“Why would she do that?” Skye glared at him. “She could get into a lot of trouble.”
“I helped her out when her mom died.” Simon nudged a plate of fruit toward her. “Come on. Eat something. It’s no big deal, and I know you won’t give Fern a hard time for trying to further true love.”
“You’re right,” Skye acknowledged. “I won’t tell on her, but you’ve got to stop this.”
“I can’t.” Simon was suddenly serious. “Look, when that psycho almost killed you last October, I realized that I didn’t appreciate you when we were dating. That I tried to change you, when you were perfect the way you were. That the reason you’re the one for me is because of who you are, not who I want to make you into.”
“Simon.” Skye swallowed the lump in her throat. “Don’t.” It was hard to hear the genuine love in his voice.
“I’m not going to say that I can’t live without you, but the truth is, there
Skye sat stunned for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry. Maybe if you had realized all of this sooner, but . . .” She shook her head. The pain in his voice tore at her. “I can’t do this for a lot of reasons. You have to leave.”
“I will, but I’m not giving up.” He smiled sadly. “And before I go, I need to tell you about Xavier.” Simon’s voice was grave. “Frannie told me last night that he’s been gone a lot lately. Either he won’t say where he’s going, or he lies to her about where he is.”
“Shit!” Skye sank into her chair. Xavier loved his daughter and would sacrifice anything for her. If he was lying to Frannie, they had a major problem.
“My thoughts exactly.” Simon sat down, too, as if he were suddenly exhausted. “It has to have something to do with the bookstore and his investment.”
“Have you asked him about it?” Skye absentmindedly picked up a grape and popped it into her mouth.
“Not yet. I wanted to run it by you first.” Simon sounded unsure.
“I don’t know what to advise you. He’s a tough person to figure out.” Skye nibbled a piece of cheese. “Do you think he’d tell you the truth?”
“A month ago I would have said yes.” Simon’s shoulders slumped. “Now I doubt it.”
“Then if you really want to know what’s going on, you’ll have to follow him.”
To Skye’s surprise, Simon didn’t immediately dismiss her suggestion. Instead he pulled out a small leather- bound pad of paper and started taking notes. While they discussed where Xavier might be disappearing to, what he might be doing, and how Simon could tail him, between them they polished off all the food.
Finally, Skye rose from her chair. “Now you really need to leave. I have to be at the junior high in fifteen minutes.”
Once he was standing, she thrust the vase of roses in his hands. “And I can’t accept these.”
His smile was pained. “You aren’t making this ‘winning you back’ thing easy.”
“Because it’s too late.” She was silent as he turned to go, then said, “Wait.”
His hopeful expression nearly broke her heart, but she steeled her emotions, “Do you know when the ME is releasing Kayla’s body?”
“Yes.” Simon sighed, clearly unhappy with her response. “I picked it up this morning. The wake is tomorrow, and the funeral is Saturday.”
“Was there anything new in his report?”
“He found bits of a hard blue plastic material in her hair.”
“Hmm.” What was made of blue plastic? Suddenly Skye felt warm breath on her face, and her eyes popped open. Simon was leaning forward, their noses nearly touching and his hazel eyes blazing into hers. “I’m not giving up.”
“And I’m not changing my mind.”
He tilted her chin up with his finger. “I hear annulments take a long, long time.”
For once, Skye was able to leave work on time, which meant she could stop by her brother’s hair salon before going to question Hugo. Vince still hadn’t called or answered his phone.
As Skye turned into the Great Expectations parking lot, she saw Vince’s Jeep in its usual spot, but when she tried to open the shop’s front door, she noticed that the CLOSED sign was in the window. Alarm fluttered in Skye’s chest. It was only a little past four in the afternoon. Vince never quit work until well after six on a weekday. And where could he have gone without his car? What could have happened?
Skye’s initial thought was to call her mother. Nope, bad idea. First she’d check his apartment. It took her only a few minutes to drive to the complex, and when he didn’t answer the door she tried her key. It didn’t work.
She couldn’t imagine someone as laid-back as her brother going to the trouble of changing the lock on his apartment door. Unless it had been Loretta’s doing. Still, why hadn’t Vince given her the new key?
As Skye wrote a note, underscoring the urgent need for Vince to get in touch with her, she had a thought. Did he and Loretta think she was as meddlesome as May? Was that the explanation for the changed lock and the unreturned calls? The idea was so appalling, she almost forgot her real worry. Had something happened to Vince that was preventing him from calling her back?
It seemed wrong, but Skye could think of no other option. She’d have to break down and call Loretta. She hated coming off as a nosy sister, but Vince and Loretta had both asked her to keep May from finding out about their engagement, and she couldn’t do that if they remained incommunicado.
CHAPTER 19
Sense and Sensibility
When Loretta didn’t answer at any of her numbers, Skye decided that if she hadn’t heard from Vince by tomorrow, she could call Loretta’s law office and talk to her secretary. A live human versus a machine had to have some answers. And for now, that was the best plan she had.
Checking the time, Skye realized she had to get over to Hugo’s before he left for the day. She had finally come up with a reason to talk to him. Her father was turning sixty-five in January, so she would claim to be having a huge surprise party for Jed. She was checking with everyone to be sure they were available on the date.
She might even ask for Hugo’s help. Skye smiled. Everyone liked her dad, and Hugo owed him big-time for helping out when his regular mechanic came across a car he couldn’t fix. Hugo should be happy to talk to Skye about a celebration in her father’s honor.
Hugo’s used-car lot was only a couple of miles from Vince’s apartment, but Skye’s luck was running true to form, and his manager said her cousin had already left for the day.
As Skye pulled into her driveway, she checked her watch. It was only a few minutes past five thirty; for once she wouldn’t have to rush. She had time to fix a decent meal, freshen up, and still get to the bookstore in plenty of time to lead the teen discussion group.
Skye had just begun heating a skillet to brown a salmon filet when the phone rang. She turned the flame down and checked caller ID, congratulating herself on having finally gotten it installed. It had been worth the monthly cost ten times over these past few days, when she had been able to avoid her mother’s calls.
Seeing the number of Wally’s private line at the PD, Skye smiled and scooped up the receiver, then froze when May’s voice blasted from the earpiece. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you called me back? And what’s going on with your brother?”
Since Skye didn’t have acceptable answers for any of those questions, the conversation with her mother was long and painful.
Skye had long since lost her appetite and put the fish back in the refrigerator when she broke under her mother’s relentless grilling. “I didn’t call you, Mom, because I have nothing to tell you. I haven’t been able to reach Vince. He hasn’t answered his phones, and he’s not at the salon or his apartment.”
There was dead silence; then Hurricane May broke loose. Looking back later on her mother’s reaction, Skye realized she should have cut out her tongue as soon as she heard May’s voice on the phone rather than talk to her. Instead, she had ended up promising that she would let her mom know the minute she located Vince.
