Jared didn’t reply.
“You don’t care?” Lexie demanded.
“Not that it’s any of your business, little cousin, but I’m planning to take care of that.”
“What does that mean?” Lexie asked.
“I think you should wait and see,” he said and started to get out of the chair. “Now, if you’re finished nosing about in my private life, I’m going home.”
“To Alix,” Toby said, smiling.
Jared smiled back at her. “Yes, to Alix.”
“We fixed it,” Lexie said. “We arranged it all with Wes. It will cost you some, but it’ll be worth it.”
Jared looked at them. They were smiling and so innocent looking. Such pretty girls, he thought. And so very well meaning. But then dynamite wasn’t invented to cause harm. He sat back down in the chair. “Tell me what you’ve done.” His voice was calm.
“We made a deal for you,” Lexie said. “I came up with the idea but Toby negotiated the interest rate. She was great.” Lexie looked at her roommate with pride.
“Maybe you two should start at the beginning,” Jared said.
Lexie did most of the talking as she explained what they’d promised Wes in return for calling off his date with Alix.
Jared’s face didn’t show any emotion; he was an excellent poker player. “I’m to design a house for him for free and lend him the money at a ridiculously low interest rate?”
“When you put it like that it does sound like too much,” Lexie said. “But, Jared, you can’t let Alix spend the day with Wes. Since Daris told him to get lost, he’s been a wolf on the prowl. And there’s always been a rivalry between you and him. We worry that he’ll pounce on poor Alix.”
“I think,” Toby said softly, “that Jared has another plan.”
“Do you?” Lexie asked of her cousin.
He didn’t tell these two well-intentioned busybodies, but he’d been intending to do this after he left Alix tonight, and to do it in private. Taking his cell out of his pocket, he pushed a button to put it on speaker so Lexie and Toby could hear, then he called a number.
“Jared?” said a female voice. “Is that you?”
“Hi, Daris, how’s your dad?”
“He’s fine now. Did you get our thank-you notes?”
“All four of them.”
“We owe you so much for helping us out.”
“I wondered if I could ask a favor of you,” Jared said.
“Anything!” Daris said. “Up to and including running away to elope with you.”
Toby and Lexie, sitting across from him on the couch, looked at each other with wide eyes.
Smiling, Jared’s voice lowered and got slower. “Such a sacrifice won’t be necessary, Daris, even though the prospect sounds delightful. I won’t be able to sleep tonight from thinking about it.”
“I could—” Daris began.
Lexie cut her off. “Hi, Daris,” she said loudly. “It’s Lexie. How’s your mom?”
Daris recovered quickly from the surprise that Jared wasn’t alone. “She’s doing great. She lost twenty-two pounds while Dad was sick. She’s thinking about writing a book called The My Husband Had a Heart Attack Diet. Jared, what can I do for you?”
“You have any interest in getting Wes back for whatever he did to you?”