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  “It’s the truth.” Eliot was matter-of-fact. “You’re my home now, so my mother will simply have to suck it up. I think she will if you manage to soften her up a bit.”

  “I’m not really good at softening people up,” I reminded him. “In fact, I tend to do the exact opposite. I’m great at making people hate me. Loving me is a different story.”

  “I think you’re selling yourself short.”

  “And I think you’re blind to my shortcomings.”

  “Not even close.” Eliot kissed the tip of my nose and pulled me close for a hug. “Ultimately it doesn’t matter. You’re going to be stuck with my mother today. I hope you manage to find a way to survive.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I feel tricked. I’m not quite sure why I feel that way, but I totally do.”

  “You’ll survive.” Eliot gave me another kiss and then rolled out of bed. “I have an hour before I have to be at the sheriff’s department. If you promise to be quick and not insist on foreplay, you can shower with me.”

  Disgust eased over my face. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Oh, I’m serious. I thought you might like some stress relief before spending the day with my mother.”

  Ugh. He knew exactly where to hit me. “Fine.” I followed him toward the bathroom. “I might be a little mean, though. I’m just warning you now.”

  “That sounds exciting.”

  “Then you don’t understand what I’m saying.”

  “No. I understand. It’s like Fifty Shades of Grey.”

  “More like The Hunger Games.”

  “Am I supposed to know what that means?”

  “No, but you’ll figure it out pretty quickly.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  I HAD NO IDEA HOW to entertain Maggie without Eliot around to serve as a buffer, so instead of dealing with her pouty countenance, I spread out the documents I received from the clerk’s office the previous day on the kitchen table and decided to look through them chronologically.

  Maggie wasn’t happy when Eliot informed her that he was leaving. She put up a fight so fierce I almost felt sorry for Eliot. That feeling lasted only until he gleefully pointed his mother in my direction and then disappeared through the front door with nary a wave goodbye.

  The look Maggie graced me with was straight out of a bad chick flick comedy about poorly behaved mothers-in-law, so I wisely opted to leave her to entertain herself — she had a book she carried around, after all — and I focused on the documents.

  Our arrangement worked for exactly thirty minutes, until Maggie got tired of sighing in the other room and decided to join me.

  “What are you looking at?”

  I briefly glanced up. “It’s the history of Sandusky Sanitation.”

  “And that’s the company owned by the mob?” Maggie lazily picked up a sheet of paper and studied it. “I thought you were supposed to be on vacation.”

  I gritted my teeth to refrain from blowing a gasket. “I am on vacation,” I said after a beat. “That doesn’t mean I can’t look through these documents to see if I come up with something.”

  “What happens if you do?”

  “What happens if I do what?”

  “Come up with something.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

  Maggie let loose a sigh that was straight out of the Disappointed Mothers of the Universe Handbook and pinned me with a frustrated look. “What will you do if you find information? It’s not a difficult question. Will you turn it over to another reporter in your office or will you act on it yourself?”

  “Oh.” I hadn’t expected the question. “I honestly don’t know. It depends on when I find the information and how likely anyone else is to stumble across it. There’s always a time element when dealing with the news.”

  “Basically you’re saying that you don’t want to get scooped by another reporter.”

  “I never get scooped by other reporters.”

  “Is that why you’re so fixated on your job?”

  By this point, I figured she was asking questions simply to make conversation. It was clearly a new tactic to see if she could drive me right to the edge of the cliffs of insanity before abandoning ship. “I’m fixated on my job because I happen to like it.”

  “Why?”

  That was a good question. “Because ... I’m good at it. I like digging for information. Most people — especially politicians — are liars. I like figuring out the lies and nailing them for it.”

  “So, you’re a vindictive person and want to pay back those who you believe have wronged you by lying.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  Maggie was so quiet I thought she’d managed to leave the room without alerting me. When I finally glanced back in her direction, I found her smiling. To say the least, I was surprised by her change in demeanor.

  “What?” I was defensive as I glanced over my shoulder. “What are you smiling at?”

  “You.” Maggie took a seat on the other side of the table and studied the sheet of paper in her hand. “I’m starting to understand how you stole Eliot’s heart.”

  “I didn’t steal it.”

  “No?” Maggie tilted her head to the side. “How do you explain how you came together?”

  “I don’t know.” I’d pondered that exact question numerous times. “Maybe it was destiny.”

  “Do you believe in destiny?”

  I wasn’t sure how to answer. I didn’t want to come off as schmaltzy. Then again, mothers liked a certain schmaltz factor. “I think it was right for both of us at the time,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “I don’t necessarily think anyone or any thing guided us together, but there was something almost kismet about the way we found each other. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

  “You weren’t looking for anyone when you found him.”

  “Kind of,” I acknowledged. “The only thing I was looking for that day was a way to protect myself. I found much more. Still, it’s not as if we took one look at each other and fell into each other’s arms. It was a more gradual process.”

  “Because of your relationship with the sheriff?”

  “No.”

  “Not even a little?”

