Chapter Twenty-eight
L iam opened his mouth to speak at the same time that my phone chimed. He nodded for me to answer, but said, “We’re not done with this conversation.”
I didn’t recognize the number and thought it might be a client. “Hello, Julia Blumer speaking.”
“You think you’re so clever,” Paisley said by way of greeting.
I looked at Liam with wide eyes and he frowned.
“Yes, most of the time I do think I’m quite the smarty pants, Paisley, but how does that impact your world?”
Liam’s eyes mirrored mine with the wideness and he leaned closer to hear what she was saying. I put the phone on speaker.
“You think running away is going to solve this situation just like you thought it would solve your sitch with big, tall, and hot next door all those years ago, but it won’t,” my cousin said.
“Paisley, what are you babbling about?” I asked. “I’m not running away. I merely ducked out to grab some coffee. I said good-bye to you on the way, sheesh, don’t you remember?”
It was a brazen lie, but I was hoping my sheer confidence left her bewildered enough that she bought it at least for a few minutes. I heard some music and then laughter in the background.
“Paisley, are you having a party in my house?” I asked. “Not for nothing, but I believe that’s bad form.”
Abruptly, the noise got louder, and I heard Paisley snap at someone to wipe their feet, put a coaster under their drink, and for god’s sake turn the music down. It went noticeably up in volume.
“I am not having a party, your sister is!” Paisley yelled. Liam and I exchanged surprised glances as she continued, “You had better rein that girl in—she is out of control!”
My cousin abruptly ended the call. I put my phone away and started laughing. This was awesome. Man, Em didn’t just bust out of her shell, she freaking blew it up! I hoped she managed to do the same with her feelings for her boss, because there was no way she should be pining for a married guy.
“Another Blumer sister is going rogue,” Liam said. He turned on his signal and took the next exit off the highway.
“Indeed. So, it appears Em’s way of dealing with Paisley is to throw a party in the house,” I said. “Genius.”
“At eleven o’clock in the morning?” Liam asked. “Who is at this party?”
“Day drinkers?” I suggested. “Poor Mr. Loren has no idea what he’s walking into.”
He shook his head with a laugh. “More like Paisley had no idea what she was up against when she took on the Blumer sisters. Serves her right.”
I grinned. The Blumer sisters. No matter what my origin story, I was still a Blumer sister, one-hundred-percent. That made me smile.
Liam drove a winding route through the Los Angeles suburbs until we were on a road that ran along the water. A sense of déjà vu hit me, and I started to suspect I knew exactly why Courtney had helped Paisley.
“We’re here,” he said.
He parked on the street in front of a house with a gorgeous ocean view from where it sat in the curve of a cul-de-sac named Rosemont Lane.
“No shit. Wild guess who lives over there?” I pointed to a similar house across the street.
Liam squinted at the house. “Paisley?”
“Correct,” I said. “So, your Courtney and my Paisley are neighbors.”
“When do you think they cooked this up?” Liam asked.
“We only found out the conditions in the will a few weeks ago,” I said. “It must be recent. I’d be willing to bet it came to fruition after you dumped Courtney.”
“Hell hath no fury...”
“Indeed.”
He took my hand, and we walked toward the house. I had the sudden sensation I was being watched and I gave him a nervous glance.
“Are you absolutely sure she’s at work?”
“Yes, she’s in banking and does not have flexible hours,” he said.
“Okay.” I hoped he was right.
Still, the feeling persisted. I knew it couldn’t be Paisley watching us because she was back at the house. I tried to look casual as I surveyed the area, thinking it might be some nosey neighbors, then I caught sight of a blue hooded sweatshirt and aviators. My stalker was here!
He was standing in the neighbor’s yard peeking out at us from behind a large fig tree. Seriously?
“Hey! You! I want to talk to you!” I dropped Liam’s hand and started toward the stranger with the intention of kicking his butt or getting some answers or both.
“Uh, Jules, we’re trying to be inconspicuous here,” Liam said as he trotted after me.
“Yeah, well, that’s the guy who’s been following me,” I said. “At your coffee shop, at the beach, even at the art festival.”
“That’s him?”
“Yes,” I said. “And I want to know why.”
I didn’t get out another word as Liam jumped over the neighbor’s hedge and began to chase the strange man down. They beat feet across the yard until Liam caught the guy in a diving tackle that had them rolling almost to the rocky cliff at the perimeter of the lawn.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” The man jumped away from Liam with his hands in the air. “It’s not what you think. I can explain.”
“I’m listening,” I said as I joined them.
Liam looked as if he wanted to do some listening with his knuckles across the guy’s lips, but I looped my arm through his, holding him back.
“I’m a private investigator,” the man said. “My name is Trent McAllister, and I was hired by Paisley to follow you and your sisters, Ms. Blumer.”
“Prove it,” I said.
He carefully reached into his back pocket and Liam stepped forward as if ready to take a swing at him if he did anything funky. “Easy, I’m just getting my ID out.”
Liam held out his hand and Trent dropped his picture ID in it as if afraid Liam was going to take the opportunity to break his fingers. Not completely out of the realm of possibility.
“It says your office is in San Diego,” Liam said. “Mission Beach.”
