out-ice my grandmother, and that’s saying something. As for Papa Dearest? I’m pretty sure he stopped giving a shit about anything at least two decades ago.
Cole’s gaze is trained straight ahead. “To fuck with me?”
“But to what end? They’d still have to raise a child, which they seem spectacularly unqualified to do. And you said this Deacon guy seemed caught up in it?”
He sighs and rustles his hair. “I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Shit. You really need classes in asking pertinent questions.”
He shoots me a dark look. “I wanted to kick his ass. I thought I did a pretty good job of restraining myself.”
“I’m going to look into this,” I say firmly.
“Holly Mayberry, on the case,” he says with a slight smile and a sidelong glance.
He’s making fun of me, but there’s something fond about it. I find myself smiling too.
I call Tina and leave her a message, letting her know where we’re going and why, asking her to call us back.
When we pull up to Nana’s house, she’s sitting on the porch, drinking sweet tea and looking as pulled together as a wax statue at Madame Tussaud’s, like there isn’t a man passed out on her couch.
“I’m already pissed off,” I say under my breath.
“Seems like you spend a lot of time that way,” Cole says, but again, there’s an amused look on his face.
We get out of the car together, and Nana studies us for a solid second before saying, “What took you so long?”