  I just knew she was going to bring this up again. “Not really.” I met her gaze without backing down. “I know this is difficult for you to understand, but Jake and I are just friends.”

  “It wasn’t always that way.”

  “No. But it’s that way now.”

  “But ... why? If you’re such good friends, why can’t you make a romance work?”

  “Are you saying you want me to dump your son and go back to Jake? That’s the feeling I’m getting here.”

  “No.” Maggie shook her head as she rested her elbows on the table. “I’m saying that I don’t want my son to end up with a broken heart if you decide you want to be with the sheriff. You clearly love Eliot. It’s written all over your face when you’re together. I can’t help but worry that you love Jake, too.”

  “I do love Jake.” I refused to lie. “I don’t love him like I love Eliot, though. There was a time — and it was long ago — when I loved him in a different way. We went our separate ways. We can be friends. We can never be more than that.”

  “And it doesn’t bother Eliot that you’re still so close with your ex-boyfriend?” Maggie refused to let it go. She was dogged — qualities I liked in myself and hated in her — and she was adamant that we were going to talk about this no matter how uncomfortable I was. “I have to tell you, Eliot was always the jealous sort as a teenager. He liked to fight over the occasional girl.”

  I pursed my lips, surprised. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you saying that he doesn’t care about me as much as he cared about those other women because he doesn’t want to fight?”

  “Not at all.” Maggie vehemently shook her head. “In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Eliot has m
atured in wonderful ways and he’s a great partner for you.”

  I was officially lost. “So ... what are you saying?”

  “I want my son to be happy.”

  “And you think I can’t make him happy.”

  “No, I think you do make him happy,” Maggie countered. “The problem is, he’s so very attached to you that he’ll end up with a broken heart if you walk away. He isn’t the type to walk away. It’s evident he’s in this until the very end. I’m less certain about you.”

  The statement rankled. “You don’t think I’m committed to Eliot.”

  “I think you’re committed to Eliot now,” Maggie clarified. “I am worried that you’ll take off on a whim. That something will happen to split your attention or cause you to run away with someone else and break my poor boy’s heart.”

  “You’re basically saying you think I’m disloyal and likely to think of myself rather than Eliot.”

  “I don’t know if you’re loyal.” Maggie’s eyes were clear as they locked with mine. “I would like to believe you are because Eliot has great faith in you. I haven’t seen what he clearly sees when he looks at you.”

  “What have I done that’s disloyal?”

  “You abandoned him with me yesterday even though he clearly wanted you to go with us,” Maggie pointed out. “You’ve been working despite being on vacation, something that irritates him. Even knowing he’s irritated, you haven’t backed off. The moment he left you sat down at this table and started digging. That’s not putting him first.”

  Finally, realization dawned. I understood exactly where Maggie was coming from ... and it was a completely annoying place. “You’re not talking about loyalty.”

  “I am. You abandoned him yesterday.”

  “No, that’s not loyalty.” I ran my tongue over my teeth as I picked the correct words to convey my point. If I exploded now there’d be no coming back. “I did abandon Eliot yesterday. I didn’t want to go to the mall. That wasn’t a betrayal. That was self-preservation.”

  “I think we have different definitions for a variety of things.”

  “Maybe,” I conceded. “The problem is, what I hear you saying is that you think I should worship Eliot, not respect him. Those are different things.”

  “I’ve never used the word ‘worship’ in regard to a man in my life.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that you think I should be bowing at his feet whenever he says something,” I argued. “You want me to dote on him — and I do, to some extent, just like he dotes on me — but you want me to give up everything I want in the process. That’s not the foundation for a good relationship. And I can guarantee that’s not what Eliot wants.”

  “What does he want?”

  “A solid give and take. Compromise. Mutual love and respect. That’s what we’ve been working toward the past year.”

  “And yet you still abandoned him.”

  “Just like he abandoned me today,” I pointed out. “He could’ve taken you with him. Instead, he decided to pay me back. I guarantee he’s sitting at the sheriff’s department with Jake right now cackling like an annoying witch. That doesn’t mean he’s disloyal to me. That doesn’t mean he’s choosing his work over me. It simply means we live complicated lives and it’s a balancing act.”

  “But ... that’s not how things worked in my day.”

  “Yes, well, it’s a new world.” I narrowed my eyes as I flicked a glance to the clock on the microwave. “Would you like to visit my world?”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I need to run to the newspaper office. Eliot won’t be happy if I abandon you to do it,” I replied. “Now, I would be fine abandoning you because you’re a bit rigid and your ideals are antiquated. Instead, I’m going to be a big girl and take you with me. That way you can see exactly what I do, and how it’s absolutely no threat to Eliot.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Maggie hedged. “Don’t you think that Eliot will be upset if he finds out you took me with you?”

  “Maybe.” I wasn’t particularly bothered by that prospect. “But it will be fine. Trust me.”

  “Well, if you say so.” To my utter surprise, Maggie brightened. “Are we going to investigate a case?”

  “I’m not a private investigator ... or a cop. We’re going to chase a story.”