“Yeah, I’ve been there for about five years,” he said. “Rolled down from Los Angeles.”
“What were you doing for Paisley?” I asked.
“She was referred to me by an old client. She hired me to make sure you and your sisters followed the dictates of the will, you know, that you kept the urn in the window and that you all slept in the house every night,” he said. “Paisley was sure you would crack.”
“So, are you the one who took the urn last night?” I asked.
“Hell, no!” Trent said. “I’m just a watcher. I don’t do anything illegal. I have a reputation to protect.”
“Good. Because then we’d have a problem,” I said.
“Not for nothing, I’m not surprised someone took the urn from you,” he said. “Paisley offered me a sweet deal, a payout to be determined if I’d do it for her. Since burglary is a no no, I refused. She didn’t like that.”
“What are you doing here now?” Liam asked with suspicion in his tone.
“Quitting,” he said. “I went to cash the check she wrote, and it was denied for insufficient funds. That’s the second time, so I came to tell her I quit.”
“I think that’s a good call,” I said. “But she’s not here. She’s down at my house measuring the place for curtains.”
“So, she must have found someone else to steal the urn,” Trent said. “Sorry about that. That’s bad luck.”
“Not entirely,” Liam said. “We have a pretty good idea of who did it.”
Trent followed his gaze to the house across the street. “The neighbor? The one with the big...garage?”
“That’s the one,” I said. I jerked my thumb at Liam, “Also known as his ex-girlfriend.”
Trent raised his eyebrows. “Awkward.”
“I’ll say,” Liam agreed.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to it,” Trent said. He began to walk away and then turned around. “A word of advice from a pro, if you don’t mind?”
“Not at all, lay it on us,” I said.
“People like to hide things in their freezers,” he said.
Liam and I exchanged a look.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Good tip.” Liam nodded.
Trent gave us a small smile and then took off down the street toward a nondescript sedan parked in front of Paisley’s house.
“You ready?” Liam asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” I said. “My first B&E. Woo hoo!”
“We’re not B-ing just E-ing,” Liam said. “I have a key, remember?”
“That diminishes the excitement.”
“Don’t worry, I think I can come up with other ways to excite you later.” He winked at me.
Oh, my!
We hurried across the street and made our way up the walkway to Courtney’s house. I saw big flouncy curtains in the window and my curiosity piqued. I couldn’t wait to see the inside of the busty one’s home.
Liam unlocked the front door and we entered. He paused beside a keypad and entered a code. The system beeped and he relaxed.
“She didn’t change the code,” Liam said. “Excellent.”
“You have a key, and you know the passcode to her alarm system,” I said. “I know it doesn’t matter now, except it totally matters to me, were you really going to ask her to marry you?”
“Truth?” he asked.
I nodded then I held my breath. I don’t know why but a small part of me would die inside if he had actually thought of proposing to Courtney, which was ridiculous, I know, because I had been gone for years and it wasn’t like I expected him to wait for me, but if humans were rational, there wouldn’t be wars or men proposing to women who had bigger tits than brains, just sayin’.
“No,” he said. “Even if you hadn’t appeared back in my life, Courtney wasn’t the one for me. We dated for a while, sure, but it was long distance, and we became more of each other’s plus one in social situations than an actual couple with a future, at least, on my end.”
At that, I hugged him hard. My man. I had a feeling Courtney didn’t see it quite so casually. She’d probably thought that by giving him a key and her code, it was like slipping a light leash on him. Liam wasn’t the sort to fall in with that plan. Phew!
“Let’s do this,” Liam said.
He hugged me close and kissed the ball cap on my head, which I found very sweet. He led me by the hand through the house toward the kitchen.
Surprisingly, other than the poofy floral drapes in the windows, the house was very plain. A few flowery prints hung on the wall, the furniture was very beige, and glass and brushed steel were the only accents. The floor was stone, the walls were shades of gray, overall, it was very meh .
“Start with the freezer?” Liam asked.
“Natch,” I said.
We entered the large space with the typical granite countertops, white cupboards with dark pulls, and stainless-steel appliances, so boring. The only thing the room really offered was a fabulous view of the ocean. Oh, yeah, I could get used to drinking my coffee and looking at that view every day.
Liam went right to the large refrigerator freezer and pulled open the left side. He rifled around a bit and then pulled out a shopping bag from Saks Fifth Avenue.
“Wild guess here, but I’m thinking she’s not keeping food in this,” Liam said.
He plopped it on the counter, and I went to peer inside but then stopped.
“What if it isn’t Babs?” I asked. “I feel a little bad invading her privacy like this.”
“Like she did when she stole your mother’s urn?” Liam asked.
“Good point.” I opened the top and peered inside. Babs’s sparkly urn glinted at me in the overhead light. I reached in and pulled out the mother of pearl inlaid container and hugged it to my chest. The amount of relief I felt was overwhelming. “Babs.”
Liam frowned. “This is so weird.”
“I know. I’m sorry my people are non compos mentis.”
He tucked a wild curl behind my ear and tipped my chin up to kiss me. It was swift and sweet but still made my toes curl.
“Don’t be sorry,” Liam said. “I wouldn’t have you any other way, which is good since we’re getting married and all.”