“I was thinking that your nanny would be back by now,” Hunter said.
“Well, she’s meeting with the town council today. I think the meeting is going to go long,” he said. “How about if we plan for tomorrow? Maybe we can drop by our coach’s house, as well. His housekeeper might know when he’s going to be back home.”
“Good thinking,” Hunter said. “I wasn’t able to find out why he was in the hospital. But he is getting old. It’s odd to think of the man who was such a tyrant on the field being sick.”
“It is,” Kingsley agreed. Coach Gainer had always been tough but fair. He had worked them hard every day they were on campus and it had paid off. He’d never resented those long grueling hours since they had brought him the results he’d wanted.
“Maybe we can get Gabi to help,” Hunter said.
“I really don’t want her involved in this,” Kingsley said.
“Involved in what?” Hunter asked. “Women will talk to her. They aren’t going to talk to us.”
“That’s precisely what I don’t want her involved in,” Kingsley said.
“Involved in what?” Gabi said from the doorway, surprising them both.
“Our investigation,” Hunter said.
“Hunter, don’t—”
Hunter was determined to ignore his wishes on this and that pissed him off. Gabi wasn’t a pawn to be used by either of them.
“It’s okay,” Gabi said. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. As soon as you start asking questions, people are going to think you know more about that night,” Kingsley said. “You can’t have that. Your business will suffer.”
Hunter didn’t look happy but then he nodded. “King is right. Sorry, Gabi. I wasn’t thinking about how this will look to your clients if you start asking questions on our behalf.”
“It’s okay. I have drinks with a group from my sorority once a month. I can ask if anyone remembers hearing stories from that night. I’ll say that you are back in town and that’s what made me think of it.”
“Won’t they talk?” Kingsley asked. Every instinct he had said she should stay away from questioning anyone.
“Not my girls. We’re solid. And we’re sisters. I’m happy to do it. Also, I could contact the women on your list, Kingsley, for an article for the alumni newsletter.”
Kingsley didn’t like it. He wanted vengeance on the person who had framed them, and that was something that was too...too dark for Gabi. He didn’t want any of this to touch her, but as they looked through the new photos King had found together he realized it already had.
He had come back to fix this for himself but he realized now he had to fix the past for Gabi, too.
* * *
Gabi hadn’t been on a date in about six months. It wasn’t that she didn’t like going out. It was simply...well, if Melissa and her mother were to be believed, she was too picky.
Picky.
That made it sound as if she had hordes of great guys to choose from, but the truth was she didn’t meet that many men who were interested in her. Most guys her age were married or in serious relationships. And then the fact that she owned a nanny service made the men she did meet fear she wanted kids right away.
So it was slim pickings, as her dad used to say.
But none of that explained why she’d taken extra care with her makeup and hair after she’d put Conner to bed. Or the fact that she’d ordered a new dress from Nordstrom and paid Melissa double time to pick it up and bring it to her at Kingsley’s house.
She knew the truth. She hated to admit it even to herself, but it was staring back at her in the mirror. She wanted this date to be a good one. She wanted the past mistakes between her and Kingsley to fade away. She wanted this to be some kind of over-the-top romantic date that she could use to replace the memories of their first one. A frat party that had ended in murder.
Damn.
She realized that all of her dreams of the future had changed that night. She had wanted a family. She had wanted to find what her parents had found when they were young. A partner. Someone to share her life with. She was staring down thirty. Honestly, by this time she’d imagined she’d have a family of her own. Not still be taking care of other families.
But none of that mattered tonight. Tonight was just a date.
Yes, her first in a while. Yes, one with Kingsley Buchanan. Yes, she wanted it to be perfect.
But she had that tingling in her stomach that warned her she was already in over her head. Heck, she’d known that when she’d defended Kingsley to her mother. When she’d come up with excuses as to why he’d been at a nightclub with another woman. When she’d carefully worded the proposal to the county commissioners so that Kingsley’s name wasn’t in it.