Nolan secured Orin’s hands behind his back.
“I’ll give you two twenty-five percent,” Orin said. “It’s a lot of money. Hey! I’ll give you my lake house. It’s a lot better than this dump. You can—”
Yesterday Abby had dropped mustard on Grace’s favorite red silk scarf, spot-washed it, then hung it on the coat-closet door to dry. Grace pulled the scarf off and handed it to Nolan.
“Thanks,” he said, smiling at her. He tied it around Orin’s mouth. “That’s better.” He used another tie to fasten Orin’s ankles together, then stood up. “That should keep him from running away while I’m distracted.”
“We need to call the sheriff. What could distract you from that?”
“This,” Nolan said as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
“Mmmm” was all Grace could say.
When Sheriff Colin Frazier and his deputy, Melissa, burst into the house, with Eli and Chelsea close behind them, three of them holding guns, what they saw astonished them.
On the floor, tied up as if he were being prepared for roasting, was Orin Peterson. Standing inches away were Nolan and Grace, their bodies intertwined and kissing, oblivious to all the commotion around them. However, still clutched in Grace’s hand was Orin’s gun.
Colin nodded to Melissa, but she was already on her way to remove the gun from Grace’s hand.
“You two,” Colin said, but the kissing couple didn’t move. Louder: “Nolan!”
Reluctantly, Nolan pulled away from Grace, then was startled to see the people there, especially Eli and Chelsea. They were dressed for the prom, with Eli in a tux and Chelsea in a revealing blue dress that was just plain dazzling.
“Let’s get him out of here,” Melissa said. She cut the tie on Peterson’s ankles, then Colin, a huge man, hauled Orin up with one arm.
“I can’t wait to see what’s on that little rabbit,” Colin said and started for the door. He paused by Eli and Chelsea. “Thanks for not trying to handle this by yourselves.”
“I don’t think they needed either one of us,” Eli said, nodding toward Nolan and Grace.
When the sheriff and his deputy were gone, Eli and Chelsea went to the dining table. Nolan and Grace were sitting there, holding hands, and quietly talking.
“How did you know?” Nolan asked Eli.
“Abby knew Orin’s misspelled text wasn’t from you,” Eli said.
Grace took a deep drink of her wine. “Orin was going to . . . to . . .”
“I know,” Chelsea said. “He wanted Abby to bring the flash drive here to him. He meant to kill . . .” She didn’t finish the sentence.
“I didn’t get to see Abby in her dress,” Grace said, and suddenly the tears began. “She said I didn’t need to bother, that her new friend Chelsea was helping her.” She looked Chelsea up and down. “I understand because you look like you’re off the cover of Vogue.”
“It’s okay.” Nolan patted her hand. “You’re just upset over what happened, but you’ll be all right. You just need—”
“Men!” Chelsea said under her breath, then held out her hand to Grace. “Come on, let’s get you dressed so you can see your daughter in her prom dress. You!” She turned to Nolan. “Go shave and put on your best suit.” She looked at Eli. “Use all your spy techniques to get the owner of that little dress shop on the corner downtown to open up and let you buy that red dress in the window.”
“Chelsea,” Eli said in a voice of great patience, “I can’t do something like that. My credentials don’t—”
She moved so she was nose to nose with him. In her heels she was nearly as tall as he was. “If you ever plan to get me in bed again, if you have any hope of getting me to stay in this one-horse town, you will do this. Do you understand me?”
Eli started to speak, but Nolan grabbed his arm and pulled. “One red dress coming up. Need any shoes?”
Chelsea looked at Grace. “This one is a keeper.”
“I think so,” Grace said.
Chelsea looked back at the men, who were still standing there. “Go!”
The two men hurried out of the house and Chelsea looked back at Grace. “Where’s your drawer?”