Twelve
Nico slammed closed the laptop and swung his chair away from the stunning vista of land and water.
He’d been dealing with an irritating work issue that would have been simple enough to solve had people answered his goddamned calls, but a straightforward hour’s work turned into four frustrating ones.
A text about his parents’ anniversary came from Kimmy, the third that day. I’m working, he finally wrote. Stop texting me.
Naturally she called. He picked up, knowing that to ignore it meant she would blow up his phone out of spite and also be pissed at him.
“I hate that you and Steffy have put me in the middle of your fight,” she said immediately. “You two need to grow the hell up. You’re thirty-two, Nico.”
“Stefanie is thirty-six.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“No one’s asking you to mediate,” Nico pointed out.
“If I don’t, Mom and Dad have a shitty anniversary.”
“I can get them a separate present and you two can do what you want.” That seemed like the most reasonable solution, and he was mature enough to not add, as usual.
“That’s not the point.” She sounded livid. “It’s not about the anniversary and you know that.”
“I don’t know what you want from me. All I did was point out that maybe we should consider something that would make both Mom and Dad happy, instead of Mom happy and Dad happy Mom is happy.”
“She didn’t mean to sound so dismissive.”
“Are we talking about the same Stefanie?”
“She’s under a lot of stress right now.”
“And I’m not?”
“Not like hers. It would be good if you cut her some slack.”
He paused. “What’s going on?”
“You should call and ask.”
“Or you can tell me.”
“No, Nico. You can call her.”
“I’ll ask Mom.”
“Mom and Dad don’t know, and I suggest you not worry them by hinting at anything.”
Nico wanted to throw the phone through the door. “Just tell me.”
“It’s Steffy’s thing so you need to ask her. All I want is you to give some feedback on that group text. It’s forty years of Mom putting up with Dad. That’s cause for celebration.”
Nico felt like he’d been punched. His sisters always pointed out that Nico and their father were eerily similar, which he took as a dig that it was a trial for a woman to deal with men like them. Madison had made that clear as well. “Or Dad putting up with Mom.”
Kimmy laughed, accepting this with an ease that made him wonder if he’d overreacted. “True enough. I never figured out what they first saw in each other. Seneca could have taken Stoicism lessons from Dad and Mom never met a thought she didn’t need to say out loud.”
“They love each other,” he said.
“I’d like someone more like me but it works for them, I guess.” She sighed. “Answer the group chat. Let’s try to pretend we can all get along and get through this as best we can.”
She hung up. He debated calling Stefanie to see what was wrong, but she would most likely mock him for checking in, because their entire relationship was spiky.
Forget it. He would contribute to the group chat as a start.
He was in the middle of researching anniversary gifts and had added the search term for parents after getting some questionable couples-only suggestions, when Valerie poked her head and then her whole self around the door.
She wore a pair of tiny red shorts and a pink top tied to reveal a line of skin around her waist. Nico tried to be cool about it.
“This place looks like the lair of an overworked Bond villain,” Valerie observed, looking at the black leather and chrome furniture, strewn with papers and coffee cups.
It was Roger’s usual mess, which Nico would tidy before he left.
He’d long had to admit defeat in maintaining Roger’s spaces to his own personal level of organization.
She wandered around the office, glancing out the expanse of windows to the multiple patio zones, including one with an Ibiza-style cabana and jaunty awnings.
There was an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven the Badgertons rarely used, an herb garden, and a rose garden.
One of the three firepits was visible. He’d been feeling tense from the call with his sister but calmed down as he watched Valerie, although conversely, his heart rate seemed to have increased dramatically.
“No hot tub,” she said. “I’m surprised.”
“Penny thinks they’re vulgar.” He quickly shut down the thought of sitting with Valerie in a hot tub. At night. Alone, the cold air a contrast to the warm water and her warmer skin as his hands…
“Oh, look!” She pointed out the window. A hummingbird had darted toward one of the blown-glass feeders that glinted in the trees like jewels. He joined her at the window and they watched until the tiny bird flitted off.
“There’s Brayden going back to his boathouse apartment,” she said, walking to the side and stuffing her hands in her pockets. It pulled the fabric of her shorts tighter, which he appreciated. “I talked with him earlier.”
“How did it go?”
