“I can keep going,” I assured him. “I just won’t fall asleep again.”
Cade gave me one last kiss, then laid me gently back on my tube, before pushing through the river to get to his own tube and jumping on.
“Jesus,” Amy May said, pulling my attention from Cade. Her eyes were wide. “That was crazy. One second you looked peaceful on the tube, and the next you started thrashing about. Before I could call out and try to wake you, you toppled over into the water. Scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m okay.”
“I tried to get out, but my ass got stuck in this stupid tube, and when I saw Cade jump out rush toward, cutting through the water with no problem, I knew he’d reach you before I could anyway.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” I assured her, not wanting her to feel guilty for not helping me out.
“Mom?”
“Are you okay?”
I looked over to see Elin and Elena watching me, their faces etched with worry.
Hoping to ease their minds, I smiled brightly and said, “I’m fine. I just fell asleep and fell out of my tube. You know how clumsy I can be … I’m perfectly okay. I promise.”
They both nodded and went back to talking with Cassidy, but I noticed Elin kept his eye on me for the rest of our trip down the river, and I had to admit, his protectiveness warmed my heart.
Things were starting to feel normal again, which was how I liked it.
The kids and I were settled and happy in our new home, they were on their last few days of school, and my business was fully up and running. Things between Cade and I were great, and although I was nervous, I was really looking forward to taking the trip to Hawaii. And, Bea and Shannon were planning their wedding reception, and I could not wait to celebrate their marriage with them.
The only black cloud over my head was Sledge, who seemed to have gone into hiding, because I hadn’t seen him since that day in my van. Other than a couple of texts asking if I’d cleared his name, it had been radio silence.
I loved my new place, but I was really looking forward to going to Cade’s cabin this weekend. I hadn’t realized how much I loved it there until we started spending all of our time getting my house ready and staying on my side of town. I even missed Rufus, Cade’s crotch-sniffing black lab. And I was excited to introduce him to CB.
It was Monday, and I’d had a new client call and set up an appointment. She was pretty vague on the phone, just said that she’d lost something, so I agreed to meet, even though I was already mentally clearing my schedule for Hawaii.
We were supposed to meet at the local Starbucks, since I wasn’t too keen on having clients come to my house. I was thinking that once the business was in the black, I’d start looking into commercial space for an office in town.
“I’ll have a skinny chai latte with vanilla, please,” I told the barista as I looked around the seating area to see if my new client was already seated.
Since the place was empty, I surmised that she wasn’t.
“Where is everyone?” I asked the barista as I handed him my money. “This place is usually busting at the seams.”
“A new bookstore with a coffee shop just opened on Main Street. They’ve been doing a lot of grand opening specials and stuff, so most of our regulars have been going there,” the young kid answered, sounding bored and unconcerned with the lack of customers.
“Oh, I hadn’t heard that, I’ll have to check it out,” I replied, wondering how long it had been since I’d had time to read a book.
When the barista didn’t respond, I walked down to the end of the counter to wait for my order.
“Excuse me, are you Delilah Horton, Private Investigator?” a small voice said from behind me.
I turned to see a sweet-looking lady, about sixty years old, with graying hair pulled back in a bun, standing with her hands clenched in front of her.
“Mrs. Diamond?” I asked, assuming this was the woman I’d spoken to on the phone.
“Yes, that’s me,” the woman said, her ears darting around the empty Starbucks nervously.
“Would you like something to drink?” I asked, gesturing toward the counter.
“Oh, no,” Mrs. Diamond replied. “I don’t support big business.”
I wondered why she’d suggested we meet here, but didn’t say anything, just grabbed my drink off the counter and led her to a seat by the window.