  “How is that different?”

  “Honestly? It’s not all that different. I just prefer looking at it that way.”

  “Good enough. Let’s do it.”

  Maggie seemed gung-ho, so I grinned. “Grab your shoes. You’re going to love visiting the newsroom. If you think the people you’ve met so far are interesting, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

  18 Eighteen

  Maggie insisted on changing her clothes before we left. The look she tossed me when I met her at the front door wearing ragged cutoffs, a well-worn Star Wars shirt and brightly-colored flip-flops was enough to make me smile. Of course, her outfit was laughable. She dressed all in black, as if we were going on a secret ninja mission instead of gearing up to irritate my co-workers. And her high heels were more ridiculous than fashionable.

  “You can’t wear that outfit to work.”

  I glanced down. While it was true I wouldn’t normally wear shredded shorts while working, I’d worn the flip-flops and shirt before. “It will be fine. Remember, I’m on vacation.”

  “But ... they won’t even let you in the building wearing that.”

  “I’ve worn worse.”

  “And you don’t get in trouble?”

  “That’s not important. Sometimes I encourage my co-workers’ disdain. It makes it easier to hate seventy-five percent of them. If they liked me, then I would have to be nice to them ... and no one wants that.”

  Maggie was taken aback. “You’re a complex creature, aren’t you?”

  “I like to think so.” I grabbed my keys from the table by the door. “Just a quick question: Why are you dressed like we’re about to hide in the bushes and spy on some unsuspecting target?”

  “I thought it was best not to stand out.”

  I shrugged. “Fair enough. Let’s head out. Eliot will text when he’s finished. I expect him to drag this out as long as possible as payback, but you never know with him. He allows guilt to creep in at the oddest of times.”

  “Won’t he be angry when he finds out what we’re doing?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Aren’t you worried he’ll blow up and you’ll be forced to fight with him?”

  “No. I’m good at fighting.”

  Maggie tapped her bottom lip, myriad emotions flitting across her features. “You really are a complex person. I don’t understand how I didn’t realize it until now.”

  “Just wait until you see me interact with my boss. It’ll blow your mind.”

  “I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit fearful about how all of this is going to turn out.”

  “It will be fine.” I was mostly convinced that was true. “Trust me. I have everything under control.”

  “ARE YOU TRYING to make me crazy?”

  Fish wasn’t nearly as thrilled with my cameo appearance as I’d anticipated. In fact, the face he made when he caught sight of me was downright furious. It was one of those faces people make when they’re desperately trying to escape a straitjacket.

  “Is that any way to greet your favorite employee?” I wasn’t trying to impress Maggie as much as irritate Fish. I’m good at annoying people — and not so good at ingratiating myself with mother types — so it seemed the safer option.

  “You aren’t even on my list of top ten favorites,” Fish groused. “Heck, I put the annoying backshop guy who walks around with that pocket protector that has a fish on it ahead of you.”

  “You’re just saying that because you don’t want to show your real emotions.” I leaned over the side of his cubicle and snagged the notebook he was using to jot down items for the next day’s news budget. “What do you have on the fire?”
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  The question threw Fish for a loop. “What do you mean?”

  “The apartment fire. What do you have on it?”

  “Why do you even care?”

  “I’m a concerned citizen.”

  “Why really?”

  Hmm. This was a sticky situation. If I told Fish what I’d discovered regarding Jay Truman he was likely to give the information to another reporter. There was no way he would work with my schedule — I was facing limitations thanks to that stupid vacation I shouldn’t have taken — and I was in no mood to share.

  “I’m merely curious,” I said after a beat. “I was there for the initial story and I want to make sure that whoever you have on it is doing their due diligence. I mean ... a man did die.”

  “Yes, and apparently it was a man everyone hated. That guy was more disliked than Duncan.”

  “Who is Duncan?” Maggie asked, moving closer to me.

  “He’s the office tool,” I replied.

  “I don’t know what that means.” Maggie was perplexed. “What’s a tool?”

  Well, that was a loaded question if I’d ever heard one. “I’ll explain later.” I patted her arm before turning back to Fish. “It doesn’t matter if he was hated. It only matters that he’s dead.”

  “From a fire.”

  I did my best to keep from reacting to the statement. Jake clearly hadn’t sent out a news release informing the media that Jay Truman didn’t die because of the fire. He told me, which was odd on the surface, but he hadn’t told anyone else. Of course, I was on vacation so there was no way I could share that information without allowing someone else to run away with my story. Jake probably realized that. He was unbelievably diabolical when he wanted to be.

  “Still, it’s a big deal,” I pressed, changing tactics. “Families are displaced. Have they released a cause of the fire yet?”

  “I have no idea.” Fish’s gaze drifted to Maggie. “Who are you?”

  “Oh, well ... .” Maggie smoothed her black shirt as she looked to me for an introduction.

  “She’s my sidekick,” I answered. “She’s helping me fight crime while I’m on vacation.”

  “I thought Marvin was your sidekick,” Fish challenged.