Her Secret Life

“Tell me why you were so tense today.”

Not that again. Diane had asked him the same thing when she’d called to see if he wanted to join her and Ben at a private wine tasting that night at the home of a local vintner. He’d received a personal invitation. Tanner Malone was well known around the Lemonade Stand, as was his little sister, Tatum, who, at fifteen, had sought refuge at the shelter.

Mike rarely accepted such invitations, as Diane well knew, and that night had been no different.

“It was something confidential,” he heard himself say softly into the phone as he stared at the photo of the ocean that was his home screen, giving Kacey the same response he’d come up with for his sister.

It had worked earlier.

He was feeling fairly confident he’d slide by a second time.

“What does that mean, confidential?”

Diane had assumed it had to do with the Lemonade Stand. Kacey was someone he knew through the Stand. He’d let the assumption remain and the conversation with his sister had moved to neutral ground.

Kacey was privy to any and all Lemonade Stand confidentialities. She’d been vetted and approved for full clearance.

“I have confidentiality agreements with a lot of my clients,” he improvised. True. And while she wasn’t paying him, he was doing professional work for her.

Her. Kacey. Why did he think of her every time he tried to explain the day’s surly behavior?

The answer was right there. He didn’t want to see. He closed his eyes but it refused to fade.

He’d been afraid she was going to give Bo a key.

Like a little kid, he’d been jealous that his friend was going to be better friends with someone else.

That was completely ludicrous and unacceptable.

Of course she was closer to Bo. The man was her boyfriend and on track to become her life partner.

He didn’t even want the position. Didn’t envy the LA lifestyle at all. Feelings were irrational sometimes. He’d learned that somewhere along the meandering trail of counseling he and his family had been through over the past ten years. The trick was to sort out those feelings that were not reliable and then give them as little credence as possible.

To focus on them was to give them life.

So he’d ignore them.

Be her friend.

And enjoy a good life.

* * *

KACEY CALLED MICHAEL again Thursday night—late. Her folks were in bed, Levi had been asleep for hours and she was sitting outside in the garden oasis she’d given her sister, along with her Arizona room, for a birthday present the year before. Rather, she’d pushed it on her, to get her to admit that she had feelings for Jem, the contractor in her life.

She’d had a text from Michael the previous day—just telling her there were no new pictures or activity on the hacked account. She’d been at the studio until after eight and then out to dinner with friends—a date Bo had arranged—and home too late to call him back.

Not that he’d have expected her to do s

o.

She’d just wanted to.

If she wasn’t careful, Michael was going to become more of an addiction to her than alcohol had ever had a chance to be.

He picked up on the second ring.

“Am I interrupting something?” she asked immediately. He’d have seen her name on his screen. He’d have known it was her before he decided to answer. But still, he sounded...odd.