Page 47 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

“A few years after she started working for your family, she got a divorce, and she had to get a restraining order against her ex, which Josh’s father handled for her.”

“Okay. That doesn’t mean anything. Mr. Chambers helped other people my father knew.”

“I assumed as much, but her ex was severely beaten shortly after it was filed, which reeks in similarity to what happened to me. There were no suspects, and there was no investigation into the beating.”

“Really? That does sound similar, but I never saw any hint of an affair between my father and Ana. He didn’t pay much attention to the staff. At least not that I saw.”

“Do you think you would have noticed?”

She thought about it for a minute. “Maybe not. Between school and friends before that summer, I wasn’t home all that much, and when I was, I spent most of the time in my room, and I definitely wasn’t looking for anything like that. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be close to him.”

“Neither can I, but there are more indications that something is or was going on between them. Your father bought Ana a house in a high-end community, and he sends her large sums of money every month. The money trail is buried in offshore companies, so it appears it’s coming from her aunt overseas. Only she doesn’t have an aunt overseas.”

“Yes, she does. She told me she has an aunt who lives with her mother in Brazil.”

“Reggie couldn’t find a trace of an aunt. Ana’s sister lives with her mother, and the money isn’t coming from that sister, darlin’. In fact, Ana sends her mother money every month.”

“Are you sure? Maybe Reggie missed something.”

“He’s been doing this for years, and he’s too thorough to miss anything. But I figured we could take a ride out to Boulder and talk to Ana ourselves. She has Tuesdays off, and she goes to the same café for brunch every week. That said, if it’s too difficult for you, I can do it on my own.”

“It’s not too difficult. I want to talk to her, and if it’s true, then I need to hear it for myself. No offense to your friend, but she was like an older sister to me. She was my confidante and the only person I trusted in that house. I told her everything from the time I was eight years old.”

His brows knitted. “Jule, she came to see you right before your father dragged you off the ranch. Did you tell her about us?”

She thought about that afternoon and how Ana had commented about how cute Seeley was and how close they seemed. She even said he looked at Juliette like she was special.

“I did confide in her,” she remembered. “But she seemed genuinely happy for me, and she swore she wouldn’t tell my father. Could my intuition have been that far off? It can’t be possible that every adult who was in my life back then was that conniving.”

Seeley put his hand on her back, compassion shimmering in his eyes. “Unfortunately, I think we’ve learned not to take anyone who was involved in this situation at face value.”

She felt sick at the idea of Ana breaching her trust like that, but she refused to let that nightmare suck the life out of her like it did back then. She drew her shoulders back and said, “What time can you go Tuesday?”

“Reggie said she’s at the café by eleven every week. I think we should get there a little early and stake it out. See if she meets your father.”

“Okay. Lucas takes the bus to school, but I should let him know if we’re leaving earlier than he does. What time are you thinking? Seven?”

“That works. I think we should be honest with Lucas and tell him where we’re going. We don’t have to give him details about what we suspect, but he needs to know that we’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this.”

“I agree, and I appreciate you taking him into consideration.”

“He’s on my mind twenty-four-seven, just like his incredibly sexy mother is.”

It had been so long since either of them had been a priority in anyone else’s life, her throat thickened with emotion.

“Do you think he’ll mind if I stick around and watch him practice?”

“I don’t know, but if I’ve learned one thing about teenagers, it’s that they don’t always know what’s best, and I’d like you to stay and watch our son scare the life out of me.”

“Our son,” he said low and filled with emotion. His fingers curled around her waist, tugging her against his side. “Do you know how much I want to kiss you right now?”

“Probably half as much as I want you to.”

“Good answer.”

Why does every little thing you do reel me in? “Seeley, what are we doing? We’re supposed to be going slow and getting to know each other again.”

“We’ve always sucked at slow.” His lips curved up in a devastating smile. “Besides, this is slow for us. If we weren’t going slow, I’d’ve hauled your fine ass into my truck by now and reminded you exactly how much you like that we suck at slow.”