“It’s more accurate to say he talked at me, not with. He tried to sell me on crypto.”
Sometimes Nico felt sorry for Brayden, but after he’d crashed his second G-wagon and blamed it on a parked car, most of that had evaporated. “Nothing about Yvette?”
“I have a feeling he doesn’t notice anything that’s not Brayden,” she said. “I’ll keep trying, though, in case I’m wrong.”
Moving back to the desk, she picked up the file from the private investigator, then opened it at his nod.
“It boggles my mind that in the world of internet tracking, Yvette and her daughter can stay hidden. Do you think they’re in witness protection or something?
” He could tell she was about to run with this and was settling in for a heady tale of danger and jeopardy when she paused at a photo of the Lakeview Diner from the Mariposa Champion.
She squinted at the photo before pulling out a necklace that, incredibly, had a miniature magnifying glass at the end of a green velvet ribbon.
She caught his glance. “I saw it in a store before we left the city and thought it would come in handy. I was right!” She put it to her eye. “Is that Yvette in the back? I can’t tell if it’s a shadowy woman or a shrub.”
“It’s a shrub and still there.”
“Damn. Not about the shrub—good for it. I admire longevity in shrubbery. The oldest hedgerow in England is over nine hundred years old.” She dropped the magnifying glass back down her shirt and it formed a V that dipped down into her cleavage. Nico couldn’t believe he was jealous of a ribbon.
The next newspaper photo was a candid scene at a street fair with two young women laughing together near a booth.
One looked like Yvette, mostly through process of elimination as the only Asian girl in town.
Valerie squinted at the second person, who was dressed in shorts and a polo with a popped collar, and a bracelet wrapped around her wrist. Her profile was barely visible thanks to the angle of the camera.
“Is that Penny?” she asked.
“Roger said it could also be Tracey Jefferies. He said Penny complained how Tracey copied her look all the time.”
“Penny mentioned Tracey,” said Valerie slowly as she paged through the notes. “She was here that summer. Did the PI talk to her?”
Nico mentally skimmed through the reports. “No. I can flag it for him.”
“Or, hear me out. We talk to her.”
“Because we’ll do better than a trained investigator?”
“No, because I want to do something besides sit around making conversation with the family, and because having a detective show up at her door might cause a lot of questions, especially since Roger hasn’t told his family he hired one.”
That was true enough, and Nico admitted that he too liked the thought of action. “I’ve never met her, but she should be easy enough to find.”
“I’d like to do some exploring too. You know, get the lay of the land.” Valerie tapped her lip. “How do you feel about going to the Lakeview so I can see where it all began?”
There was a knock and Roger came into the office for his standing one o’clock meeting. Nico glanced around guiltily, since he’d been chatting with Valerie instead of straightening the office to make it presentable.
“What are you up to?” Roger asked. “Nico, thanks for taking care of that problem this morning. I don’t know what David was thinking, as usual.”
Valerie showed him the photo of the street fair and explained their Tracey Jefferies plan.
“Oh, good idea.” He frowned. “Just keep it subtle. Penny will be upset if she thinks we’re bringing her friends into this.”
“You got it.” Valerie zipped her lips.
“Is that the plan for today?”
“Maybe tomorrow. Today we’re going to the Lakeview to see where you met,” said Valerie.
“It was on the patio, if that helps.” Roger sounded wistful as he sat at his desk and put down yet another cup. “I have this call, but you have fun.”
Valerie looked at Nico. “Come on, I’ll buy you some fries. You didn’t have anything for lunch.” She was halfway out the room before she paused uncertainly. “Sorry, unless you have something else planned? I should have asked.”
“I’m all yours.” Nico hoped she wouldn’t call him out on his inadvertent phrasing, although Roger’s face transformed into sly amusement.
Valerie gave her stellar, solar smile. “I’ll grab my bag and meet you by the car.”
Then she was gone, leaving him to watch her bounce away.
Valerie always moved as if she was anticipating something remarkable to be waiting at her destination.
He turned to see if Roger needed anything but his boss simply waved him away.
“Better get going,” he said. “If you want to eat, you’ll have to ketchup to her. ”
That was terrible and Roger’s satisfied expression said he knew it. Nico did his best to not rush out after Valerie.
* * *