“What did you mean?”
He shifts in his chair. “I just mean I’m sorry I wasn’t here. And I’m glad Lance had your back.”
Lance says nothing.
Art’s phone rings again. He stands. “I have to go.”
“You just got here,” I say, and I hate how small my voice sounds.
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s my dad—he needs me for some fundraiser planning.”
How much fundraiser planning does a mayor need?
He doesn’t wait. A quick kiss to my lips, and it’s perfunctory, like checking a box, and a clap on Lance’s shoulder.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
And then he’s out the front door.
The house goes painfully quiet. Even Cavall seems subdued, emerging from under the table to press his nose against my hand.
I stare at Art’s plate. Three bites. His wine barely touched. He was here maybe forty minutes, half of it on his phone, and we got nothing. Not a single name. Not a single lead. Just “I’m handling it” and a kiss that felt like an obligation.
“Well,” I say. “That was productive.”
Lance carries his plate to the sink. The water runs. Dishes clink.
I snap out of it and move to help, and we stand side by side, him washing, me drying, the rhythm almost soothing. Splash of water, squeak of towel, clink of plates. This is our thing, I’ve decided. The one time we both can pretend nothing’s out of sorts.
“He’s never going to tell us,” I say.
“Maybe not voluntarily.”
“Then we need another way in.” I dry a glass, turning it in my hands. “His office. His phone. His laptop. Whatever he’s not telling us, there’s a trail. Artalwaysleaves a trail.”
Lance is quiet for a moment. “That’s a line you can’t uncross.”
“I know.”
“If he catches you—”
“I know.”
Our hands brush when he passes me a plate, and I jolt, nearly dropping it.
“Sorry,” I mutter, face heating.
“It’s fine.”
We finish in silence. I set the last plate in the cabinet.
“I should get some sleep,” I say, pushing off the counter.
“Genevieve.”
I stop in the doorway. He moves toward me, and the warmth radiates off him, sparks landing on my skin.
He bends close, his breath ghosting across my ear. “For what it’s worth. That was the best meal anyone’s made for me in a long time.”
